Bengals’ desperation for a new quarterback leads to trading with a rival they’ve never traded with before
Joe Flacco is taking over as Cincinnati’s starting quarterback.
The Cincinnati Bengals have a new quarterback in Joe Flacco.
The Bengals are sending a fifth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for Flacco and a sixth-round pick.
Shocked? I am. This is the first time the Bengals and Browns have traded with each other since the Browns moved back to Cleveland in 1999!
Flacco was Cleveland’s starting quarterback to open this season. He played against Cincinnati in Week 1 and lost, and then started the next three games before being benched for rookie Dillon Gabriel. He threw for 815 yards, two touchdowns, and six interceptions in his short-lived stint as QB1. The Browns only won one game with him as the starter; a 13-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers.
Now 40 years old, Flacco has played 200 regular season games and 22 have been against the Bengals. Cincinnati is now putting its trust in Flacco to salvage the 2025 season with 12 games remaining.
Why the Bengals are trading for Joe Flacco
The Bengals are very desperate, to put it plainly. Jake Browning has been mostly awful as the starter since Joe Burrow suffered his turf toe injury back in Week 2. Browning has lost all three of his starts, and the offense has scored exactly three first-half points in all three games. He’s thrown for 757 yards, six touchdowns, and eight interceptions in total.
Browning has quickly shown he cannot keep the ship afloat for the next couple months until Burrow maybe returns from injury. With the AFC North and the conference so wide open through five weeks, Cincinnati wants to see if its 2-3 record can be enough of a base to make an outside shot at a playoff run.
The Bengals rarely make in-season trades and hate giving up NFL Draft capital to conduct trades at all. That they’re simply swapping Day 3 picks for the Browns further validates that fact. If Browning didn’t play so bad, they wouldn’t have entertained trading for a new QB, let alone one from their divisional rivals, but that’s the reality they’re living.
Flacco represents a potential upgrade despite his shoddy production. He’s significantly more experienced, and the Bengals very much know who he is having game-planned against him as recently as last month.
Why the Browns are trading away Joe Flacco
Flacco being benched for Gabriel came swiftly, and when that happened, he became expendable for Cleveland. The Browns have fellow rookie Shedeur Sanders on the roster, and Bailey Zappe on the practice squad.
Cleveland experienced success with Flacco two years ago and tried to replicate that with rookies needing time to develop behind him. He now gets a chance to play meaningful football again only two weeks after Gabriel was named the starter over him.
“The Browns brought Flacco back in 2025 hoping he could once again spark their offense and provide the same steady presence he did in 2023, when he helped lead them to the playoffs. Kevin Stefanski trusted that Flacco could come in, be a good teammate, and distribute the ball effectively across the offense. Unfortunately, things didn’t click this time around. Through the first four games, Cleveland’s offense and Flacco struggled to find a rhythm, leading to his benching in favor of Gabriel. Flacco turned the ball over eight times compared to just two passing touchdowns, though several of those turnovers weren’t entirely on him. We don’t often see trades within the AFC North, but the Browns did right by Flacco by giving him a chance to start elsewhere — with better weapons and a team aiming to play meaningful football in January. Flacco should help the Bengals move the ball and score points; the question, as always, is whether he can limit the turnovers.” — A to Z Sports Cleveland’s Brandon Little
What’s next
Flacco coming to town via a trade all but cements him as the starter, but the Bengals also need to clear a roster spot to fit him. Browning is likely to become the backup again, which means Brett Rypien makes sense as a candidate for release.
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