Joe Flacco Rumors: Multiple Teams Interested in QB; Neck Injury Being Assessed

Veteran quarterback Joe Flacco is reportedly generating interest on the free-agent market after the Denver Broncos released him with a failed physical designation Thursday.

According to SiriusXM NFL's Adam Caplan, more than one team is interested in Flacco, but an assessment of his neck injury is ongoing.

After spending his first 11 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens, Flacco was traded to Denver last offseason. Flacco made eight starts for the Broncos, but a neck injury cut his season short.

The 35-year-old Flacco was supplanted by then-rookie Lamar Jackson as the Ravens' starter in 2018, but Broncos general manager John Elway hoped he could recapture some of his former magic in Denver.

Instead, Flacco went 2-6 while completing 65.3 percent of his passes for 1,822 yards, six touchdowns and five interceptions during his eight-game Broncos career.

Rookie Drew Lock eventually took over as Denver's starter, and after showing some big-time flashes down the stretch, the Broncos clearly made the decision to move forward with Lock in the starting role.

While Flacco has dealt with injuries each of the past two seasons, he didn't miss a single game in nine of his first 10 NFL campaigns. Also, Flacco owns a solid career record of 98-73 as a starter with seven playoff appearances.

Flacco is also the Ravens' all-time leader in passing yards (38,245), passing touchdowns (212) and interceptions (136).

The most memorable run of Flacco's NFL career undoubtedly came during the 2012 postseason when he went on a magical run. In four playoff games, Flacco went 4-0 with 1,140 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and no interceptions, culminating in Baltimore beating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII and Flacco being named Super Bowl MVP.

Flacco is far removed from that performance at this point, but teams may see some value in adding a Super Bowl-winning quarterback as a veteran backup.

Even so, Flacco may need to take a wait-and-see approach since the coronavirus pandemic has prevented NFL teams from using their team doctors to perform medical examinations on players.

Once the dust clears and usual business resumes, however, Flacco could be a hot commodity for teams in search of a capable backup provided his neck injury isn't determined to be serious.