Shortly after benching Joe Flacco for rookie Dillon Gabriel, the Browns traded the 40-year-old veteran quarterback to the Bengals on Tuesday. Flacco started four games for the Browns this year, but after a 1–3 start, Cleveland decided to get a closer look at their third round pick.
Trading Flacco means that fifth-round rookie Shedeur Sanders will move to the backup quarterback spot behind Gabriel. Sanders initially remained the team's third-stringer after Flacco was benched, but is currently listed as QB2 on the team's depth chart.
Sanders told John Sabol of Fox 8 News that he saw Flacco in the facilities after the trade and said to him, "Dang, that happened quick."
"He's definitely somebody I leaned on for wisdom and I feel like he helped me a lot," Sanders told Sabol. "He helped a lot me while my time being here in Cleveland and his time being here in Cleveland. Everybody has their own destinies and has their own plans they have in life, so I'm just happy for him."
#Browns back-up QB Shedeur Sanders speaks exclusively to @fox8news @John_Sabol about the trade of Joe Flacco to the #Bengals. pic.twitter.com/PDQF6ihBz1
— P.J. ZIEGLER (@PJFOX8) October 7, 2025
While Flacco did not consider himself a mentor to the Browns' younger quarterbacks, he was a supportive presence in the room, an provided an encouraging reminder after Sanders's tough final preseason outing in August. Sanders enjoyed being teammates with Flacco, even when Flacco wasn't exactly embracing his dances on the field.
“He’s definitely a person that adjusts to any situation he’s in,” Sanders added of Flacco. “He’s an old man, so it’s funny though. … I always bring the youngness out of him, and he always smiles [at the] funny things I do."
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shedeur Sanders Reacts to Browns Trading Joe Flacco to Bengals.
