The Bengals of Cincinnati acquired Tuesday the quarter-Arrière Veteran Joe Flacco of the Cleveland Browns, two days after the Bengal coach Zac Taylor was not engaged in the status of Jake Browning as a starting quarter. Bengals have requested long -term help under the center since Joe Burrow underwent an injury to the toes during week 2.
But is Flacoco the answer to help Cincinnati take a sequence of three defeats and keep his hopes in living rooms in life?
The Browns had brought back Flacoco during the offseason to provide veteran leaders to a overcrowded quarter room which also included the Dillon Gabriel and Sheder Sanders recruits. The 18 -year -old veteran started the first four games from Cleveland – going 1-3 – before being replaced by Gabriel during Sunday’s defeat against the Vikings of Minnesota.
It was a surprising trade since it was the first between the teams since the Browns returned to the NFL in 1999. And it was the first intradivision, a seasonal business involving a quarter of 1990, according to ESPN Research.
The journalist of the Bengals Espn Ben Baby, Browns journalist Daniel Oyefusi, the National Football Initiate Jeremy Fowler and Fantasy Eric Moody analyst decompose, that Flacco can keep the Bengals in the running until Burrow returns, which means for the QB of Browns, the fantastic and even more.
Can Flacco keep the Bengals afloat until Joe Burrow returns?
baby: It’s hope, right? But for this to happen, Flacco must be better than it was earlier this season in Cleveland. Flacco notably launched two interceptions in a 17-16 defeat against Bengals at the opening of the season on September 7, including one at the end of the match while the Browns were trying to set up a dramatic return.
On paper, Flacco makes sense. He is a experienced veteran who can immediately perform a version of Taylor’s offensive. But it also presents many of the same problems that tormented browning.
Browning is second in the NFL with eight interceptions. Flacco is third with six. A total of QBR, Browning is classified higher than Flacco, which is at the end of the league in this category (27.6).
Even if Flacco is a splashing name that has played well as recently as 2023, while he was the return player of the year with Cleveland, Bengals will need the best version of the 40-year-old quarter-back if they want to win enough games to stabilize their season before Burrow is available to come back. Cincinnati has still not established a calendar for the return of Burrow. Sources have told Adam Schefter of ESPN that Burrow should miss at least three months. However, Taylor has not yet ruled for Birrow for the rest of the season.
How does this decision have an impact on the prospects of Gabriel, Sanders and Browns on their two draft choices in the first round in 2026?
Oyefusi: The Browns moved to Gabriel as a departure QB last week, and the rest of the season apparently serves as hearing not only for him but also Sanders, which is number 3 and emergency QB since week 1.
The owner of Browns, Jimmy Haslam, said at the start of the training camp at the end of July that he was “absolutely” important for the team to assess the two recruits on the ground before the draft of the NFL 2026, when the Browns have their own first -round choice and the first round of the Jacksonville Jacksonville Jaguars.
“(Chief coach Kevin Stefanski) is aware of it; he knows how important the quarter is important; and he and (managing director Andrew Berry) talk about this kind of thing all the time,” said Haslam. “It’s a daily and continuous conversation.”
TRADING FLACCO opens the door so that SANDERS was backup of the team, but Cleveland also signed Bailey Zappe with the training team. The Browns have listed Sanders as their quarter 2 of the unofficial depth painting on Tuesday for their next match at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
QB Deshaun Watson remains on the list physically unable to play as he continues to rehabilitate an injury from Achilles that the team expects to put it aside for an important part of the 2025 season.
What is the fantastic impact for Flacco and the WR of Bengals?
Moody: Flacco started the first four games of Cleveland this season, but has only reached two -digit fantastic points once, reaching 58.1% of its passes. The Browns decision to leave the veteran reflects their confidence in Gabriel, who made his debut in the NFL abroad against a difficult defense and scored 16.1 points of fantasy. With disappeared Flacco, Gabriel will see more repetitions, accelerating its development, while Sanders could enter the role of save QB. In deeper superior formats, Gabriel is better considered as a QB3.
For Bengals, the arrival of Flacco is a curious decision. In the EPA by department, it ranks in the second worst among the 33 QB qualified, only slightly better than Browning (EPA, or expected points added, measures how a game changes the chances of scoring a team). With 18 years of experience, he could stabilize the Cincinnati offensive and slightly increase the fantastic floors of Ja’mar Chase, a low -end WR1, and Tee Higgins, a low -end flex, up to Burrow.
What does that mean for AFC North?
Hunter: The division has not felt so open for some time, that is probably why Bengals have broken the character by rarely traded between the rivals in the north of the AFC. They feel that they can still win it. Baltimore is broken at 1-4, and although the Steelers are emerged as the first favorite, they must prove that they will not stop at the end of the year as they did in 2024.
Cincinnati can be defective, but he has the best skill game in the division. Flacco will give the pursuit and Higgins more predictability on their routes, and he is not afraid to try difficult throws. Defense and the offensive line still have problems, but Bengals are built to win shootings and Flacco gives them the best chance.
Cleveland is now the Gabriel team. The Browns are all all about its development and in fact have enough talent to chain victories. They should probably be 3-2 right now.
