Joe Flacco contract details: How Browns QB can make $4 million more in incentives if Cleveland keeps winning

Jacob Camenker

Joe Flacco contract details: How Browns QB can make $4 million more in incentives if Cleveland keeps winning image

Browns fans can officially breathe a sigh of relief: Joe Flacco has signed a contract to remain with the team for the rest of the season.

Flacco has started each of Cleveland's last two games after being elevated from the team's practice squad. Kevin Stefanski had announced after the Browns beat the Jaguars that Flacco would start for the rest of the season, but the team had to get him onto the active roster to ensure that could happen.

As long as Flacco remained on the practice squad, another team could have tried to poach him. Granted, this would require a team to give Flacco a Godfather offer to join them and for him to agree to go to them, so it was always unlikely that Flacco would land elsewhere.

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Still, eliminating the minuscule chance that could happen has to make Browns fans feel a bit less anxious than before.

Now, Flacco can officially settle in as Cleveland's top quarterback and try to guide the Browns on a playoff run in the crowded AFC. The 38-year-old has one Super Bowl win to his name with the Ravens in 2013, so the Browns faithful will be hoping he can get on a hot streak similar to the one he rode to a ring.

And Flacco will be hoping to get there as well. Not just for the glory of earning a second win, but also fro the financial benefits that would come with it.

Here's what to know about Flacco's new deal with the Browns and the big-time incentives within it.

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Joe Flacco contract details

Flacco signed a one-year contract with the Browns. The QB's base salary will be $370,800, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, but the deal includes incentives that could be worth $4.05 million, per ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Schefter reports that Flacco will have incentives tied to wins for the remainder of the 2023 regular season and 2024 postseason. Notably, Flacco can make $2 million if he leads his team to a Super Bowl victory.

Below is a look at the reported incentives tied to his contract:

Game Winning incentive 
Regular-season wins $75,000 per game
Wild-card round $250,000
Divisional round $500,000
AFC championship $1 million
Super Bowl $2 million

Even if Flacco is signed for the veteran minimum for the rest of the season, this will give him a chance to become an adequately compensated backup quarterback while maintaining the flexibility to sign another deal next offseason.

As such, this seems like a mutually beneficial agreement — even if Flacco is more concerned with fit than he is with money at this point in his career.

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Joe Flacco career earnings

It makes sense that Flacco wouldn't be too worried about the total value of his contract at this point. He has already made more than $174.6 million during his career thanks to a lucrative extension he inked with the Ravens after winning a Super Bowl. That makes him the 16th-highest earner in NFL history, per Spotrac.com.

Flacco has also played 16 NFL seasons, and that longevity has helped him to bolster his earnings. And given that he has been solid for the Browns in two games to date, it wouldn't be surprising to see him land another backup-level deal during the 2024 offseason.

So, soon enough, Flacco's career NFL earnings could creep over the $180 million mark.

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker Photo

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.