How much is Joe Flacco making with the Browns? Exploring Super Bowl champion’s 2023 salary
Joe Flacco might win the Super Bowl again the way he is playing. He won a championship with MVP honors more than a decade ago with the Baltimore Ravens. When the season started, he was not the starting quarterback for any team, but he has since become Cleveland's savior in recent games. He became the second-oldest quarterback, after Tom Brady, to throw for more than 350 yards in consecutive games.
He has already thrown for nine touchdowns in four games and a 3-1 record has kept them firmly in playoff contention after Deshaun Watson and his backups picked up injuries. The Browns have accordingly rewarded him with a contract that could fetch him as much as $4.05 million.
His base salary is $370,800, but Cleveland has chosen to reward him for his performances so far with multiple incentives. They line up as follows:
- $75,000 per win in the remaining regular season games
- $250,000 for a playoff win in the Wildcard round
- $500,000 for a playoff win in the Divisional round
- $1,000,000 for a playoff win in the AFC Championship game
- $2,000,000 for a Super Bowl championship
Joe Flacco will become a free agent again in March. But given how well he has done, there will be teams that will wonder how well he can do with a full pre-season behind him. Teams like the Atlanta Falcons, for example, who might not get a top quarterback in the draft might look to keep someone like him.
Joe Flacco's salary structure with Browns reflects his age and his performance: Both good and bad
Joe Flacco is 38 years old and that brings both advantages and disadvantages. He brings the experience that any veteran quarterback gets from playing the game as well as his nous in winning a Super Bowl. But at his age, it is entirely possible that he could be one unfortunate injury away from having to go off the field.
His statistics also show a story that could be interpreted in two different ways. In the last four games before the Thursday night game against the Jets, he threw nine touchdowns. But he also had seven picks, including one interception in every single game. While he was racking up the yards, registering above 250 in every game, he was struggling with accuracy from time to time.
That is not a huge negative given the circumstances. He is in a new scheme with new players and coming in after having not played at the beginning of the season. But given how turnovers are crucial in any NFL game, and especially towards the end of the regular season when the team is fighting for the playoffs, it makes sense why the Browns have made his salary heavily incentive-based.
And his growing familiarity with the team was apparent in the first half of the game against the Jets. Playing against a defense that had allowed 294.8 yards per game, the third-best in the league, Joe Flacco was phenomenal.
He led three drives to perfection, leading to two passing touchdowns and a running score from Kareem Hunt. All of this happened in the absence of Amari Cooper. But Joe Flacco blemished his record towards the end of the half he threw a pick-six to Jermaine Johnson, to carry on his streak of interceptions.
However, he showed his mental toughness by throwing for another touchdown with a sensational play during the two-minute warning. The first half, therefore, was a microcosm of what Joe Flacco has been about this season. If he can retain his performance before the interception for the rest of the season and then into the postseason, there is every reason to believe that he can get his full salary.
He has always been knocked as a game manager despite winning a Super Bowl in 2012 with the Baltimore Ravens. That is due to their legendary defense getting most of the credit. But we tend to forget that the quarterback was still the game MVP.