As much earned attention as Joe Burrow attracts and how much business he brings to the Cincinnati Bengals' franchise, he overshadows a quarterback room that might be the smartest in all of football. Thanks to the combined 81 years of life experience between Joe Flacco and Josh Johnson, it might be the most unique, too.
Unless research into the annals of NFL history betrays me, Flacco and Johnson are the first-ever pair of 40-year-olds to share the same QB room. Whereas Flacco proved last year that he could still play like a high-end starter in spurts, Johnson is the ultimate journeyman and a de facto assistant positional coach.
All of these elements should conspire to make the Bengals offense the best version of itself it can possibly be in a 2026 season where the vibe around Cincinnati is undeniably different.
Two different mind-blowing realities of the Bengals' quarterback room exist at once this summer, as Flacco and Johnson combine to help Cincinnati share a delightful piece of NFL history.
Cincinnati backups Joe Flacco and Josh Johnson are historic QB outliers
Let's give it up for Josh Johnson for a second. He is a true one-of-one, gridiron Odysseus archetype. To be precise, he's played for 43.75% of all NFL teams to date. That's right. Johnson has suited up for 14 different teams at the highest level of pro football.
This is actually Johnson's third separate stint in Cincinnati. He's nothing if not the paragon of human perseverance.
Think about it. All the rejection. The years of not playing significant snaps. Having to pick up a new playbook or offensive system at the drop of a hat. I'm convinced that if Johnson pivoted to coaching like five years ago, he could easily be a head coach by now, if not a dope offensive coordinator.
Anyway, Joe Flacco had a much stabler, straightforward beginning to his playing career with the Baltimore Ravens. He started as a rookie, consistently went to the playoffs, and went on one of the greatest postseason runs ever in leading the Ravens to a Super Bowl XLVII win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Just prior to that 2014 campaign, the 49ers released Johnson as part of their final roster cuts.
Such territory was uncharted for Flacco from 2008 through 2020. His job security in Baltimore wasn't at all threaten until the Ravens drafted eventual, to-date two-time MVP Lamar Jackson. Flacco wouldn't be cut until 2020 after an unmemorable one-year stint in Denver.
In the midst of bouncing around to seven different teams in his own right, Flacco led the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs during the 2023 season, and yes, played very well overall for Cincinnati last year after the Browns traded him away.
There was a pit stop in Indianapolis in between all that. Also a 2021 season spent in Philly and two separate stints with the New York Jets, which is enough to make any QB mull retirement.
Maybe Flacco is just waiting for a move to Pittsburgh so he can play for every team in the AFC North. Sorta like Thanos collecting all those Infinity Stones.
Flacco and Johnson are old-old in football years. They're also just indefatigable and have an insatiable love for the game. If any given person in society can do a job long enough and love it that much, it's a life well lived, eh?
Let's go even deeper to underscore how much mental toughness these wily vets have.
Flacco and Johnson defied the odds before they entered the NFL Draft...and long after
Not to bury the lede here — the quadragenarian angle seemed more suitable to proceed with first — but Josh Johnson (University of San Diego) and Joe Flacco (University of Delaware) weren't exactly 5-star recruits getting loads of scholarship offers from blue-blood college football programs.
I've probably said it before but it bears repeating: What were the life plans for Flacco and Johnson when they were playing then-christened Division I-AA ball? The National Football League had to be the furthest thing from their minds. They must've just been thrilled to keep playing the sport as collegians.
Perhaps that passion for the game, which Flacco has publicly overflowed with, is why the Bengals' backup QB duo has stuck around so long.
Bengals radio voice Dan Hoard documented a quote from Josh Johnson on how he and Joe Flacco are the last QBs standing from their 2008 draft class at the position out of 13 who were selected:
“You couldn’t have told us when we first came into the league that we would still be doing this — especially as teammates. I’ll even take it up another notch. We were both I-AA quarterbacks too — Delaware and San Diego. And we’re the last ones left.”
Matt Ryan headlined that 2008 class. He was the mortal-lock first-round pick out of Boston College. He hit the ground running with the Atlanta Falcons, was an MVP winner and NFC champion, and is now their football president as they gear up to face the Bengals in Madrid in Week 9.
Amazing that Matty Ice has had time to work for CBS and settle into a front office job before Flacco or Johnson hung it up.
From FCS long shots to Joe Burrow's Midwest grit, the Bengals put a premium on quarterback resilience
One could argue that Joe Burrow is quite the grizzled veteran since he's turning 30 later this year amid his seventh NFL season. All the tragic, Murphy's law injuries he's dealt with make it feel like he's aged even more. Not medically; I mean Burrow's injury woes have accelerated my aging. I'm gaining on Joe Flacco and Josh Johnson by the day.
In all seriousness, while Burrow was the slam-dunk No. 1 overall pick in 2020, he was barely on the draft radar before he, eventual Cincinnati teammate Ja'Marr Chase, and the 2019 LSU Tigers — an absurdly stacked roster Burrow has compared this 2026 Bengals team to — went on a historic tear to win the national championship.
Burrow got to realize his dream to play at Ohio State for three years...only he hardly ever played in games. Hence his transfer to LSU. After a rather middling first season as a starter, Burrow exploded in his final collegiate season to win the Heisman Trophy. The rest is history.
But there's a common thread there that connects Burrow to his elder QB statesmen in Cincinnati: Uncommon, borderline legendary resilience.
That premium, intangible quality has shown up time and again for Burrow as he's weathered many hits on the field, persevered through grueling injury rehabs, and emerged every time as one of the best QBs on the planet.
Few, if any people on the planet can relate to that type of competitive fire, apex performance, and what it takes to build a long-lasting career in the most brutal popular sport a human being can play. With Flacco and Johnson, Burrow has kindred spirits and decades upon decades of football knowledge in his immediate orbit, not to mention everything Zac Taylor and the offensive staff can provide.
It's just awesome to have such high-character, positive role models in the Bengals' QB room. I won't take a cheap shot at the Browns right now. We stay classy in Cincinnati these days (mostly).
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