{"id":699619,"date":"2026-01-23T19:28:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T19:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/699619\/"},"modified":"2026-01-23T19:28:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T19:28:14","slug":"joe-flacco-open-to-playing-for-steelers-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/699619\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Flacco Open To Playing For Steelers In 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joe Flacco\u2019s played for three of the four AFC North teams. He has no issues with completing the list. Though a longtime Baltimore Raven, Flacco says he\u2019s open to playing for anyone next season \u2013 even the Pittsburgh Steelers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would be strange. I do think having a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey on would be a little more strange than even a Browns or Bengals jersey, for whatever reason,\u201d he said on the BMore Sports pod<\/a> hosted by Jerry Coleman and Mike Preston. \u201cBut I think at this point, I\u2019m pretty much open for most things if I can see an opportunity in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flacco, now 41, was selected by the Ravens in the first round of the 2008 draft. There, he became a franchise quarterback and won a Super Bowl. He\u2019s the team\u2019s record holder in wins, passing yards, and passing touchdowns, though Lamar Jackson may one day break them. Since Jackson was drafted as the Ravens\u2019 future in 2018, Flacco has bounced around the league. He spent 2019 with the Denver Broncos, 2020-2022 with the New York Jets, and 2023 with the Cleveland Browns. With Cleveland, he led the team into the playoffs with a resurgent quarter-season that saw him win NFL Comeback Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

In 2024, he served as Anthony Richardson\u2019s backup in Indianapolis but wound up starting six games. He came off the bench to replace an injured Richardson and beat the Steelers in a Week 4 game, throwing for 168 yards and two touchdowns.<\/p>\n

Returning to Cleveland to compete for a job in 2025, he entered the regular season as the team\u2019s starter. But he struggled mightily and a lack of receiving talent didn\u2019t help him. In four starts, he threw just two touchdown passes to six interceptions. He was benched and then traded to the Cincinnati Bengals, a rare intra-division deal that drew Mike Tomlin\u2019s scorn.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Filling in for an injured Joe Burrow, Flacco played well. That included upsetting the Steelers in a Week 7 primetime game, repeatedly connecting with star WR Ja\u2019Marr Chase in a 33-31 shootout win. Flacco threw for 342 yards and three touchdowns, leading the game-winning drive in the final seconds. He played well until Burrow returned and was only hindered by Cincinnati\u2019s horrid defense that repeatedly blew leads.<\/p>\n

Flacco finished the 2025 season throwing 15 touchdown passes to 10 interceptions.<\/p>\n

Despite being one of the oldest quarterbacks in football, and\u00a0the\u00a0oldest should Aaron Rodgers retire, Flacco seems intent on playing a 19th NFL season. Given his age and backup status, his pool of teams could be shallow and if the quarterback-needy Steelers call him, he\u2019ll consider the possibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cI play football because I love it,\u201d Flacco told the podcast. \u201cIt is a job of mine. Somebody\u2019s hiring me. That\u2019s a pretty big deal. But at the same time, I love playing football. And if people are going to give me the opportunity to do that, then yeah, you can\u2019t necessarily let your personal feelings on an organization just from an outsider get in the way of a professional decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though there\u2019s plenty of history between Flacco and the Steelers, there\u2019s also mutual respect that might make a pairing more palatable. Given the lack of free agent and draft options, Flacco might be in more demand than anyone thinks. His last NFL stop could complete the AFC North circle.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe Flacco\u2019s played for three of the four AFC North teams. He has no issues with completing the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":699620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,562,6,520,57,2360,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-699619","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-joe-flacco","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-pittsburgh","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","13":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","14":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115946068890792259","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/699620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}