Alright, so Joe Flacco’s back for another spin, this time in Cincinnati. A one-year, $6 million deal, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler, to back up Joe Burrow. And yeah, the headlines are all about the 41-year-old quarterback. Which, let's be real, is a wild number for an NFL signal-caller. But this isn't some feel-good story about a veteran mentor riding into the sunset. This is about the Bengals, Super Bowl aspirations, and a very real insurance policy for a franchise that's seen its starting quarterback go down too many times.
Look, the Bengals brass, Zac Taylor and Duke Tobin, they've been burned. Burrow missed the entire 2020 preseason with a torn ACL, then the final seven games of that rookie year. He missed the last seven games of 2023 with a torn wrist ligament. Jake Browning, bless his heart, stepped in last year and went 4-3, throwing for 1,933 yards and 12 touchdowns. He even led them to a 34-31 upset over the Jaguars on Monday Night Football. But he’s still Jake Browning. He’s not a guy you want starting a playoff game, or even a critical late-season tilt against, say, the Chiefs or Ravens, if Burrow were to get dinged again. Flacco, on the other hand, just showed he can still win big games. He took the Browns from 4-7 to the playoffs last season, throwing for 1,616 yards and 13 touchdowns in five starts. He even led them to a 37-20 win over the Jets, clinching a playoff berth. That’s why he's getting $6 million. It's the cost of peace of mind.
Thing is, Flacco’s not just some journeyman. He's got a Super Bowl ring from 2012 with the Ravens, where he threw 11 touchdowns and zero interceptions in that playoff run, earning MVP honors. He's got 43,936 career passing yards, putting him 21st all-time, ahead of legends like Ben Roethlisberger and John Elway. He’s played in 186 regular season games. He’s seen it all. Is he a long-term solution? Absolutely not. But if Burrow goes down for a few weeks, Flacco can step in, manage the game, and keep the Bengals afloat. He showed that last year in Cleveland, revitalizing a Browns offense that looked dead in the water. He still has the arm talent to push the ball downfield, evidenced by his 7.8 yards per attempt in 2023, which was higher than Patrick Mahomes' 7.3. He’s not going to win them a Super Bowl as the starter, but he might just keep them in contention *for* one.
This move tells me the Bengals are all-in. They’re not messing around with their championship window. They saw what happened in 2023 when Burrow went down, and they're not letting it happen again. My hot take? Flacco plays at least three full games for the Bengals this year. And they'll win two of them.