Dec 10, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco (15) throws the ball during warm ups before the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports.
How about a fifth different starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings 2023 season?
Minnesota is tentatively on pace to start veteran passer Nick Mullens this weekend at the Cincinnati Bengals, but one prominent radio show host out of Pittsburgh claims the Vikings should pursue a Super Bowl champion.
He’s 93.7 The Fan‘s Andrew Fillipponi, and he believes Minnesota should sign Joe Flacco from the Cleveland Browns’ practice squad.
Flacco, 38, is the Browns’ starting quarterback at the moment after injuries derailed Deshaun Watson’s season, and experiments with P.J. Walker + Dorian Thompson-Robinson haven’t worked. The former Baltimore Raven turned heads in Week 14, diming 311 passing yards and 3 touchdown passes in a 31-27 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
And, at least for now, Flacco technically lives on Cleveland’s practice squad, meaning any NFL team can swipe him, so long as that team adds the player to its active roster.
Per Fillipponi, that should be the Vikings. “The Vikings have $10 million in cap space. If Minnesota offered Joe Flacco $8 million for the rest of the year to sign there. Would he leave Cleveland? I would,” Fillipponi tweeted on the X app Monday afternoon.
Perhaps the theory would make sense if it were early November on the calendar and Minnesota had time to acclimate Flacco to the playbook. But the Vikings have four games remaining, a Wildcard playoff berth in plain view, and a puncher’s chance at catching the Detroit Lions for a back-to-back NFC North crown.
Adding Flacco — or any other veteran quarterback — in the middle of December doesn’t really move the needle. The season is too far along.
Of course, hosting a show in Pittsburgh insinuates a Vikings Flacco pilfer could be anti-Browns fodder. As in — here’s how to stick it to our primary rival. So, that should be considered when examining the theory’s efficacy.
In reality, Minnesota will likely roll with Mullens, whose resume includes 17 career starts. He’s a mini-gunslinger, added to the Vikings’ roster late in the summer of 2022. Minnesota wasn’t enthused by backup quarterback options Kellen Mond and Sean Mannion, trading for Mullens with the Las Vegas Raiders. He owned the QB2 job for all of the 2022 season and then started 2023 with the same title. An injured reserve trip temporarily paved the way for rookie Jaren Hall and journeyman Joshua Dobbs at quarterback.
If the Vikings, for example, only had Sean Mannion on the depth chart behind Kirk Cousins, stealing Flacco would check some boxes, even in December.
But not now.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.