Bengals Beat: Will 40-Year-Old Joe Flacco Light The Downfield Dynamite In The Bengals Offense?

CINCINNATI — Well, they made a move.

Realizing that something had to be done after Jake Browning threw eight interceptions and six touchdowns in 14 quarters of play as Joe Burrow’s backup, the Bengals Tuesday acquired quarterback Joe Flacco and a 2026 sixth-round draft pick from the Cleveland Browns for Cincinnati’s 2026 fifth-round draft choice. The Bengals also released quarterback Brett Rypien.

Flacco is in line to start this Sunday against the Green Bay Packers after Browning posted a 26.0 quarterback rating midway through the third quarter and falling behind the Lions 28-3, their second straight 25-point deficit in the middle of game. As a matter of fact, the Bengals have trailed by 45, 25 and 25 points in each of their last three games. If he starts this Sunday, he will become the first quarterback ever to start for the Browns, Bengals and Ravens.

While there have been multiple reasons for this historic non-competitive streak in Bengal history, the Bengals could not go any further with the status quo at the game’s most important position.

That’s what Tuesday’s move was about. The Bengals were not going to overpay for a bandaid for the offense. Flacco offers the perfect solution in terms of being able to feed the ball deep to the targets that the Bengals spent $275 million on in the offseason. Flacco still has the strong arm to get the ball deep.

Browning, in four games and three starts in place of Burrow, completed 80-of-124 passes for 757 yards, with six touchdowns but eight interceptions. More telling, Partially because of a lack of scheming from the coaching staff, Browning was not able to find ways to get the ball to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in positions where they could do damage.

The issue is going to be whether he will have anytime to get the ball downfield. The offensive line remains very problematic, even with the pending return of right guard Lucas Patrick. They still can’t run the ball consistently, so the play-action option will still be hard to sell. The 40-year-old Flacco is the most immobile quarterback remaining active in the NFL. That doesn’t sound like a great formula for success but if the Bengals can keep Flacco upright, he offers a better arm in the pocket than Browning. Brett Rypien and Mike White were released Tuesday and Sean Campbell remains on the practice squad.

The Bengals are looking to re-capture 2023 Flacco. That year, Flacco came in and led the Browns to four straight wins to finish the regular season after Deshaun Watson went down. After losing to the Rams in LA, he won his next four starts. He started the Wild Card game in Houston and threw for 307 yards, completing 34-of-46 passes with a touchdown and two interceptions. Flacco threw for over 300 yards in all six of his starts, throwing 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, including the 45-14 loss in the playoffs at Houston.

Flacco gives the Bengals a 6-6, 245-pound quarterback who can see easily over the line of scrimmage and has a wealth of experience in reading different defenses.

In the season opener on Sept. 7 in Cleveland, Flacco completed 31-of-45 passes for 290 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. Flacco, in four starts this season, completed 58.1 percent of his passes, totaling 815 yards. But he’s thrown just two touchdowns while getting intercepted six times. After completing just 16-of-34 passes for 184 yards against Detroit on Sept. 28, he was benched the next week for rookie Dillon Gabriel.

A first-round draft pick of Baltimore in 2008, Flacco has played in 200 career regular-season games with 195 starts for the Ravens (2008-’18), Denver Broncos (’19), N.Y. Jets (’20-21), Cleveland Browns (’23, ’25), and Indianapolis Colts (’24). His career totals include 4259 completions on 6911 attempts for 46,512 yards, 259 TDs and 168 INTs. He also has 392 rushing attempts for 903 yards and 16 TDs.

Additionally, Flacco has played and started 16 postseason games, completing 287 of 493 passes for 3530 yards, 26 TDs and 12 INTs.

“Joe is an experienced quarterback with a history of winning,” said Bengals head coach Zac Taylor. “He is a leader with a skill set that will fit our personnel well. He is a gifted passer with a strong arm, and we are excited to have him on our team.”