Joe Flacco wants a chance to start next season, and barring another injury to Deshaun Watson, the Cleveland Browns will not be able to offer him that opportunity.

That’s why Flacco stands a decent chance of departing the Browns this offseason, and apparently, an AFC team is interested in signing Flacco to be their starting quarterback in 2024.

That team is the New England Patriots.

Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com has reported that the Patriots have expressed interest in signing Flacco as a bridge starter for one year if they selected a signal-caller with the third overall pick in the NFL Draft.

While New England probably won’t be able to select USC’s Caleb Williams or North Carolina’s Drake Maye without trading up, it could take LSU’s Jayden Daniels, who won the Heisman Trophy this past year.

On top of that, Alex Van Pelt, who was the Browns’ offensive coordinator in 2023, has now taken the job of offensive play-caller in Foxborough, so his familiarity with Flacco would pay dividends.

Flacco joined Cleveland’s practice squad back in November, and due to a flurry of injuries to the Browns’ quarterbacks, he was named the team’s starter in December.

He went on to go 4-1 during the regular season, throwing for 1,616 yards, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions while completing 60.3 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 90.2.

Flacco won Comeback Player of the Year for his efforts, and, most importantly, he led the Browns to a playoff berth.

However, Joe Flacco showed his warts in the postseason, throwing a couple of pick-sixes in what ended up being a 45-14 loss to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round.

Still, the 39-year-old showed that he still has something left in the tank, and the Patriots bringing him in to start the season in 2024 while mentoring their first-round pick might be a decent avenue to explore.