When Joe Flacco hit free agency at age 39, fresh off a stunning playoff run with the Browns, his agent contacted all the QB-needy teams.

And in March, as always, there were a lot of them.

But even after a resurgent performance that lifted Cleveland to a wild-card berth following Deshaun Watson’s season-ending shoulder injury, Flacco generated only slightly more interest than the year before. That wasn’t there in 2023. In 2024?

The reigning AP Comeback Player of the Year generated a total of … one bid. That was from the Colts, who signed him to a one-year contract worth up to $8.7 million with a base value of $4.5 million. That’s it.

Joe Linta, who has represented the former Super Bowl MVP throughout his career, received seven direct answers, according to Linta: “No,” one team said, “We’ll see,” and the rest received no response. That one offer paid off.

Once again, Flacco is a starter in the NFL, leading the Colts into Sunday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. It all comes after a tumultuous and consequential week for Indy, as head coach Shane Steichen benched former first-round pick Anthony Richardson for ineffectiveness and installed Flacco as the starter.

Richardson is now the second-best QB pick in the 2023 draft this season. The Panthers benched Bryce Young after the second game of the season, but reinstated him as the starter after veteran Andy Dalton injured his thumb in a car accident last month. Young will start again on Sunday, even though Dalton is left off the injury report, because the organization thought in September that Young would be under center again this season.

Steichen said Wednesday that Flacco was the team’s starter “going forward,” and sources say there is a real chance, barring injuries, that Flacco starts for the remainder of the season. But after this year, sources say, the Colts have no plans to give up Richardson. They believe he has a bright future and hope he will grow despite setbacks.

There is still belief that he will be a starter again in the NFL, and when Colts brass met with him this week, sources say, the examples cited were several QBs who took years to find their form — including Jordan Love. and Alex Smith.