Joe Flacco might be in the twilight of his NFL career, but the veteran quarterback and former Super Bowl MVP is taking his one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Philadelphia Eagles as an opportunity to prove that he has plenty left in the tank.
“Once I meet the guys and dive into this offense, it’s going out on the field and proving to everybody that I’m not just some old guy that’s been around the league, is coming to a new team,” Flacco said on Thursday. “My job is to prove to these guys that I deserve some respect and I can play this game at a high level. That’s really what I mean by being competitive and competing, is just showing guys that I know how to do this and I’m going to show you I know how to do this.
“You don’t have to look at what I’ve done in the past in a positive way or a negative way. Just take it for what it is, what you see today, and that’s what I’m here to do.”
The 36-year-old spent last season backing up Sam Darnold with the New York Jets before injuries forced him onto centerstage for four starts. It’s a similar role that he should have behind Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia unless the franchise decides to do something a bit more drastic on the trade market or at the 2021 NFL Draft.
“[Hurts is] excited about it,” Flacco said. “I told him I’m excited about it as well. It’s going to be a lot of fun.”
And even if he has something to prove, one of the top priorities is to make the Eagles better, regardless of his position on the depth chart. So it’s not simply starter-or-bust for the long-time Baltimore Raven.
“I’m not even really looking at it that way at this point,” he said. “Like I said, I really just want to come in and your goal as a football player is to show people around you that you can play football. I don’t care what level of playing that is. Whether you’re the first-string, second-string, third-string guy on the team, you still want to prove to everybody on the football team that you can play football and that you deserve a spot on this team in some capacity. That’s really what my job is.
