BEREA, Ohio — After benching him ahead of their Week 5 matchup with the Minnesota Vikings, the Cleveland Browns have now parted ways with veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, trading him to the Cincinnati Bengals, league sources told News 5.
The Browns are sending Flacco and a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Bengals in exchange for a 2026 fifth-round pick.
Flacco won the starting role after a summer of competition between him, rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders and Kenny Pickett. After the Browns traded Pickett, they named Flacco the starter, Gabriel QB2 and Sanders QB3.
Through the first four games of the season with Flacco starting at quarterback, the Browns' offense struggled, as did Flacco himself. Flacco threw six interceptions, fumbled the ball twice and held a league-low passer rating of 60.3.
Heading into their international game against the Vikings, the Browns opted to bench Flacco and start Gabriel.
Flacco, who was voted as a team captain before the season by his peers, was reassigned to QB2, backing up Gabriel. The Browns said that they would still lean on the veteran moving forward through the season, but with a trade option on the table, Cleveland strayed from that path.
The Bengals have lost their starting quarterback, Joe Burrow, sidelined at least three months with a toe injury. Still in need of a quarterback, the trade with the Browns was finalized.
With Flacco departing, the Browns quarterback room now consists of Gabriel, their starter, as well as Sanders and Bailey Zappe, who has been on the practice squad all season. Deshaun Watson is currently on injured reserve, rehabbing a torn Achilles that ended his season last year and that he re-injured in January.
