The New York Jets have brought back a familiar face. On Monday, the club agreed to terms on a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles that sends veteran quarterback Joe Flacco to East Rutherford in exchange for a conditional Day 3 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. Currently, that pick is a sixth-rounder but can be boosted to a fifth-round pick based on Flacco’s playing time.
Of course, the Jets know Flacco quite well as he spent all of last season with the club, inking a one-year deal with them back in May 2020. During that lone season with New York, Flacco started five games and completed 55.2% of his throws for 864 yards, six touchdowns, and three interceptions.
The desire to bring him back comes in the aftermath of rookie quarterback Zach Wilson suffering a sprained PCL on Sunday against the Patriots that will sideline him for the next few weeks.
Below, we’ll dive into this trade a bit deeper and hand out our grades for how each team in the transaction made out.
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Jets: B+
The Jets certainly were in need of some experienced quarterback depth, especially after Wilson’s injury. Prior to Sunday’s game in Foxborough, backup Mike White had yet to see any NFL action in his career since coming into the league as a fifth-round draft choice of the Cowboys in 2018. That really is the only critique of this trade from the Jets’ standpoint and what keeps them out of the “A” range. That established veteran backup should have already been in-house to complement Wilson as he began his rookie year as the starter instead of having a signal-caller that has yet to sniff an actual NFL game. Having to give up any draft capital to acquire one in the middle of the season — even if it is a Day 3 pick — doesn’t help a still-rebuilding team.
As for the addition itself, it’s a strong one for the Jets. While Flacco is returning to a Jets team that is now run by first-year head coach Robert Saleh and first-year offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, he should be able to get up to speed in this offense rather quickly. LaFleur, of course, comes from the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree as does Rich Scangarello, who was the Broncos OC when Flacco was in Denver in 2019.
Eagles: A
Philadelphia continues to add to its treasure trove of draft picks in 2022 and does so by getting rid of a disposable asset in Flacco. Following the trade, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni said he is quite comfortable with Gardner Minshew as a backup to Jalen Hurts and reports suggest quite possibly as their starting quarterback in the near future. If this move paves the way for a more stable quarterback situation going forward, it’s hard not to like it. This deal also essentially recoups the asset lost when the Eagles traded for Minshew back in late August as he was also acquired for a conditional sixth-rounder.
