The Indianapolis Colts have a critical quarterback situation between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones; whichever name takes the starting position will hopefully lead the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.
Jones was brought in on a one-year deal, and former Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard was drafted in the sixth round to add a third signal-caller to the room. But Bleacher Report‘s Kristopher Knox suggests a wild trade that would bring back a former Colts QB: Joe Flacco.
The Indianapolis Colts could look to bring back Flacco—who made six starts in Indy last season—if their quarterback competition between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones underwhelms.”
This is a crazy suggestion, as Flacco was underwhelming himself and didn’t fare well despite being the 2023 NFL Comeback Player of the Year with the Cleveland Browns. His statistics look decent, but his record was a sad 2-4 when he started his six contests.
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Flacco’s numbers finalized in 2024 at 162/248 completions (65.3 percent) for 1,761 pass yards, 12 touchdowns, and seven picks. Flacco has gaudy numbers for his career, tallying 45,671 passing yards and 257 touchdowns thrown in 17 years.
Indianapolis also would have to trade assets to re-acquire Flacco, which makes no sense. If the Colts figured that Flacco might be able to help the quarterback situation with Richardson, they wouldn’t have signed Jones and could have saved plenty of cap space by retaining Flacco’s services.
Don’t expect this to happen after drafting Leonard as a Sam Ehlinger replacement. While the Colts’ quarterback situation needs clarity for an undisputed starter, suggesting Flacco can help the issue is an irrational one.
Plus, Flacco has to be nearing retirement at nearly two decades played in the NFL, which has amounted to an immense number of games at 196 (191 starts). Indianapolis can’t afford to relinquish anything to get Flacco back after they tried this experiment for him to potentially help the team as an insurance policy just one season ago.
The Colts are under an immense amount of pressure for the 2025 season. They aren’t trading for Flacco, but will have their eyes close to the Richardson versus Jones competition, so they make the correct decision on which field general starts.