- The Cincinnati Bengals have acquired 40-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco from the Cleveland Browns.
- Flacco is expected to start immediately for the Bengals, who are 2-3 since Joe Burrow’s injury.
- Cincinnati’s struggling defense, ranked near the bottom of the league, poses a significant challenge to the team’s success.
One team’s trash. Another team’s treasure.
That sums up the exchange for Joe Flacco, who will start at quarterback on Sunday for the desperate Cincinnati Bengals. Last week, the 40-year-old vet was benched for a rookie by the hapless Cleveland Browns. Talk about bolting from the outhouse.
For the second time in three weeks, Flacco will face the Green Bay Packers defense. It makes perfect sense. Or not. Flacco opened this season on Sept. 7 by nearly beating the Bengals, who acquired him from the Browns on Oct. 7 as they try to save a season that hinges on a miracle. Even if Joe Burrow’s rehab from turf toe surgery breaks records, there’s still the matter of the team being positioned to make a legit playoff run.
Keep praying on that.
According to Bengals coach Zac Taylor, here’s how his initial phone conversation with Flacco went after the trade went down:
“Welcome to the club. We’re ready to start you on Sunday.”
Never mind that Flacco, with his fifth team in seven years, was such a disappointment in his return to Cleveland. He threw six interceptions in four games and produced a league-worst 60.3 passer rating. He hardly provided the spark that he did in 2023, when he came off the couch and led the Browns to the playoffs. Then again, Burrow’s replacement, Jake Browning, came off the bench this season and has thrown eight interceptions.
Leadership and a live arm buoy Bengals’ hopes for Flacco
So, switching to Flacco, whose mobility is still a liability, probably can’t make it any worse for a team (2-3) that has lost three consecutive games since Burrow went down in Week 2. Flacco, a former Super Bowl MVP, still has some juice left in what was once one of the NFL’s most powerful arms. And Cincy’s dynamic tandem of star receivers, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins – with value reflected by the contract extensions signed last spring that are worth a combined $276 million – add a layer of hope that he can still catch fire with the pretty rainbow throws that have been part of his package.
Maybe the change of scenery will help. Again. Flacco had his first meeting with Taylor over the phone during a five-hour drive from Cleveland – the team had a driver pick up the QB and his wife, Dana – and that covered the easy stuff he needs to know in breaking in. Formations. Personnel. Motions. Running game concepts.
Over an 18-year NFL journey, Flacco has seen it before. That experience, a still-lively arm and leadership traits are at the basis of the “good fit” that Taylor is selling.
“He’s different than a young quarterback coming in, trying to learn the system and understand what a defense is doing to try to challenge you,” Taylor said during a Wednesday press conference. “Not only that, he’s played Green Bay this year and he’s already gone through a week of prep. So, that’s the nice part.”
Another fascinating twist: Flacco’s new blind side protector, left tackle Orlando Brown, Jr., was a ballboy for his father’s former team, the Baltimore Ravens, when Flacco broke into the league in 2008. In 2018, they were teammates in Baltimore during Brown’s rookie year and Flacco’s final season with the Ravens as the transition to Lamar Jackson began.
“It’s 2025 and Joe Flacco is playing for the Cincinnati Bengals. That is insane,” Brown told reporters in the locker room on Wednesday.
Flashing back to his days as a Ravens ballboy, Brown added, “I have a Joe Flacco-signed ball somewhere. Guarantee it.”
Of course, for a Flacco feel-good story to unfold this time, he will need to develop chemistry with his prime targets and handle other nuances in a new scheme. Like fast.
Flacco may jolt a stalled-out offense. But about the Bengals’ defense…
Oh, and there’s something else that underscores the difficulty of this challenge.
Let Phil Simms, the legendary New York Giants quarterback, explain.
“They got him for one reason. They’re hoping he can find a way to win some games that will give them a shot if Joe Burrow makes it back later in the season,” Simms, the Super Bowl XXI MVP, told USA TODAY Sports. “That’s the hope.
“But unless Joe Flacco turns into Lawrence Taylor and plays defense, too, I don’t see where this is going. Their defense is getting destroyed.”
The Bengals defense ranks 30th in the NFL for yards allowed and 30th for points allowed. It is 29th against the pass. Only Dallas and Baltimore have been worse on defense. That’s the reality check that dampens the possibility that Flacco represents a potential savior for the Bengals.
This predicament also illuminates the risk the Bengals took in giving short shrift to their defense while divvying up salary cap dollars. Betting big on Burrow and the receivers is one thing. But this is what it looks like when going for broke at the expense of investing more into the defense backfires.
For Flacco, though, at least there’s this last hurrah – a chance to play again for a team that desperately needs him to recapture some magic.
Contact Jarrett Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on social media: on X: @JarrettBell; on Bluesky: jarrettbell.bsky.social