The NFL world was rocked on Tuesday when the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals completed a historic first trade between two teams that have been in-state rivals since 1970.
And the most surprised
group may have been at Cleveland headquarters in Berea.
While the head coaches were busy putting together the game plan for this week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bengals came calling about quarterback Joe Flacco, who was demoted to the backup position last week in favor of rookie Dillon Gabriel.
The Bengals were desperate for a quarterback after watching Jake Browning throw a league-high eight interceptions in three starts since replacing the injured Joe Burrow. The Browns decided to do the veteran a solid and agreed to trade him to the Bengals, where Flacco will take over the starter’s role beginning this week against the Green Bay Packers.
Even though the Browns had seen enough of Flacco after four starts and clearly had no plans to play him again this season, the fact that the Bengals initiated the trade discussion caught everyone by surprise, according to head coach Kevin Stefanski:
“I have to tell you that the Joe trade took us by surprise. They wanted Joe; they made the phone call. Obviously, it gives Joe an opportunity to go play again, but I trust in our decisions.”
The Browns signed Flacco in the offseason, hoping he could rekindle some of the magic he had in 2023 when he helped the Browns reach the playoffs. But in the four games he started this year, he posted a QBR of 27.6, last in the NFL but only two spots lower than Browning; averaged just 4.6 yards per pass attempt; and had a 4.2 percent turnover rate, according to ESPN.
Apparently, the Bengals were desperate enough after three games of Browning to overlook that and talk themselves into a quarterback who is just 10-22 as a starter since his final season in Baltimore.
It is admirable that Flacco wants to continue playing, and there is not a quarterback in the league who would not enjoy throwing to Cincinnati wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. But he is not going to a favorable situation. Cincinnati’s offensive line is ranked at No. 30 in the league in pressure rate allowed, not a good sign for an immobile quarterback who has been sacked 80 times in his last 32 starts.
Flacco may be a better option than Browning or rookie Tahj Brooks, but the reality is that he is a long way from that late-season run in 2023. In his last 12 games (four this season with the Browns and eight in 2024 with the Indianapolis Colts), Flacco has thrown for 14 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, while taking 27 sacks.
This is not to knock on Flacco, but the reality is that in his 18th season and after 200 career games, he is simply not the quarterback he once was.
Maybe he does have one last run in him, and the Bengals can hold off opposing defenses long enough for Flacco to simply throw it to Chase or Higgins and hope something good happens. But that seems more like a pleasant fiction that Bengals fans will tell themselves over the next weeks than a realistic plan.
As for the Browns, they can now get back to the task of getting Gabriel ready to face the Steelers while simultaneously answering a never-ending series of questions about the most over-talked about fifth-round quarterback in NFL history.
Who knows? The way things normally turn out for the Browns and their quarterbacks, no one would be surprised if Week 18 rolls around and we are all treated to the spectacle of Shedeur Sanders vs. Joe Flacco in the Battle of Ohio at Paycor Stadium.
