The Cincinnati Bengals quarterback situation continues to evolve as a few minutes ago, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that the Bengals have made a trade with the Cleveland Browns for veteran quarterback Joe Flacco. The Bengals lost star quarterback Joe Burrow to turf toe, whose injury sidelined him for 2-3 months. Bengals backup Jake Browning has started three games since (including subbing in for Burrow in their week 3 win against Jacksonville), and has had a rough go of it, throwing 8 interceptions to just 6 touchdowns, with a measly 64.5% completion percentage. In Browning’s three starts, the Bengals have been outscored 113-37 and have lost all three games.
Joe Flacco, who started all four games for the Browns before getting benched for rookie Dillon Gabriel, was not much better in his stint as starter. He was actually much worse throwing only 2 touchdowns to 6 interceptions completing just 58.1% of his passes. The Browns were just 1-3 in Flacco’s starts, their only win coming in a 13-10 defensive battle with the Packers.
In the deal, Cincinnati also received a sixth-round draft pick while Cleveland landed a fifth-round pick in the trade, which was announced Tuesday. However, the Bengals front-office has made a consistent trend of decisions that highlight their hesitation to invest in the team, and rather to find the cheapest option available. Bengals fans were stewing over the Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins lengthy contract disputes, the Trey Hendrickson debacle, and now the teams decision to seek a QB to replace the current starter even though Flacco’s production has been lesser throughout the season.
Flacco also put together a productive yet faulty stretch last season with the Indianapolis Colts, when he replaced an injured Anthony Richardson. In eight games — six starts — with Indianapolis, Flacco completed 65.3% of his passes for 1761 yards and 12 touchdowns.
The Cincinnati Bengals will face off Sunday against the Packers, the last team to lose to Flacco. Kick-off will be at 3:25 PM CT.
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