Browns general manager Andrew Berry would 'absolutely love' to have Joe Flacco back in 2024

Joe Flacco's magical, off-the-couch run with the Browns saw them reach the playoffs despite an avalanche of key injuries. In the process, Flacco reintroduced himself to the football world.

The 38-year-old quarterback carried Cleveland's offense in his five regular-season starts, winning all but his first. He threw for 300-plus passing yards in each of his final four regular-season outings, setting a Browns franchise record for the longest such streak in team history and becoming the second-oldest QB to do so behind only Tom Brady in NFL history.

As Mark Wahlberg once said in the 2010 film, The Fighter, many of the defenses Flacco faced likely reached the same conclusion: "He did not just come off the couch. If he did, I want to buy a couch like that." The Browns, meanwhile, saw enough to be quite interested in keeping Flacco around in 2024.

"We'd absolutely love to have Joe back, he's a good quarterback," Browns general manager Andrew Berry said Monday. "I guess maybe a little bit similar to Jacoby (Brissett) last year. It depends, right? I want to bring all of our good players back, but there are constraints to that. … Would have no problem having Joe back."

It is vitally important to note that Flacco would not return to compete for Cleveland's starting job, instead sticking around to serve as the backup to the Browns' $230 million dollar man, Deshaun Watson. Some Browns fans who quickly latched onto Flacco might argue otherwise, but from a franchise planning and financial perspective, it's clear who is QB1 in Cleveland, even after Flacco's arrival boosted the Browns' offense to levels unseen since the days of Derek Anderson.

The best way to avoid fueling a fire of controversy is to make this fact clear from the beginning,