The NFL trade deadline has come and gone and for the Cincinnati Bengals, it'll be looked at as a disappointment. The team sent Logan Wilson to the Dallas Cowboys a few hours before the deadline but otherwise, didn't make any other moves the day of.
Earlier in the season, Cincinnati traded for Joe Flacco, giving them much-needed quarterback help while Joe Burrow is out with a toe injury. Initially, fans might not have thought much of the Flacco acquisition but he's done his part since joining the team, throwing for 11 touchdowns against just two interceptions in his four starts with the Bengals.
NFL.com's Judy Battista wrote that Flacco's performance with his new team has given him a better reputation entering free agency next offseason and that makes him a winner from the trade deadline. It also makes him the Bengals' only winner from the trade deadline, which isn't something any of us expected.
"His trade, from Cleveland to Cincinnati, was one of the biggest surprises of the cycle -- why would Cleveland trade a quarterback to a reeling division rival? -- but for Joe Flacco, this was a clear win. At nearly 41 years old, Flacco has proven his value by keeping the Bengals competitive, throwing 11 touchdown passes and just two interceptions, and he's almost certainly shown enough to earn himself at least a backup job somewhere in the league next season."
Why Joe Flacco ended up the only Bengals winner of the trade deadline
Had Flacco not been traded to Cincinnati and was still with Cleveland, he'd likely be riding the bench behind rookie third-round pick Dillon Gabriel and his free agent stock would have been low. The chances of a team seeking him out in the offseason to bring him in after getting benched by a bad Browns team would be slim but that's not the case for the 40-year-old quarterback now.
Flacco, much like he did when he signed with Cleveland during the 2023 season, has shown why he can be a valuable quarterback on a roster. He's not Burrow or Josh Allen by any means but he can step in and lead a team that has the necessary pieces for him to succeed, which Cincinnati does.
Now, of course, Flacco could hit a wall and begin to struggle in the second half of the Bengals' 2025 season but, right now, he's easily the biggest (and only) trade deadline winner from this team.