Robert Saleh Wants Joe Flacco Back With Jets in 2022

Joe Flacco only played in two games this past season, but his contributions in a young and inexperienced quarterback room were invaluable to Robert Saleh.

What will the Jets' quarterback room look like in 2022?

Zach Wilson will be back. Duh. He'll be entering his sophomore season, looking to take significant strides in the right direction and lead this offense to competitiveness.

Backup Mike White is a restricted free agent this offseason. He certainly showed last year why he's worthy of a spot going forward, though. Who can forget his spectacular run, filling in for Wilson and making history.

That brings us to Joe Flacco.

The veteran returned to Florham Park when he was acquired from the Eagles before the trade deadline, a move designed to compliment Wilson and White's inexperience with a quarterback that's been through it all at the professional level.

New York sent a sixth-round pick to Philadelphia in the trade. In fact, for a while, it seemed like a silly deal for the Jets. 

Flacco ended up spending time on the team's COVID-19 list, appearing in only two games for the rest of the season. It's a small sample size, but Flacco had some success, completing 27 of his 42 pass attempts for a total of 338 passing yards with three touchdowns. 

READ: Robert Saleh Reveals His Message to the Jets After Franchise-Worst Performance in Buffalo

During Monday's end-of-the-year presser, Jets head coach Robert Saleh gave the following assessment of those signal-callers donning green and white:

I think our quarterback room and the way it’s set up now with Joe Flacco and Mike White, I know that they’re going into contract years and all that stuff, but the setup that we had this year has been ideal. Bringing in Joe, I know the outside world doesn’t see it, but Joe [Douglas] bringing in Flacco for that sixth-round pick, I don’t think anyone realizes how big of a deal that was in terms of just, even for me, I didn’t expect it to be the impact that I wasn’t expecting in terms of just the assist, in terms of developing the quarterback and the room in general. Obviously, with the room that’s set up, it would be perfect if we can get them all back, but again, these are all discussions that we’ll have here in the future.

Saleh didn't stop there. 

Asked specifically if he would like Flacco—an unrestricted free agent—back next season, the head coach didn't hesitate.

"Oh yeah, I’ll be vocal on that one," he said. "Absolutely."

If Wilson and Flacco got along well at practice, on the sideline and behind closed doors in 2021, why look elsewhere for a different veteran quarterback to serve as a mentor in 2022?

There's a chance Flacco will pursue another opportunity, trying to find a landing spot where more playing time (or a more likely chance at a playoff berth) exists. That would be out of New York's control to a certain extent. Should Flacco make it clear this offseason that he would like to stay, however, it sounds like it won't take too much negotiating to get a deal done and Saleh will get his wish.

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