Source: Jets signing Flacco to 1-year deal to play backup QB
Sam Darnold will be able to pick the brain of a former Super Bowl MVP next season.
The Jets are signing former Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco to a one-year deal to be Darnold’s backup, according to a source. Flacco’s deal with Gang Green is worth $1.5 million but could jump to $4.5M based on incentives.
Flacco, a New Jersey native who went on to star at Delaware, spent 11 seasons with the Ravens before leaving for the Broncos last season.
Flacco was named the MVP of Super Bowl XLVII in February 2013 after leading the Ravens to a 34-31 win over the 49ers in New Orleans. He went 22-for-33 in the Super Bowl for 287 yards and three touchdowns to outduel San Francisco’s Colin Kaepernick.
The 35-year-old quarterback — who was a first-round pick (18th overall) in the 2008 NFL draft — had a 96-67 record in Baltimore. He led the Ravens to 10 or more wins five times and finished his time in
Baltimore with 38,245 passing yards with 212 touchdowns.
He was just 2-6 as Denver’s starting QB last season before the Broncos put him on injured reserve in November with a herniated disk in his neck. He underwent surgery in early April. Flacco has been medically cleared to start throwing, the Daily News has learned and the Jets’ expectation is that he’ll be cleared for contact in early September. He will be able to practice without contact whenever camps begins this summer.
The Jets had been in the market for a veteran backup for Darnold, who is entering his third year in the league. The Jets are 0-6 over the last two seasons when Darnold hasn’t been on the field. The third-overall pick in the 2018 draft has missed three games in each of his first two campaigns.
Flacco reunites with Jets general manager Joe Douglas who pushed for Baltimore to draft Flacco in the 2008 draft when Douglas was a scout for the Ravens.
Before the addition of Flacco, David Fales had been the No. 2 quarterback on the Jets’ depth chart. Fales, a former sixth-round pick of the Bears in 2014, has appeared in just five games during his five seasons in the NFL.