The Cincinnati Bengals have had a Pro Bowl quarterback for three of the last four years. That's all the more impressive when you consider that Joe Burrow missed a good chunk of two of those seasons.
But it wasn't Burrow who was named to the AFC Pro Bowl squad as of Friday. Nope. Joining the likes of Ja'Marr Chase and recent addition Tee Higgins is wily veteran QB Joe Flacco. At 41 years young, for the first time in his storied NFL career, Flacco is considered a Pro Bowler.
Raise your hand if you saw, "Joe Flacco, Cincinnati Bengals Pro Bowl quarterback" coming before the 2025 season kicked off. Now let's dive deeper into why this is so comical.
Joe Flacco making the Pro Bowl on Bengals' behalf is nice; is also a joke on so many levels...
Fun news on a Friday, just ahead of Tuesday's Pro Bowl Games. Just look at how much of a meritocracy the Pro Bowl is via Flacco's qualifications below!
At 40 years old, starting 10 games for two teams and going 2-8 in those games with 15 TDs and 10 INTs:
— Mike Kennedy (@MikeKennedyNFL) January 30, 2026
Joe Flacco has made his first career Pro Bowl. https://t.co/HaRQDkt16q
Flacco had to be deserving of a Pro Bowl nod in any of the years he was in Baltimore, starting and winning a Super Bowl MVP for the AFC North rival Ravens. Or not?
Playing in the same era as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning probably had a lot to with Flacco never earning a spot on the AFC Pro Bowl roster. Then again, the Pro Bowl actually meant something back in those days.
Now, Flacco is joining the latest AFC squad in a hysterical reunion with Cleveland Browns QB Shedeur Sanders. That's right. The team Flacco started for in Week 1 this season, where Shedeur was the QB3 at the time, is sending its fifth-round rookie to the Pro Bowl as a teammate to Joe Cool.
And all this comes after the Browns just hired ex-Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken as their next head coach. Monken, along with John Harbaugh, was scapegoated out of Baltimore for not getting enough out of the man who took Flacco's job in the first place, two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson.
I love it all so much. What a bizarro world the AFC North exists in. Such a stranger corner of the NFL right now. All the head coaches fired except Zac Taylor.
Anyway, when Joe Flacco was healthy, and even in the first game after he sprained the AC joint in his throwing shoulder, he balled out in 2025 for the Bengals. Flacco threw for 470 yards and four TDs against a Chicago Bears team that came within three points of the NFC Championship Game.
Sadly, Flacco's bum wing caused a sharp drop-off in his performance before long. That culminated in Cincinnati being all but eliminated from playoff contention before Burrow could come back from his turf toe injury to save the season.
Unlike the totally-without-merit selection of Shedeur to the Pro Bowl, even as a many-times-removed injury replacement, Flacco at least flashed some elite level of play this past season. If the Pro Bowl is going to be this much of a joke, too, we might as well hand out a spot to someone like Flacco when it's a glorified lifetime football achievement award.
So congrats to Joe Flacco. Enjoy it, big fella. Hope you find a starting gig elsewhere if you're not for long in Cincinnati.