Bengals to acquire Joe Flacco from Browns

The Cincinnati Bengals have indeed changed their tune on a quarterback trade. They will make an intra-AFC North swap, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reporting the team is set to acquire Joe Flacco from the Cleveland Browns. The deal is now official, pending a physical.

Cleveland will acquire a fifth-round pick from Cincinnati, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who adds this pick-swap exchange will involve a sixth going back to the Bengals. The sixth going to Cincy is originally a Detroit selection. After Zac Taylor indicated Jake Browning‘s starting job was in jeopardy, the Bengals will acquire a QB — just not one previously mentioned could be in play. As should be expected, the Bengals (per Schefter) want Flacco to be ready for their Week 6 game against the Packers.

Rather than a bigger swing for Russell Wilson or Kirk Cousins, the Bengals — already rostering a $55M-per-year contract via the September 2023 Joe Burrow extension — will take on Flacco’s one-year, $4.25M deal. Only $1.26M of that is tied up in base salary, meaning the Bengals will only be on the hook for around $1M in additional salary.

Joe Flacco traded for third time

This marks the third time Flacco has been traded. The Broncos obtained the former Super Bowl MVP from the Ravens in 2019, and the Jets reacquired him from the Eagles in 2021. No calls went to the Giants on Wilson or Jameis Winston, per The Athletic’s Dianna Russini. As of Sunday morning, no calls were believed to have gone out. A rough Browning showing against the Lions looks to have changed the team’s stance. While New York retains its Wilson-Winston-Jaxson Dart quarterback room, Cleveland has dealt into its previous four-man competition once again.

This will be Flacco’s seventh NFL team, and he is now a Steelers stop from completing the AFC North cycle. The Browns benched the 40-year-old passer ahead of their Week 5 London trip, going with Dillon Gabriel. Cleveland’s QB depth chart — which once housed both Flacco and Kenny Pickett — has changed significantly over the past several weeks. Cleveland sent Pickett to Las Vegas just before the season. This marks the team’s third QB trade, as it also acquired Pickett from Philadelphia in March.

Receiving poor play from Browning — after he had proved surprisingly effective in 2023 — the Bengals had been calling teams on QBs for the past 48 hours, Rapoport adds. This is just the third in-season player acquisition via trade in the past 53 years for the Bengals, who obtained offensive lineman B.J. Finney in 2020 and running back Khalil Herbert last season. It is a last-ditch move aimed at salvaging a season that has skidded well off track following Burrow’s toe injury.

This marks the first time the Bengals have obtained a player from a division rival in a trade since they landed Hall of Fame wide receiver Charlie Joiner and linebacker Ron Pritchard for running backs Paul Robinson and Fred Willis from then-AFC Central rival Houston Oilers, SI.com’s Jay Morrison notes. This move also comes eight years after the Bengals and Browns nearly made a trade involving Cincinnati backup QB A.J. McCarron. The Browns had been close to acquiring McCarron, but the deal was not finalized in time. The teams will link up on this Flacco swap nearly a month before this year’s trade deadline.

The Browns and Bengals faced off in Week 1, with Flacco facing Burrow. By the sides’ Week 18 rematch, Cincy hopes to have Burrow back at the controls. After losing three straight blowouts, the Bengals looked closer to eventually determining Burrow would need to be shelved for the season’s remainder. Now, they will hope Flacco can elevate their offense in hopes of revitalizing contention hopes in what could be Trey Hendrickson‘s final season in Cincinnati.

In Week 1, the Bengals edged a Flacco-quarterbacked Browns team 17-16. Cleveland doubled up Cincinnati in first downs (22-11), and Flacco completed 31 of 45 passes for 290 yards. He threw a touchdown pass and two interceptions, but both picks came on drops by Browns receivers. Flacco, though, has been unable to curb his INT trend, leading to the Gabriel promotion. The 18-year veteran threw four more INTs from Weeks 2-4, completing just 58.1% of his passes at an anemic 5.1 yards per attempt. Flacco’s weaponry situation will improve significantly, however, following this trade.

Joe Flacco could be upgrade for Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins

Although Flacco is not exactly the most stable option, his 2023 Cleveland cameo shows the upgrade Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins could see. The Browns added Flacco on a practice squad deal that year, giving him five starts following Deshaun Watson‘s season-ending injury. Flacco led a team missing Nick Chubb and both starting tackles to the playoffs, going 4-1 as a starter and winning Comeback Player of the Year acclaim.

The Browns flamed out in the wild-card round and did not offer Flacco a contract to stay, instead making a final bid to build around Watson in 2024. Flacco ended up in Indianapolis as Anthony Richardson insurance, but after the Colts signed Daniel Jones this offseason, he returned to Cleveland as the elder statesman in an otherwise young QB room.

Making 195 career starts, the former 11-year Ravens QB1 prevailed in the Browns’ four-man quarterback competition this summer. It did not turn out to be very close, as a Pickett hamstring injury removed him from the running. Pickett is now backing up Geno Smith in Las Vegas. With the Browns undoubtedly eyeing a 2026 draft move for a longer-term replacement, Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders‘ presences notwithstanding, the team being unconcerned with dealing a passer to help a division rival makes sense. Sanders should also be expected to rise from QB3 to QB2 on Cleveland’s depth chart.

Browning will be set to slide down Cincinnati’s. After replacing an injured Burrow more effectively in 2023, Browning proved woeful — save for some garbage-time work against the Lions — in his second Cincy starter stint. He threw eight interceptions in four games, including three against Detroit in Week 5.

The Bengals lost by a combined 113-37 against the Vikings, Broncos and Lions. Taylor had gone from offering Browning support ahead of Week 5 to walking it back following the home loss to the Lions. The 2-3 team is throwing a Hail Mary of sorts in Flacco, but the operation was careening off the rails with Browning running the show.

Flacco went 2-4 as a Colts starter last season, and while he posted a 12:7 TD-INT ratio, his form did not closely rival the 2023 Cleveland work. The Bengals also have experienced O-line issues for years. Going into Week 5, Pro Football Focus ranked Cincinnati’s O-line last in the NFL. The stationary QB could struggle behind that quintet, even though he operated well without then-Browns starting tackles Jedrick Wills and Jack Conklin late in the ’23 season.

This will be a wildly interesting experiment for the Bengals, who paid up to extend both Chase and Higgins this offseason. Browning’s form had reduced the marquee receivers’ value; the team will hope Flacco can restore it while Burrow rehabs. A mid-December return is viewed as the goal for Burrow. Flacco helping at least restore offensive competency would stand to keep that hope in play.