A report from ProFootballTalk this morning stated that the Eagles are hosting New Jersey native, Joe Flacco, on a visit. Signing the former Super Bowl MVP to backup Jalen Hurts would have some significant pros and cons, but should the team be willing to put pen to paper?
Pros
Experience
The Eagles could do a lot worse than Joe Flacco when it comes to finding a QB with a strong resume. Flacco is now an 11-year veteran who is a former Super Bowl MVP and has played under an array of coaches in several different environments. From his extensive run in Baltimore to some less successful tenures in Denver and New York, Flacco is as well versed as veteran QB’s come and would be able to provide a wealth of insight for Jalen Hurts.
Conceptually similar
Let’s not forget that one of the reasons behind the terrible hiring of Marty Morninwheg last year was because of his experience squeezing the juice out of a dual-threat quarterback. During Lamar Jackson’s explosive rookie campaign, we saw many of the same concepts used by the Eagles last year and ones they are bound to continue to tweak. Morninwheg may no longer be in the picture, but Joe Flacco watched from the sidelines as the former Ravens offensive coordinator helped sculpt an offense built for a dual-threat QB to thrive.
One year later, Flacco ended up in Denver where he worked under Rich Scangarello, who would also be hired by the Eagles one year later. Scangarello worked hard to implement a lot of play-action concepts for Drew Lock, which is why the Eagles picked Scangarello for their failed offensive coordinator by committee approach.
Who’s to say that the Eagles wouldn’t be able to pick the brains of Flacco when it comes to building an offense for a dual-threat QB or creating effective rollouts? It sounds silly given the coaching staff restructure, but if the front office is holding the same aims and want to create the same style of offense, then bringing in a QB who has worked under two former hirings makes a ton of sense.
Cost
Flacco played under a one-year contract worth $1.5m last season and it’s hardly like he played beyond that pay grade. This makes him a cheap and cheerful option for a cap-strapped Eagles team.
A connection to the front office
Scangarello and Morninwheg may have been kicked out of the NovaCare Complex, but Andy Weidl remains situated as the team’s Vice President of Player Personnel. He was promoted to that position during 2019 after following Joe Douglas to the Eagles back in 2016. The duo was in Baltimore when Joe Flacco was drafted all the way back in 2008.
Cons
Not the best mentor in the world
Make no mistake, the Eagles wouldn’t be signing Flacco to compete head-to-head with Jalen Hurts. This makes his leadership and ability to mentor a younger talent that much more important considering it’s the whole reason he’d be signing on the dotted line.
Flacco isn’t like a Josh McCown. He was notably disgruntled when the team drafted Lamar Jackson and begrudgingly helped him along. After an eccentric rookie year left Flacco watching on from the sidelines, it didn’t take long for him to voice his opinion.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be any more different or not,” Flacco said. “It’s definitely not the most fun position in the world. It is what it is.”
Flacco then went to Denver as a starter, but the team drafted Drew Lock shortly after. Again, this left a bitter taste in Flacco’s mouth and mentoring Drew Lock didn’t seem like something he was interested in.
I’m trying to go out there and play the best football of my life, so as far as the time constraint, I’m not worried about developing guys or any of that. That is what it is. Like I said, I hope he does develop. But I don’t look at that as my job. My job is to go win football games for this team.
Not only this, but he notably clashed with Rich Scangarello. Flacco just doesn’t seem like the kind of QB2 you’d want to bring in if developing a young arm was the entire objective. Flacco is a fierce competitor, which he should be commended for, but this isn’t the environment for that to be harnessed.
Play is falling off a cliff
If you’re banking on Flacco to win games in 2021, be it due to a Hurts injury or anything else, his 0-4 record with the Jets won’t inspire much hope. The team was a total trainwreck, but so was his season. Flacco completed 55.2% of his passes last year for 864 yards, 6 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, and the lowest passer rating since 2017…the season that led Baltimore to drafting Lamar Jackson.
