Joe Flacco, Eagles agree to one-year contract

The Eagles are signing free agent quarterback Joe Flacco to a one-year contract, according to his agency.

The deal is worth $3.5 million guaranteed and up to $7.5 million with incentives, according to Adam Caplan. That’s ... more than expected. Flacco’s deal with the Jets last year was reportedly only worth $1.5 million. I’m not sure how his value went up.

News of the 2013 Super Bowl MVP visiting the NovaCare Complex first emerged on Monday morning. We wrote at the time that signing Flacco would make some sense. Of course, we also assumed he’d be making something around the league minimum, which clearly isn’t the case.

Flacco, 36, comes to Philadelphia as an experienced veteran backup to have behind presumed 2021 starter Jalen Hurts. As an added bonus, the Aubudon, New Jersey native is a local guy with ties to some Eagles front office members, such as vice president of player personnel Andy Weidl. Thus, there’s a level of familiarity with his personality and professionalism.

The Eagles are probably in trouble if Flacco ever has to see meaningful playing time for them. He’s coming off a season in which he went 0-4 in four starts, completing just 55.2% of his attempts for six touchdowns, three interceptions, and an 80.6 passer rating. Flacco was Pro Football Focus’s second-worst graded quarterback last year.

In fairness, Flacco was coming off a neck injury and the New York Jets’ supporting cast was far from ideal. I mean, 37-year-old Frank Gore was their leading rusher in 2020. The Jets’ top three receivers were Jamison Crowder (699 yards), Breshad Perriman (505 yards), and Braxton Berrios (394 yards). New York’s offensive line graded out as the NFL’s second-worst pass-blocking unit. Flacco might have a chance to be better in Philly, assuming the Eagles can acquire some more offensive talent.

And it’s not like the Birds are counting on Flacco to be a No. 2 during a season in which they’re all in to win a Super Bowl anyway.

The Eagles signing Flacco hardly precludes them from taking a quarterback early in the 2021 NFL Draft. With the report that Jeffrey Lurie has mandated Hurts as the team’s starter, though, perhaps it’ll just be Hurts as QB1 and Flacco as QB2 this year. Flacco could potentially fall down to QB3 if/when a rookie enters the mix.

The Eagles signing Flacco does likely preclude them from reacquiring their own Super Bowl MVP in Nick Foles, which was a recently rumored possibility.

(Compensatory pick note: As Jimmy Kempski points out, the Flacco signing wipes out the Eagles potentially gaining a 2022 fifth-round pick for losing Jalen Mills.)