Scrappy Bengals veteran is as good as gone once free agency begins

Joe Burrow's latest major injury derailed the Cincinnati Bengals' 2025 season. That is, until a unicorn-esque in-season trade that brought Joe Flacco to the Queen City from Cleveland, where Flacco started and lost to the Bengals in Week 1.

Flacco balled out so hard when healthy (and unhealthy, for that matter) that he earned himself one last look as a bridge starter in 2026. This means Cincinnati is in the market for a new Burrow backup.

It'd be expected for the front office to stick with a pseudo-diamond in the rough, just to beat back public perception that they're incompetent. However, in the awful event that Burrow goes down again, the Bengals seriously need an upgrade...

Bengals need new QB2 in 2026 after Joe Flacco, and the answer is not in the building

Jake Browning played so well in relief of Burrow in 2023 that I bought into him as an NFL starter. Unfortunately, that magic carpet ride was indeed more akin to Linsanity than an indication of Browning's ceiling as a professional quarterback.

As Browning prepares to be a restricted free agent, the standard low-end tender OverTheCap.com has for one year at $3.5+ million just doesn't seem worth it. No reason to eat up that much cap space given what we just saw from Browning in 2025.

Once Burrow went down in Week 2 this last year, Browning got thrust into duty, even leading a game-winning drive against the eventual AFC South champion Jacksonville Jaguars to key a 2-0 start to the season.

Remember that Joe Flacco trade I mentioned? Yeah, that happened because Browning figuratively threw up all over himself thereafter. The golden opportunity to cement himself as a capable QB1 went up in flames.

Browning's crash-out is a bummer on so many levels. He's a lovable underdog who's fought tooth and nail for every chance in the NFL as a past undrafted free agent.

When he knocked off the allegedly Burrow-pursuing Vikings, his former team, in 2023, Browning delivered one of my favorite mic'd-up moments of all-time:

How did that same man, who went 4-3 as a starter in 2023, with a 98.3 passer rating, fall apart in 2025 with more interceptions (eight to seven) on 49% fewer pass attempts? Not sure we'll ever know.

I'm not interested in running it back to find out. Give me a backup who's stated many big games, who was one two-yards-too-far deep ball from being a Super Bowl champion.

That's right. Jimmy G. Jimmy GQ. Jimmy Garoppolo, who spent his latest stint backing up reigning MVP Matthew Stafford and learning under Sean McVay with the Rams. Part of my 3,000-word Bengals mock offseason that can't be beaten by anyone.