Cleveland Browns trade Joe Flacco to Bengals

Joe Flacco (Keith Allison, Wikimedia Commons)

There was a trade made in the National Football League on Tuesday. According to Kevin Patra of nfl.com, the Cleveland Browns traded quarterback Joe Flacco of Audubon, New Jersey with a sixth round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft to the Cincinnati Bengals. In return, the Browns received a fifth round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft from the Bengals.

The acquisition of Flacco is not a surprise and actually makes perfect sense even though the Bengals and Browns are divisional opponents. The Bengals lost their starting quarterback, Joe Burrow of Ames, Iowa, in week two due to a serious toe injury against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Flacco had recently lost his starting job in Cleveland as the Browns have decided to go with Dillon Gabriel as their starting quarterback. Gabriel of Mililani, Hawaii, was the Browns’s third round pick, 94th overall, in the 2025 NFL Draft after a productive 2024 NCAA season at Oregon. There is also a youth movement currently taking place in Cleveland. The Browns are not expected to make the postseason, and Flacco is 16 years older than Gabriel.

Another reason why the Bengals made the trade because since Burrow got hurt, Jake Browning was ineffective. Browning lost all three games and had more interceptions (eight) than touchdown passes (six).

In 2025, Flacco completed 93 of 160 passes for two touchdowns and six interceptions with the Browns. He has 815 passing yards, along with six rushes for 13 rushing yards. Flacco has already been announced Cincinnati’s starting quarterback on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, a franchise Flacco has beaten this year while with Cleveland.

The Browns will be Flacco’s sixth NFL team after 11 seasons with the Baltimore Ravens (2008 to 2018), one season with the Denver Broncos (2019), three seasons with the New York Jets (2020 to 2022), two seasons with the Cleveland Browns (2023 and 2025), and one season with the Indianapolis Colts (2024). While with the Ravens, Flacco won Super Bowl XLVII and was Super Bowl MVP.