Bengals considered a dozen QBs before acquiring Joe Flacco from Browns

The Cincinnati Bengals acquired veteran quarterback Joe Flacco from the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 7, hoping that he could keep them in the playoff hunt until Joe Burrow potentially returns from the toe injury he suffered in Week 2. 

For an article published on Thursday, NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated revealed that the Bengals compiled a long list of options for a temporary fill-in for Burrow. 

Bengals considered these QBs before trading for Joe Flacco

According to Breer, the Bengals considered acquiring Los Angeles Rams backups Stetson Bennett and Jimmy Garoppolo, retired signal-caller Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons, Tommy DeVito of the New England Patriots, Josh Johnson of the Washington Commanders, Drew Lock of the Seattle Seahawks, Tanner McKee of the Philadelphia Eagles, Davis Mills of the Houston Texans, Anthony Richardson of the Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants backups Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston before Cincinnati chose Flacco. 

Stetson Bennett has never thrown a regular-season pass as a pro, and Garoppolo hasn't been a legitimate starter for a playoff team since the 2022 season. Derek Carr reportedly won't unretire to join a team that could bench him for an injured starter later in the season. There's no indication the Falcons are in a rush to trade Cousins at a discounted price. 

DeVito and McKee are mostly unproven commodities, while Lock and Johnson are journeymen "break-glass-in-case-of-emergency" options. Mills hasn't started a game since the 2022 season, and Richardson may need to complete a career reset with a new team that involves him sitting through the bulk of a campaign. Meanwhile, the Bengals never contacted the Giants about either Wilson or Winston. 

Why the Bengals ultimately chose Joe Flacco

As for Flacco, the 40-year-old former Super Bowl MVP played for the Baltimore Ravens from 2008 through the 2018 season. He later helped the 2023 Browns qualify for the playoffs, and he inked a one-year, $4M contract worth up to $13M with incentives to return to Cleveland in the offseason.

Flacco lost three of four starts in September with the Browns before he was benched in favor of rookie Dillon Gabriel.

"Flacco emerged as the most viable option," Breer added. "He was affordable, yes. But it was more than that — his ability in the dropback game would allow the staff to run the closest thing to a Burrow offense, which in turn would maximize the talent on hand. All that AFC North experience was a factor, too, with the Bengals still having five division games left." 

One of those division games will occur Thursday night when the 2-4 Bengals host the 4-1 Pittsburgh Steelers. If Flacco loses in front of a primetime audience, the Bengals may be wondering what could have been if they had taken a different approach to their quarterback situation.