Joe Flacco was sitting on his couch at this time last year hoping to get another shot at playing. He’s now the league’s best backup quarterback, after signing with the Cleveland Browns in November, taking over as the starter thanks to Deshaun Watson’s season-ending surgery, helping the team make the postseason and winning the NFL Comeback Player of the Year.

Maybe there’s some more magic left in this 39-year-old veteran.

Obviously, Flacco left the Browns to join the Indianapolis Colts this offseason because Cleveland planned to move forward with Watson and new backup Jameis Winston, even though the former is still dealing with arm soreness.

The Colts meanwhile, are full speed ahead with Anthony Richardson as their proposed franchise quarterback.

The Flacco signing is insurance in case Richardson’s style leads to another injury. Last year’s fourth overall draft pick suffered a season-ending shoulder injury himself. Although he appears completely healthy now.

Still, the Colts seem to be hedging their bet so they can still push toward the postseason if Richardson gets dinged again. What they really should be doing is going all in with Richardson. He’s the guy. The offense is built around his unique physical gifts, which Flacco basically falls on the opposite side of the spectrum.

If another team wants to give Flacco one more run to see what it can do, the Colts can maximize trade value and add $3.5 million more to next year’s rollover cap.