The Bengals have re-signed QB Joe Flacco to a 1 year/$6M deal. Per Ian Rapoport, it can be worth up to $9M with incentives.
He was originally a 1st round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in 2008. After a decade in Baltimore, serving as a rival to the Bengals, he had stints with the Broncos, Jets (x2), Eagles, Browns, and Colts. He ended up back in Cleveland for a second stint in 2025, where he opened the season as the starter. But in what was shaping up to be a lost season, he was benched to give their two rookie QB’s playing time.
Cincinnati, in need of a QB with Burrow hurt and Jake Browning struggling, traded for Flacco at the deadline. The veteran QB came in and was able to take advantage of the weapons at his disposal, helping to lead a potent offence. Unfortunately, defensive collapses made it so that he only won one of his starts, despite multiple high scoring efforts.
Flacco won the respect of the coaching staff, players, and fanbase, not only for his play on the field, but his attitude off it. Entering the offseason, the Bengals expressed their desire to have him back, while the veteran acknowledged that there was some interest on his end, too. Still, the 41 year old wanted a chance to start, and took his time to weigh all the options during free agency.
The Bengals were waiting for some of the other dominoes to fall. Flacco was searching for a chance to start, but with a handful of other veteran QB’s on the market this year, he never got that chance. If he was going to take a backup job, Cincinnati always seemed like the most likely destination, and now that has come to fruition on what is a fairly cheap deal for a good backup QB.
Flacco is locked into the second string job behind Joe Burrow. This is probably the best position they have been in at QB2 since AJ McCarron’s first stint with the team ended nearly a decade ago. The team also signed Josh Johnson recently. He will compete with Sean Clifford for the third string position, which will likely be on the practice squad. It is also possible that they add to the competition with a draft pick or an undrafted free agent following the draft.
Thumbnail Image Via: Keith Allison (CC)