Rookie vs. vet: How should Bengals approach finding Joe Burrow's backup?

For the first time in the Joe Burrow era, the Bengals don't have a clear answer at backup QB as we chug along towards the offseason.

For the first three years of his career (2020-22), the Bengals had Brandon Allen, who only really saw action in Burrow's rookie year after he suffered a torn ACL. 2023, of course, was the Jake Browning year, where the undrafted QB out of Washington came in and played solidly after Burrow missed the latter half of the season with a wrist injury, starting seven games and throwing for 1,936 yards, 12 touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

He would remain the backup through 2024 and for the first couple of months into 2025, once again filling in for Burrow after his turf toe injury, though he played significantly worse than he had in 2023. This led to the Bengals trading for Joe Flacco, who did reinvigorate Cincinnati, even though the team only went 1-5 with him as a starter.

While the Bengals might be able to retain Flacco, he's (understandably) expressed his interest in a starting role in 2026, so if a team is willing to give him that opportunity, he'll no doubt take it. Given how Browning played in the few games that he did this past season, the Bengals can't rely on him to be their QB2. So, the Bengals have an interesting question to ask themselves this offseason.

Who will they trust to be the backup to their $275 million investment?

There are really two major camps among Bengals faithful; some are suggesting they take a young and potentially exciting QB on Day 3 of the draft, while others would rather sign a cheap journeyman with experience in free agency. So, let's analyze both options.

Bengals going the rookie route isn't as egregious as it seems on the surface

If you read through articles online or scroll through X/Twitter, you'll no doubt come across a Bengals mock draft that has them taking a QB late in the draft-- usually anywhere from the fifth to seventh rounds. There are several good reasons for drafting a rookie to sit behind Burrow.

For one, it's cheap. You certainly don't have to use a premium pick on someone you're not expecting (nor hoping) to start anytime soon. And it allows the front office to focus its funds in free agency on addressing more pressing needs.

Spending valuable draft capital on a position where Burrow is the beyond-reproach starter may seem like a dubious expenditure of resources. Then again, quarterback is the hardest position to evaluate, and also the most important.

So even though this is projected to be a very weak QB class-- only Indiana's Fernando Mendoza has gotten any real hype these last couple of months-- projections are just that: projections. They're certainly not 100% accurate. Ignoring the obvious "Tom Brady was a sixth-round pick" example, more recently, Brock Purdy was the last pick of the draft, Mr. Irrelevant, and he has become a very good QB for the 49ers.

All that to say, we really don't know how good these rookies will be. We can make well-founded predictions, but even those get proven wrong. That sixth-round QB the Bengals may take in April could be the next Brock Purdy, and not only does that mean he'll be an exceptional backup, but the Bengals could use him as an asset in the future for a high-value pick or player down the line.

This last one is more of a pro for the fans, but it is more exciting than just signing a journeyman who we already know everything about and know what his ceiling is. Which actually leads to the first con for this camp: Brock Purdy is an exception, not the rule. For every Purdy, a late-round/undrafted QB, there's a hundred or so that won't ever start a game in their careers, and half the time will be cut from the team before the season starts.

As cool as stories like Brock Purdy, Dak Prescott, and, of course, Tom Brady are, they are cool because it's rare to have a QB taken on Day 3 have the careers that they did. If the Bengals draft someone, it'll be because they didn't sign one in free agency, and if that QB they took in the draft isn't good enough to make it onto the final 53, then they'll have to scramble to find a likely sub-quality backup.

Not to mention, Day 3 can have some gems that Cincinnati could miss out on because they were desperate to get a quarterback to sit behind Burrow. Even for a team like the Bengals, who have struggled with drafting especially in the later rounds, they have found some solid contributors in that last day.

Chase Brown was taken in the fifth round, and he just rushed for 1,000 yards this past season. While Andrei Iosivas has his flaws, he was a great draft pick just for the value they've gotten from him in the sixth round. Evan McPherson just had an incredible season, and he was taken in the fifth. Akeem Davis-Gaither, Josh Newton, and Cedric Johnson-- all have been solid contributors/rotational players on defense in the Joe Burrow era, and they were all Day 3 picks.

If the Bengals were to take a QB on Day 3, they could be looking at players like Thomas Castellanos out of Florida State, Arkansas' Taylen Green, Kansas' Jalon Daniels, and potentially the once highly-regarded Clemson QB Cade Klubnik-- although the last one is less likely than the other three.

The veteran route may be safer & more robust for Bengals' QB2 options

This is the "safe" option. A lot of quality QB2s are going to be hitting the open market next month, and fans shouldn't be surprised to see Cincy scoop one of them up. Some who have once started but now only might play a few games every season or every other season to fill in for the injured starter. The pros for this camp are based more on what's been seen rather than what could be seen.

In an ideal world, Burrow wouldn't get hurt, but that is a possibility just as it is with any other player. So, if he were to get injured next season and miss about a month of football (let's say 4 games), this would be the option to take if Cincinnati wants to be confident that they'll be able to stay afloat in his absence and win a game or two to keep pace with the rest of the division/conference. You wouldn't want one of these players starting a whole season, but for just a few games in this high-powered offense, there would be more confidence in them than a rookie whose having their first experience at the professional level.

Another pro is that this is the route that the Bengals are familiar with. Brandon Allen was drafted in 2016 and played a little in 2019 before joining Cincinnati. Joe Flacco, as we all know, had a long career with the Ravens and bounced between teams when Lamar Jackson came on the scene before the Bengals acquired him. Even Jake Browning, while he didn't play any regular season games until that 2023 season, had been in the league since 2019, mostly sticking around on the Vikings and Bengals' practice squads.

While in most circumstances you would want to take the rookie who has an unknown floor and ceiling, when it comes to wanting a reliable backup, you're typically better off signing a veteran who you know what they will be able bring to the table, especially for a team that's trying to be competitive like Cincinnati is.

So, what are the cons? Well, it's also the more expensive option. Not that signing a journeyman QB will break the bank, but the difference between that and drafting someone in the 7th round is likely at least a couple million, a couple million that could be put to getting a high-quality defensive tackle or safety in free agency.

These veterans tend to be more limited as well at this stage in their careers. They might not have the arm strength or mobility that a rookie QB has. For as good as Joe Flacco was this past season, he did struggle when opposing pass rushers started to get pressure on him, largely due to his lack of mobility. These other QBs that the Bengals may end up signing this offseason could have the same issue.

Nonetheless, there are at least a couple of intriguing names that Cincy fans may be comfortable with to sit behind Burrow on the depth chart. If Flacco doesn't find the opportunity that he's looking for, I doubt anyone would be opposed to his return for $5-5.5 million (according to Spotrac). Besides the longtime vet, other notable names like Marcus Mariota, Gardner Minshew, and Mitchell Trubisky will be available.

With all that in mind, which would you rather the Bengals do? Draft a young and exciting QB on Day 3 to sit and learn behind Burrow, or sign a veteran who has proven they have the ability to fill in for a few games and keep the team afloat?