NFL Insider Sheds Light on Bengals' Trade Pursuit for New Starting QB Joe Flacco

Duke Tobin had enough.

The Bengals Director of Player Personnel led Cincinnati's pursuit of a new quarterback earlier this week. Ian Rapoport shared interesting insight on the Bengals' push for a new quarterback.

"For 48 hours or so after Sunday's game, Duke Tobin essentially called every everyone," Rapoport said. "[He] Canvassed the league looking for a quarterback. Plenty of calls. Plenty of times got told 'no.' Ended up calling the Cleveland Browns and I would say in the span of a couple hours, maybe less, they land Joe Flacco."

Flacco will start on Sunday in Green Bay. The veteran quarterback is expected to be able to maximize the Bengals' strength: their weapons.

"They believe his experience with so many schemes can let him hit the ground running," Rapoport said. "He has never had weapons like he has in Cincinnati."

The Bengals are banking on Flacco to get the ball to Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Chase Brown and the rest of their high-end skill players.

"I appreciate the organization is trying to make this work," Chase said on Thursday. "We've got a chance. Defense is doing a good enough job for us to help us out. Our playmakers have got to make plays in space. That's what they [the front office] sees, and that's what they want us to keep doing. They're just giving us an opportunity to make more of those plays happen."

"He threw a deep ball yesterday and we were like 'he's still got it, for sure,'" Higgins said with a smile.

Higgins needs Flacco as much as anyone on the roster. He has 13 catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns in five games. He's on pace for career lows in catches (44), yards (537) and yards-per-reception (12.2). It's worth noting that Higgins had 42 catches in 2023, but that was in 12 games. If he plays all 17 games at his current pace, he'll finish the season with 44 receptions and 537 yards.

For more from Higgins, check out our 1-on-1 conversation with him here. Watch Rapoport's commentary on the Flacco trade below: