Joe Flacco as a Brown Trivia Quiz

Answer: No

Flacco had an uneventful year the season prior, spending most of 2022 on the bench for the New York Jets, even at times being named the third string quarterback. As such, Flacco went unsigned throughout free agency and the early to middle stages of the 2023 season.

In late November 2022, the Browns came calling and signed Flacco to their practice squad. This came after Cleveland's initial starter, DeShaun Watson, tore his ACL and was ruled out for the remainder of the season. Flacco would briefly battle Dorian Thompson-Robinson for the starter job in Cleveland, but highly ineffective play from Thompson-Robinson gave Flacco a path he eventually wouldn't yield, securing the job for the rest of the year.

Answer: Los Angeles Rams

The game was played in Week 13 on December 3, 2023. It wasn't particularly competitive, as the Browns let the game get away when the Rams posted a 16 point fourth quarter, putting the game away en route to a 36-19 victory. For Flacco's end, he was about as effective as could be given that he hadn't seen any game action in nearly a full calendar year at the time.

He went 23/44 with 251 yards, contributing two touchdowns to one interception.

Answer: Jacksonville Jaguars

This game was played in Week 14 on December 10, 2023. The teams traded blows almost completely evenly right up until the end, where a late game defensive stand stymied the Jaguars offense to secure a 31-27 win. Flacco turned in an excellent, vintage performance in this game, throwing 311 yards and three touchdowns to go with one interception.

He outdueled the mistake ridden Trevor Lawrence, allowing the offense to take full advantage of Lawrence's three turnovers on the day.

Answer: Yes

Flacco's contract with the Browns carried a great deal of conditional incentives to it. One of those incentives would pay Flacco a salary bonus if he started and completed every game the Browns had for the rest of the season. Flacco would go on to hold up his end of that deal until Week 18. With the team's playoff status clinched, the Browns rested their starters, including Flacco, to minimize the risk of injury in what was essentially a meaningless game.

As per the language of his contract, the Browns could've argued that they didn't owe him this salary bonus, even if this was because of their own doing.

Instead, the team opted to pay out the bonus anyway, likely as a reward for Flacco getting them to the playoffs and being a massive contributor in doing so.

Answer: NFL Comeback Player of the Year

Flacco narrowly edged out Damar Hamlin of the Buffalo Bills for earning this reward. His winning this award was controversial, so much so that the NFL would actually later change the conditions of how a player could win Comeback Player of the Year, to ensure a player like Joe Flacco could never win it again.

The controversy stemmed from what constitutes a 'comeback player'. Hamlin was, at the time, a year removed from suffering an incident in a game which nearly cost him his life. Despite the incident, Hamlin did not leave football and remained with the Bills, playing out the ensuing season in full. This was juxtaposed to Joe Flacco, who did not suffer an injury or have an incident of any sort, instead being dubbed "comeback" because he had played poorly the year before, and had gone on to then lead a lowly Cleveland Brown franchise into the playoffs "off the couch" due to his signing coming mid-season.

As a result, the NFL changed the language of the award formally, specifying that to become a "comeback player" required the player having suffered a specific setback the season prior, like a major injury. Thus, if voting for 2023 Comeback Player of the Year was to be re-taken, Hamlin would win it as Flacco would not have been eligible.

Answer: 1

In his lone season as a Colt, Flacco encountered many of the same issues that he had faced prior to his brief stay in Cleveland. Competition for starting quarterback was tight, as Flacco had to compete with rookie Anthony Richardson, of whom the Colts had just drafted. Richardson won the starting job initially but faltered and the Colts turned to Flacco. Sadly, Joe Flacco could not recapture the magic he had twirled in Cleveland, causing Indianapolis to give the reigns back to Richardson. Richardson eventually suffered a season ending injury, yielding the job back to Flacco for the rest of the year, but Flacco was not especially productive and was let go by the Colts at the end of the year.

Answer: 2025

Unlike 2023 (when he played his first game in Week 13), Flacco did begin the year with the Browns. The team signed him to a one-year deal. Similarly to his first run through, DeShaun Watson was recovering from a major Achilles injury. Flacco would compete with the likes of Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders for the starting role.

Answer: No

Joe Flacco sadly had a tough start to the season, with an ugly 2:6 TD:INT ratio that led to the team only winning one of their first four games. After it became apparent things would not go as swimmingly as Flacco's first stint with the team, he was benched in favor of rookie Dillon Gabriel, and he would not see the field for Cleveland for the rest of the season.

Answer: Cincinnati Bengals

Once Flacco had been benched for rookie Dillon Gabriel, the Browns prepared for the notion that they would not be competing for the playoffs, and began to sell off or release older players who would not factor into the team's future. Flacco was one such older player who, at the age of 41, did not have a purpose on a roster that was not trying to compete. Flacco, along with a sixth round pick, was sent to Cincinnati for a fifth round pick.

With Joe Burrow injured and Jake Browning struggling, Flacco found his way immediately as a Cincinnati starter. He enjoyed a lot of personal success, but the team's remarkably poor defense kept them out of the playoffs.

Answer: No

Tomlin was taken aback by the Browns' decision to trade Joe Flacco. When speaking of Andrew Berry, the team's general manager who orchestrated the move, Tomlin said "Andrew Berry must be a lot smarter than me or us, because it doesn't make sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your opening-day starter to a division opponent that's hurting in that area. But that's just my personal feelings."

Despite being a hated rival, many Browns fans (myself included!) wholly resonated with Tomlin's remarks.