He may be one of the oldest active quarterbacks in the NFL today. But that doesn’t seem to mean much to either Joe Flacco or the Cincinnati Bengals, as the AFC North franchise announced that it would be signing the 41-year-old veteran to a one-year, $6-million deal that includes an extra $3 million in incentives.
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The move comes in the wake of the team’s QB1, Joe Burrow, being forced to miss more than six regular-season games for the third time in his career. So, for all intents and purposes, the Bengals now have their insurance policy in place for the 2026 season.
According to the host of Chat Sports’ Bengals Breakdown, Billy Beebe, not only does this solve the franchise’s lack of a “qualified backup quarterback,” but it also serves as a bit of an admittance that the likelihood of Burrow playing all 17 games isn’t very high. “That’s what the incentives are for,” Beebe suggests.
“The idea that Joe Flacco could play, and when he plays, hits those marks? Why? Because you do have a history of Joe Burrow injuries… I think it’s a very, very big deal to have a guy that, if Joe Burrow goes down, can play and keep you in the playoff race until either Joe Burrow gets back or do what he did for Cleveland, and completely flip their season around and get them into the playoffs,” the insider outlined.
Throughout his nine appearances with the Bengals in 2025, Flacco managed to complete 61.7% of his passes while averaging 185 passing yards per game and scoring a total of 14 touchdowns. Extrapolate that over the course of a full 17-game season, and that makes him a 3,000+ yard passer with nearly 25 touchdown passes.
That level of production with group Flacco with the likes of C.J. Stroud and Aaron Rodgers, which may just indicate that this was a steal of a deal for the Bengals. Throw in the fact that the former Super Bowl MVP was able to enjoy that success despite also having the highest sack percentage of any signal caller in the league last year, as well as his budding relationship with Burrow himself, it seems safe to say that Cincinnati is more than content keeping him around.
“Even when Flacco was done starting games, those two were still getting along really well,” Beebe noted. “Flacco could teach him how to take better care of himself. He could teach him how to be a better quarterback. This is a guy you like having in the building in general.”
Of course, the real hope for both Burrow and the Bengals is that Flacco’s services won’t be necessary for the bulk of the 2026 regular season, as the only thing that could be more infuriating than another missed playoff spot would be another lost season for the LSU product.
