The Cincinnati Bengals have been searching for an answer at quarterback since Joe Burrow went down with a long-term injury. QB Jake Browning hasn’t quite done the job for Cincinnati as they look to stay in playoff contention until a potential Burrow return late in the season.
The Cleveland Browns recently benched Joe Flacco, and the Bengals made a move to acquire him.
Bengals Make a Trade for Flacco
Flacco will be moving across Ohio to his new team in Cincinnati. The Bengals weren’t committed to Browning’s status for next week, and his future is even murkier with Flacco coming to town.
The Browns traded away Flacco and a 6th rounder to the Bengals for a 5th rounder.
The #Bengals are trading for Joe Flacco, per me and @TomPelissero
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 7, 2025
Despite his old age, Flacco is a veteran who has shown he can still sling it in spurts. The Bengals will likely turn to him as their quarterback and try to get the offense clicking into gear once again. Flacco struggled in his first four games of the season with the Browns.
Flacco is the 35th-ranked quarterback in PFSN’s Quarterback Impact score with a failing grade of 53.7. There are only two quarterbacks below him, Cam Ward and Browning. While it’s not a huge upgrade, Flacco is an upgrade over Browning.
MORE: PFSN’s QB Impact Score Rankings
The 40-year-old quarterback will be linking up with a much-improved receiving core with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins as his new receivers. Chase has had an up-and-down season with a few strong games and some tough ones as well. He finished third in Offensive Player of the Year voting in 2024. The Bengals will be hoping that bringing in Flacco can limit the inconsistencies and get Chase back to his dominant self week in and week out.
The Bengals discussed a few quarterback options after losing to the Lions in Week 5. Trading for one of the Giants’ backups, Jameis Winston or Russell Wilson, could have made sense, but they reportedly never made a call to New York, according to Dianna Russini. Flacco was the man they landed on, and he will likely be the guy under center for the Bengals in Week 6 or in the near future.
The Bengals internally discussed different options at QB. I’m told the team never called the Giants about trading for either Russell Wilson or Jameis Winston before making a move for veteran Joe Flacco.
— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) October 7, 2025
The Bengals are 2-3 through five weeks and are already two games out of the division lead. Luckily for them, the Ravens and Browns are worse, and they are second in the AFC North right now. It is time for them to turn the season around, and they will likely entrust Flacco with those duties.
This trade also significantly impacts Cleveland. It solidifies rookie Dillon Gabriel’s grip on the starting job and could mean that Shedeur Sanders will be active on gameday as Cleveland’s new backup quarterback. After starting the season as QB4 on the depth chart, Sanders could move up to QB2 after not seeing any reps with the starters in the preseason.
The deal shocked the NFL media as it came out of nowhere. “This is the first trade between the Browns and Bengals since Cleveland returned to the NFL in 1999,” wrote NFL insider Adam Schefter on X. “They tried in 2017, when the Bengals attempted to trade QB AJ McCarron to the Browns for draft compensation, but the Browns failed to file the paperwork in time.”
It makes some sense for both sides. The Bengals could use a veteran to lead their offense as they hope to stay in contention, while the Browns can get draft capital for an aging quarterback and give Gabriel the keys to the offense now. Now, it’s a waiting game to see how this pans out over the season for these franchises.