Jake Browning could have a surprise path to starting after joining Chargers

Former Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Jake Browning has found a new home after being out in the cold for a few weeks. 

Cincinnati’s former gunslinger signed with the Los Angeles Chargers this week, giving him the chance to show a new coaching staff what he is capable of. 

And as unlikely as it sounds, it's not out of the question that he could ascend to QB1 in L.A. if the Chargers do what was recently thought to be unthinkable. 

Justin Herbert's collapse could create an opening for Jake Browning

The Chargers have their starting QB for now and the long term. At least, that’s what we all thought. However, Justin Herbert’s performance has left a lot to be desired.

The circumstances around him have also been less than desirable, with no easy fix in sight for the 2026 campaign.  

After a 0-5 start to the season, some believe that the Chargers’ brass could explore a trade for their young QB, even though Adam Schefter is hearing otherwise. 

The Chargers signing Browning fuels speculation about a Herbert trade, even though the former Bengals QB2 will start his LA career third on the depth chart. 

Second on the Chargers’ depth chart is DJ Uiagalelei with Trey Lance on IR. 

If the temptation or offers become too enticing, such as three first-round picks as Adam Schefter intimated, the Chargers could move off the 2020 sixth-overall pick. 

Browning could pull a Joe Flacco

The Bengals had Browning on the roster from 2021 through 2025. But Cincinnati’s former QB2 learned up close what a veteran QB can do in a difficult situation on short notice for a team and a career.

Browning was on the opposite end of midseason acquisition after he started three games for the Bengals in 2025, before the team traded with the Cleveland Browns for Flacco.

Last year, Browning started and subsequently lost the reins to Flacco after an injury to Joe Burrow sidelined Cincinnati’s star QB for half of last season. 

Just one year later, if the Chargers have even the slightest vision of trading Herbert before the trade deadline, Browning would be in prime position to take over in L.A., assuming he can surpass Uiagalelei on the depth chart.

No Browning revenge heading to Cincy

Browning famously and emphatically shouted into a camera, “They never should’ve (expletive) cut me,” after leading the Bengals to a victory against another one of his former teams, the Minnesota Vikings.

It seemed as if we were one Baker Mayfield injury away from the possibility of having a similar moment in Week 1 when Cincinnati took on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. That possibility was extinguished when the Bucs released Browning in favor of undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels on cutdown day.

And just in case you thought that Browning would be over his split with the Bengals, remember that the Vikings cut ties with him in 2021, and his rageful, "they never should’ve cut him" moment came in December of 2023. 

Nevertheless, the Chargers will face the Bengals this season only if both teams make the playoffs. With the Bolts being winless through five games, that is extremely unlikely. 

More foreseeable than the Chargers making the postseason is Browning starting a few games this year in L.A.

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