Bengals QB Joe Flacco says he has no reason to believe he will be traded

The season-ending injury to New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart sparked immediate trade speculation as to what the team would do in an effort to replace him and try to stay in playoff contention.

One name that was inevitably brought up was Cincinnati Bengals backup quarterback Joe Flacco. Not only because he is a veteran quarterback that has shown an ability to change teams mid-season and produce, but also because he has a history with Giants head coach John Harbaugh.

The two won a Super Bowl together with the Baltimore Ravens.

While Flacco acknowledges you can never predict a trade, he also made it clear on Thursday he has no reason to believe that is on the horizon for him. 

Joe Flacco is committed to the Cincinnati Bengals until they tell him not to be

The Bengals acquired Flacco in an in-season trade with the Cleveland Browns during the 2025 season after Joe Burrow was injured. While the Bengals only won one of the six games Flacco started, he mostly played well and completed 61.7% of his passes with 13 touchdowns to four interceptions.

He remained in Cincinnati this season to back up Burrow.

Flacco told Kelsey Conway the Cincinnati Enquirer on Thursday that he has heard the speculation, but that he has no intentions of leaving Cincinnati at the moment.

“It’s not up to me. I’m on the Cincinnati Bengals, and because of that, that’s my focus, is just being here, and doing the things I need to do to get better each day while I’m here,” Flacco said. “I get a little bit of a kick out of it, but it’s kind of out of my hands. I’m a Cincinnati Bengal and I’m doing everything I can to get ready for the Pittsburgh Steelers.”

It's the right approach, and it would also be the right approach for the Bengals to keep Flacco.

As great as Burrow is, he has a tendency to miss games and the Bengals probably do not want to take any chances by getting rid of his top backup when they do not need to. This is an all-in season for Cincinnati, and it's even more important for teams in that position to have a backup they can rely on. 

The Giants will likely have to look elsewhere if they want to bring somebody else in to compete with (or back up) veteran Jameis Winston.