The Cincinnati Bengals announced on Tuesday that they have acquired veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, 40, from the Cleveland Browns. Cleveland will also send a sixth-round draft pick to Cincinnati in exchange for a fifth-round selection as part of the deal.
CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones confirmed in a post on X: “The Cincinnati Bengals are trading for Browns QB Joe Flacco, source tells @NFLonCBS. Bengals coach Zac Taylor cracked the door for QB change after bad performances by Jake Browning, and they bring in the veteran from the AFC North rival to help them save their season.”
The move comes as the Bengals lost QB Joe Burrow for the season after he suffered a turf toe injury in Week 2. Following Burrow’s injury, head coach Zac Taylor had Jake Browning filling in as his new starter. However with Browning filling in, Cincinnati’s offense has struggled badly, suffering blowout losses of 48-10 to the Vikings, 28-3 to the Broncos, and 37-24 to the Lions.
Just last week, Taylor said he had “a ton of confidence” in Browning, and was “unwavering in that.” However, after the Bengals’ 37-24 loss to the Detroit Lions on Sunday, Taylor changed his tune, stating: “After a game like that we’re going to look at all personnel to make sure we’re doing the right thing. I won’t shy away from that because it’s a very fair question after the amount of turnovers we had. To say Jake can’t win games for us, I believe Jake can win games for us. I do. We’ll just continue to look at everything we can personnel-wise.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that “the Bengals would like Flacco to start this Sunday at the Green Bay Packers, and expect him to be a quick learner.”
Reports state that the Bengals explored several quarterback options before they settled on Flacco, a seasoned 18-year NFL veteran with extensive starting experience. Flacco returned to Cleveland this season after spending 2024 with the Indianapolis Colts. He opened the year as the Browns’ starter; however after a 1-3 start, he was benched in favor of rookie Dillon Gabriel ahead of the Week 5 matchup against Minnesota.
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