There was a brief bit of Joe Flacco-to-New York chatter on Thursday after Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart suffered an injury, but don’t expect the Bengals quarterback to start packing his bags for the Big Apple just yet.
Flacco addressed the trade speculation in an interview with Kelsey Conway of The Cincinnati Enquirer
, making it pretty clear that he has no reason to believe Cincinnati is looking to move him.“I have no reason to believe that,” Flacco said when asked if he expects to be traded.
The veteran quarterback even said some of his friends had already started joking with him about a potential reunion with Giants head coach John Harbaugh, who coached Flacco in Baltimore.
“It’s obviously not real and not true, but it was good enough to get people, certain friends of mine, to text me, ‘Hey I’ll see you in New York,’” Flacco said. “I was like, ‘No, guys, you won’t, that’s not true.’”
Of course, Flacco also knows better than most that things can change quickly in the NFL.
He didn’t exactly see his move to Cincinnati coming last season, either. The Browns traded Flacco to the Bengals after Joe Burrow’s season-ending injury, putting the veteran in position to start four games for Cincinnati.
“I had no idea I was going to get traded last year, so you never know,” Flacco said.
That may be the most important caveat here.
Flacco is currently the Bengals’ backup to Burrow, and he’s made it clear that he remains focused on Cincinnati. But if another quarterback-needy team comes calling, the Bengals will ultimately have the decision to make.
For now, though, Flacco isn’t expecting anything to happen.
“I’m a Cincinnati Bengal, and I’m doing everything I can to get ready for the Pittsburgh Steelers,” he said.
And given what happened to him last year, he probably won’t be taking anything for granted.
