Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco signed a new deal with the Bengals.
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Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco signed a new deal with the Bengals.
Joe Flacco is staying in the AFC North for another season.
The 41-year-old quarterback has agreed to a new one-year deal with the Cincinnati Bengals, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The contract is worth $6 million and can reach up to $9 million with incentives, setting Flacco up for his 19th NFL season.
Flacco is expected to serve as the primary backup to Joe Burrow, who missed nine games last season. The veteran former first-round pick out of Delaware has piled up 48,176 passing yards, 272 touchdowns and 172 interceptions over his career, while posting a 107-94 record as a starter.
“Bringing back Joe Flacco was a priority for the Bengals, who acquired him in a trade from Cleveland after Joe Burrow’s injury last season,” Pelissero said. “Now Flacco’s back in Cincinnati at age 41.”
Browns Took Heat for Joe Flacco Trade
Flacco opened last season with the Cleveland Browns and won the starting quarterback job coming out of training camp. He beat out Kenny Pickett — who was later traded to the Las Vegas Raiders — along with rookies Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel.
But Cleveland moved Flacco to Cincinnati in October after he lost the starting job following a 1-3 start. He looked every bit like a 41-year-old quarterback during his short stint with the Browns, though things turned around after the trade.
Flacco finished 1-5 as a starter, but still threw for 1,664 yards, 13 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He later earned a Pro Bowl nod as an AFC replacement, along with Sanders. The Browns were criticized for sending a quarterback inside the division.
“To be honest, it was shocking to me,” then-Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “(Browns GM) Andrew Berry must be a lot smarter than me or us, because it doesn’t make sense to me to trade a quarterback that you think enough of to make your opening-day starter to a division opponent that’s hurting in that area. But that’s just my personal feelings.”
Flacco is not the only former Browns quarterback sticking around the AFC North. Tyler “Snoop” Huntley also landed back in the division earlier this offseason, agreeing to a deal with the Baltimore Ravens to back up Lamar Jackson.
Shedeur Sanders Expected to Get First Shot at Browns QB Job
The Browns still do not have a long-term answer at quarterback, and they are not much closer to solving the issue than they were a year ago.
New head coach Todd Monken has made it clear the competition will be open, with Sanders, Gabriel and Deshaun Watson all in the mix for QB1.
“Sure, I think it’s an open competition,” Monken said. “I mean, I don’t why it wouldn’t be an open competition. I don’t mean that saying it harshly, but I don’t think there’s enough on film over the last couple years one way or the other to say, boy, we have our starter at quarterback yet. Whether internally or externally.”
Both Sanders and Gabriel made starts last season, while Watson remains the biggest question mark of the group. The former Pro Bowler has appeared in just 19 games since 2020.
As things stand, Sanders is widely viewed as the frontrunner among the current options to win the job by Week 1. Cleveland has not brought in a veteran quarterback, and it does not appear likely the team will use one of its top draft picks on the position.