Philadelphia Eagles fans shouldn’t be surprised by apathetic Flacco signing

The Philadelphia Eagles land a guy they’ve long been interested in. Unfortunately, they get him a lot later than they would have liked. They get him when he isn’t very good anymore. Why should any of us be surprised though?

Joe Flacco signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal on March 23rd, and the hope kind of fizzles out once you get past one argument, one that states that he, hopefully, can benefit Philly’s quarterback room by sharing the knowledge he’s gained over the course of 11 NFL seasons.

Call it a crazy statement, but he seems like he’s at least been in the league three years longer than that. Ladies and gentlemen, Joe Flacco is an Eagle, and it’s a move that isn’t generating much excitement in the Birds fan base. Hey, at least we know he won’t be wearing the number 5 jersey.

Once upon a time, this was a guy Philadelphia Eagles fans actually wanted.

After five years of Carson Wentz, it might be hard to remember this, but there was a time when Philadelphia Eagles fans looked over at what was going on with the AFC’s Baltimore Ravens and were forced to deal with a little bit of envy, especially in 2012.

The Ravens raised their second Vince Lombardi Trophy at the season’s end after a brilliant four-game postseason run by their signal-caller. Flacco, a native of Audubon, New Jersey, posted a 4-0 record while tossing 11 touchdowns versus zero interceptions.

Philly wondered what it would be like to bring a guy that grew up in their backyard home, but things never worked out that way, until now. Unfortunately, they’ve seemingly done so much too late.

Since the end of the 2012-2013 NFL season, Flacco hasn’t played a full 16-game schedule since 2017. He’s 6-15 as the starter in the last 22 games that he’s appeared in from 2018 to 2020. He’s started 21 of those with three different teams: the Ravens, the New York Jets, and the Denver Broncos.

Now, all of the bad results aren’t Flacco’s fault. He’s thrown 24 touchdowns versus 14 interceptions during that time, but the resume prior to 2018 wasn’t one to write home about either.

After the Ravens’ Super Bowl march in 2012, Flacco only led them to two more winning seasons from 2013 to 2017. Sure, he had two 8-8 runs in there, but no one’s going to throw a parade for a .500 record in the NFL.

The 2018 run ended with Baltimore handing the ball to Lamar Jackson, and Flacco, now on his fourth team in as many seasons, doesn’t look like someone who will ever duplicate what we saw from him during that aforementioned 2012-2013 Super Bowl march again, which makes him exactly the type of guy that Philly is looking for.

The mediocre efforts of the Philadelphia Eagles continue.

To make long stories shorter, why would this move surprise you if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan? They had a shot at D.K. Metcalf. They wanted JJ Arcega-Whiteside. A year later, with Justin Jefferson on the draft board, they took Jalen Reagor.

Eric Bieniemy was someone that they could have interviewed for their head-coaching position. They wanted Nick Sirianni. They’ve had the opportunity to go after real offensive coordinators like Jim Caldwell, a guy that not only tutored Flacco during that 2012 season but Peyton Manning as well. Instead, they settled on Shane Steichen.

This Eagles team has accepted mediocrity, not once or twice, but constantly since that 2017-2018 season. It would seem like you’d land a quarterback that could win games if something happens to your starter, but why would Philly do that?

It’s painful to say this, but Orlando Scandrick was right. This is the way now. This is their new norm, and frankly, at this point, it’s become increasingly difficult to identify what it will take for them to turn things around. This is a bad football team, and a 5-11 record in 2021 feels like the end game.