Browns trade Flacco to Bengals
The Cincinnati Bengals are trading for Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco, the team announced.
The Browns will send Flacco and a sixth-round pick to the Bengals in exchange for a fifth-round selection. The sixth-round choice originally belonged to the Detroit Lions.
Flacco, 40, recently lost the starting job in Cleveland to rookie Dillon Gabriel after playing the season's first four games. The trade leaves first-year passer Shedeur Sanders as Gabriel's immediate backup.
The Bengals have struggled at the QB position since Jake Browning took over for Joe Burrow following a toe injury that will sideline the two-time Pro Bowler until at least December.
Burrow and the Bengals started the season 2-0, but Cincinnati has lost three in a row without its star quarterback. This year, Browning has passed for six touchdowns against eight interceptions, including three during Sunday's 37-24 loss to the Detroit Lions.
Flacco, a former Super Bowl MVP with the Baltimore Ravens, failed to make an impact in Cleveland this season, completing 58.1% of his passes for 815 yards and two touchdowns against six interceptions. He faced the Bengals in Week 1, with the Browns losing 17-16.
Cincinnati will be the third AFC North team of his career and the seventh club overall.
Flacco's Bengals debut will presumably be Oct. 12 versus the Green Bay Packers. The veteran passer competed against the Packers on Sept. 21, when Cleveland pulled off an upset at home.
The trade is the first between the Bengals and Browns since Cleveland returned to the NFL in 1999, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.