The Cincinnati Bengals have acquired veteran quarterback Joe Flacco from the rival Cleveland Browns in a trade that was both surprising and expected. On the one hand, the Bengals landing on Flacco as the option to replace the mightily struggling Jake Browning seems shocking considering the other potential options that could've been available to them on the trade market. But then there's the other hand, the one where we look at the fact that Cincinnati couldn't possibly play another game with Browning starting in place for the injured Joe Burrow.
So on Tuesday, the Bengals and Browns completed the Flacco trade, which Dianna Russini of The Athletic is reporting will see Cincinnati acquire the veteran signal-caller along with a 2026 sixth-round pick while Cleveland will get a 2026 fifth-round pick in return. For the visual learners out there, here's what that trade looks like in totality.
Once you get past the rarity of an intra-AFC North trade between the two Ohio contingents, the move does make some sense for both parties. Again, the Bengals couldn't possibly look at what they've seen from Browning to this point and think that they can continue forward like this. Ja'Marr Chase was tied for the team lead in tackles at one point in Week 5's loss after taking down the intercepting player on three Browning picks.
Meanwhile, the Browns have cleared out a quarterback logjam that was present since the preseason fully now, especially after rookie Dillon Gabriel just made his first start. However, we need to unpack this a bit more for both sides, and that includes handing out a grade to both the Bengals and Browns for this first major deal before the NFL trade deadline in a few weeks.
Joe Flacco trade grades for the Bengals and Browns
Cincinnati Bengals Trade Grade: B
Make no mistake, the Bengals deserve favorable grading for doing anything to help improve the quarterback position. Browning has been an abject disaster outside of the handful of drives he had in the game when Burrow went out with the toe/foot injury. After starting 2-0 on the season, Cincinnati has lost three consecutive games by at two scores or more, and Browning has been at the heart of that with both the limitations he places on the offense and his propensity for turnovers.
Flacco will be an upgrade for that, but why Cincinnati isn't ultimately getting an "A" grade for this simply comes down to the fact that he's only but so much of a step up from Browning. He was benched for Gabriel in Cleveland because of his ineffectiveness and, while the situation with the Bengals is arguably better, that also might be just who the veteran is at this point late in his career.
Furthermore, this feels like the Bengals taking the frustratingly familiar cheapest route to address the quarterback issue. While they deserve credit for recognizing the need, the fact that a player like Jameis Winston is sitting in New York with no real path to seeing the field and that he wasn't the preferred option in this instance is maddening. Hell, that might even be true for Russell Wilson with the Giants, too. The delineation from Flacco with those two players, however, is that they likely would've cost more than a Day 3 pick swap.
So again, the Bengals are going to be more respectable and passable with Flacco, and may be more alive now in the still wide-open AFC North as a result of this trade. However, it doesn't feel at all like Cincinnati went all-in, so to speak, to try and make this move on from Browning, which in turn limits the ceiling for what this move could mean for this team through the rest of the season.
Cleveland Browns Trade Grade: B+
In just about two months, the Browns quarterback room has gone from truly head-scratching to making a ton of sense for where this franchise currently resides in the AFC North and in the NFL as large. Despite upsetting the Packers, no one can realistically look at Cleveland and think that the playoffs are a viable goal for this team. However, there are pieces for the future to keep developing to build around, and Flacco was not one of those pieces — nor was Kenny Pickett.
But the Browns turned Pickett and Flacco into late-round draft upgrades, which could prove quite valuable. On the heels of trading down from the No. 2 pick in April's draft before drafting Mason Graham — who's been a stud, by the way — it feels like one of the first times in quite a while that Cleveland is adequately loading up to acquire pieces that will help the future of this organization. They turned two stopgap options into actually viable assets that can help the future.
Considering how poorly Flacco played before he was benched in favor of a third-round rookie, Gabriel, the fact that they were able to coax a division rival into giving them a draft pick is impressive in its own right. Moreover, the Browns now have the opportunity to get a glimpse at the future of the position with Gabriel and his now backup, Shedeur Sanders.
This isn't a ground-moving trade for Cleveland by any stretch of the imagination, but it's ultimately a positive piece of business for the franchise that should allow them to further lean into the efforts for building for the future rather than the mediocre-at-best present.