The Cleveland Browns are trading quarterback Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals for a fifth-round pick. The Bengals will also receive a sixth-round pick back in the deal.
Flacco will head to the Bengals, who are without Joe Burrow for at least the next 12 weeks with a severe turf toe injury that needed surgery. Backup Jake Browning has struggled mightily, and since Burrow’s injury, the Bengals’ offense has torpedoed. Now, Flacco will give them a chance to turn that around.
For the Browns, they benched Flacco for rookie quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who will get his first true road game start against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Right after that, the Steelers head to Cincinnati to face the Bengals, and that could open the door for Flacco.
The 2024 Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year, Gabriel missed some time in the preseason with a hamstring issue before decisively winning the backup quarterback job with his play over the rest of the preseason.
Gabriel helped lead Oregon to the College Football Playoff in 2024 before bowing out to the Ohio State Buckeyes. Now, the Browns’ third-round pick gets a chance to showcase what he can do to Browns leadership and ultimately prove that he can be the guy for them the rest of this season if things go well.
Shedeur Sanders is also being elevated to the backup quarterback after being saddled as the third quarterback for the season.
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