Bengals could get more for Joe Flacco than what they paid as NFL QB problems pile up

The Cincinnati Bengals have one of the best, if not the best, quarterback rooms in the NFL. 

Cincinnati has two on the active 53-man roster, with Josh Johnson and Sean Clifford on their practice squad. However, that could change quickly in the QB room, with teams across the NFL struggling to keep their signal callers healthy or playing at a competent level in Week 1. 

With many who follow the Bengals thinking that Johnson might have played his way onto the final roster ahead of cutdown day, there exists a world in which Cincinnati could sign him to the active roster and trade Flacco. 

With the number of teams looking elsewhere for competent and healthy quarterback play, Flacco could fetch more than what the Bengals gave up to get him last season. 

Flacco’s already proved he can play on short notice

The Bengals traded their fifth-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for Flacco on a Tuesday, got back a sixth-round pick, and he was the starter that Sunday, taking over for a struggling Jake Browning, who took over for an injured Joe Burrow.

Flacco had an admirable first performance, throwing for 219 yards and two touchdowns in a loss to the Green Bay Packers. 

However, in the following three weeks, Flacco led the offense to 33, 38, and 42 points against the Steelers, Jets, and Bears, respectively. Somehow, they only beat Pittsburgh in that stretch. 

Nevertheless, Flacco showed that he can immediately help a struggling offense with limited time to digest the scheme. That could be valuable as we survey quarterback rooms across the league. 

QB rooms were already messy

Before the games kicked off on Sunday, there were already some precarious QB situations around the league. 

The Cleveland Browns couldn’t decide on who would be their quarterback until the last minute, when they seemingly went with the guy with the worst, err, biggest contract in football. 

The Atlanta Falcons wanted so much for their second-year QB, Michael Penix, to take the first snaps of the season that they had a quarterback competition in which one of the QBs wasn’t healthy enough to take part in said competition. 

Then, once their minds were made up by default, they named Tua Tagovailoa as the starter, and he subsequently went down in practice due to an injury. So, Cooper Rush ended up as Atlanta’s starter in Week 1, with Jack Strand as his backup.

Week 1 exacerbates NFL QB room issues

The Browns are in a difficult situation. Deshaun played poorly, to put it nicely, in Cleveland’s opener, losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars 34-10. They were the only AFC North team to lose this past Sunday. 

Cleveland’s front office does not want to bench Watson because of the guaranteed contract they foolishly gave him five years ago. Behind Watson are Shedeur Sanders, an injured Dillon Gabriel, and promising rookie Taylen Green. 

As much as it pains us to say it, the Browns have too much talent on the offensive side of the ball to roll Watson back out there. Perhaps they'd be interested in bringing back Flacco in some capacity. 

The Minnesota Vikings went with Kyler Murray as their starter after a training camp battle with JJ McCarthy and Carson Wentz. 

While most believed McCarthy would be QB2, the Vikings made Wentz the backup. He got to play much sooner than expected after Murray suffered a concussion against the Green Bay Packers. 

With the Vikings winning that game and obviously not wanting to go with McCarthy if something happens to Wentz, Flacco could be an option. 

Then there are the Tennessee Titans, whose former QB, Will Levis, claimed that there aren’t 32 starting quarterbacks in the NFL better than him. Not only do the Bengals have three, but his own (former) team didn’t agree. 

But Tennessee’s starter, Cam Ward, is also struggling for a franchise that is searching for answers that are evading them like the plague as of late.  If the team wanted to try something new, they would have to go with veteran Mitchell Trubisky, the only other quarterback on their active roster.

The Ringer recently ranked the Titans’ quarterback room 26th in the NFL. But after the first week of action, they may have dropped in the minds of many, with Ward throwing for 140 yards and averaging 4.4 yards per attempt. 

If the Titans decide to shake things up, they could opt for an outside option. 

Today’s price, not tomorrow’s compensation

At least one national writer believes the Bengals have the best backup QB in the NFL. Sports Illustrated’s Gilberto Manzano placed Flacco as the best, writing, in part, “Flacco is the ultimate backup because he offers hope, even amid the worst situations, including last year when the Bengals traded for him after Burrow’s injury.”

There is always a market for hope in the NFL. The entire draft exercise is based on it. And teams are willing to pay for it. 

If a team is kicking the tires on potential trades for Flacco, it should submit its bids early. And if injuries keep rising, Cincinnati’s asking price will too. 

It won’t be easy for other teams to get Cincinnati to trade their backup QB. The Bengals tend to overvalue their players when discussing possible trades. 

However, desperation plus competition for Flacco’s services could net an early Day 3, fourth-round pick. That could become a conditional third if a team is desperate to keep its season alive, rather than one that already has its hopes and dreams tied to the 2027 NFL Draft class. 

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