Raven Country

Joe Flacco Considered Return to Ravens

Six years after his departure, Joe Flacco almost made his way back to the Baltimore Ravens this offseason.
Jon Alfano|
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco stands on the sidelines in the game against the Carolina Panthers.
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco stands on the sidelines in the game against the Carolina Panthers. | Jeremy Brevard-Imagn Images

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Baltimore Ravens

Former Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco returned to the AFC North this offseason, signing a one-year deal with the Cleveland Browns after leading them to a surprise playoff berth and winning Comeback Player of the Year in 2023.

Before that, though, he reportedly considered going back to his roots.

Flacco told Mike Preston of the Baltimore Sun that he had a "brief conversation" about returning to the Ravens this offseason. Of course, that ultimately didn't work out and he instead signed with the Browns.

"They did kind of reach out to [my agent] Joe gauging my interest for something like that to happen. My agent called me up and was like, ‘What do you want me to tell them?’"

"I’m like, ‘Well, listen, I’m interested. I don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s not like choice No. 1, I don’t know what’s going to happen here with me if I’m going to get an opportunity to do something a little bit more, but I wasn’t against it.’ I think I would’ve been excited about it in a little bit of a way.”

Flacco spent the first 11 years of his career in Baltimore from 2008-18 and is best known for his incredible playoff run in 2012, when he threw 11 touchdowns and no interceptions to lead the Ravens to their second Super Bowl in franchise history.

Around the midpoint of the 2018 season, though, Flacco suffered a hip injury that thrust Lamar Jackson into the starting role, and the then-rookie never looked back. Jackson is now one of the best players in the league today with two MVP awards and three first-team All-Pro selections under his belt, and at just 28 years old, he has several more years of elite play ahead of him.

Despite being widely beloved in Baltimore, Flacco likely preferred other options over a return to the Ravens as there was no chance he'd get to start unless Jackson went down. With the Browns, he has a legitimate chance to start right out of the gate.

Of course, the Ravens found their new backup in former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush, who signed a two-year, $6.2 million contract in free agency.

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Jon Alfano
JON ALFANO

Jon is a lead writer for Baltimore Ravens On SI and contributes to other sites around the network as well. The Tampa native previously worked with sites such as ClutchPoints and GiveMeSport and earned his journalism degree at the University of Central Florida.

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