Joe Flacco is on the move again.
On Tuesday, the Bengals acquired the veteran quarterback and a 2026 sixth-round pick from the Browns in exchange for a fifth-rounder in 2026. After Jake Browning's terrible start to the season, Cincinnati needed someone else to take the reins of their offense, and it appears Flacco is their man.
In four starts for Cleveland this season, Flacco struggled mightily. He completed 58.1% of his passes for 815 yards, with two touchdowns and six interceptions. His passer rating (60.3) and QBR (27.6) were so bad that he lost his job to a rookie after four weeks. He'll be hoping to turn things around in Cincinnati.
Here's a look at the winners and losers from the Bengals' deal to land Flacco.
Winner: Dillon Gabriel
The Browns handed their offense over to Gabriel before Week 5, and the rookie performed admirably against the Vikings in London. He went 19-of-33 for 190 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions in a 21–17 loss.
He looked solid in his first week running the offense, but there will undoubtedly be struggles ahead. With Flacco out of the building, coach Kevin Stefanski won't be tempted to go back to the veteran who won the job out of training camp. The job is now Gabriel's to lose.
Loser: Joe Flacco
Yes, Flacco will be walking into a situation where he's the starting quarterback for an offense built to reach the postseason. He'll also be throwing to one of the NFL's best receiving duos in Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. That said, have you seen the Bengals' offensive line?
Cincinnati has surrendered 15 sacks as a unit so far in 2025, and the team is dead last in rushing yards per game (57.0). The starting line of Orlando Brown Jr. (57.4), Amarius Mims (50.3), Ted Karras (49.8), Dylan Fairchild (45.1) and Dalton Risner (46.6) all have abysmal grades from Pro Football Focus on the season. Flacco is 40 and not exactly mobile. It could get ugly back there.
Winner: Shedeur Sanders
With one trade, Sanders has gone from a third-string quarterback on a bad team to being one hit away from becoming a starting quarterback in the NFL. The Browns tipped their hand, giving Gabriel the backup job to open the season and pushing Sanders down the depth chart. It's Gabriel's team now, but Sanders is that much closer to seeing the field as his backup.
After falling to the fifth round of the 2025 NFL draft, Sanders was a long way from actually playing meaningful NFL snaps. Now he'll be preparing for exactly that. It's worth noting that Gabriel is 5' 11" and 205 pounds, which is undersized for an NFL quarterback. It's not crazy to think he could take a hit that knocks him out of a game.
Loser: Jake Browning
After his performance over the past four weeks, even Jake Browning had to say, "Yeah, that's fair enough" when news of the Flacco trade broke. The former undrafted free agent has been a solid backup for the Bengals over the past four seasons, but he's not built to be an NFL starter.
In four games this year, Browning completed 64.5% of his passes for 757 yards, with six touchdowns and eight interceptions. His passer rating (70.5) and QBR (35.3) were both awful despite throwing to some outstanding targets. The 29-year-old had what could have been his Sam Darnold moment, a chance to prove he deserved to start in the NFL. His team decided a 40-year-old with a QBR of 27.6 was a better option.
Winner: Joe Burrow
Cincinnati imported another Joe to help turn things around after a 2–3 start. While Burrow is out for around three months after undergoing surgery due to turf toe, Flacco has a chance to keep the Bengals' playoff hopes alive. If Cincy can remain competitive, there is an outside shot Burrow could return in mid-December.
Again, this is an outside shot, and the Bengals need to get it together in a lot of areas outside of the quarterback position. But replacing Browning with Flacco does give the team hope moving foward.
Loser: Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens have been awful, starting the season 1–4 despite Super Bowl ambitions. The only solace they could take was seeing their division rivals in Cleveland and Cincinnati floundering in the same way, and the Steelers looking anything but invincible at 3–1. Now, the Bengals may have improved their quarterback situation, the Browns have the energy of a younger signal-caller and the Ravens are still waiting for Lamar Jackson to return to the lineup.
It's starting to look like a lost season in Baltimore.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Joe Flacco Trade: Winners and Losers As Bengals Add Veteran Quarterback.
