Flacco and the Bengals have reached a one-year agreement for him to return, according to his agents at JL Sports
Flacco wanted to test free agency to see if there would be an opportunity to start , but he said if that wasn’t an option, he would be OK with being Burrow’s backup for a chance to be around great wide receivers like Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
“You just don’t know if there’s going to be any opportunities out there,” Flacco said in January. “So, hopefully I’m afforded the ability to be selective, but you never know if that’s going to be the case. … But there’s definitely scenarios where I feel like I would be welcome to maybe saying, ‘Ah, I’ll wait,’ and be that guy.”
The 40-year-old joined the Bengals in a trade from Cleveland in Week 6 of the 2025 season and went 1-5 before Burrow returned from turf toe surgery to finish the season.
Flacco hasn’t been a full-time starter since 2017, his 10th season with the Baltimore Ravens, who drafted him No. 18 overall in 2008. He was replaced by Lamar Jackson midway through the 2018 season and since then he’s been chasing opportunities to play with Denver (2019), the New York Jets (2020-22), Cleveland (2023 and 2025) and Indianapolis (2024), before finishing the 2025 season in Cincinnati.
Cleveland made him its Week 1 starter last year after he won a competition among four other quarterbacks, but it was clear he would have a chance there from the start because of Deshaun Watson’s injury.
After going 1-3, the Browns benched him. Two weeks later, he was traded, but Flacco knew he was buying time until Burrow returned. Bengals coach Zac Taylor said multiple times he would love to have Flacco back, as would director of player personnel Duke Tobin.
“I think it’d be valuable,” Taylor said. “I think he’s a starting quarterback in the NFL. I think anytime you’ve experienced that and you’re able to get him back, that’d be great.”
Despite the clear role as a backup as long as Burrow is healthy, Flacco made clear he enjoyed his time in Cincinnati.
Flacco repeatedly talked about how special Chase and Higgins are and how much easier they made his job. In case he didn’t return, Flacco had both players sign jerseys for him on locker-cleanout day at the end of the season.
“I mean, this place has been special and it’s easy to kind of come in here every day and see the connection that you can make with your teammates, and that’s going to play a big part in it,” Flacco said. “But also, just hearing the fans in the stadium and seeing how receptive they’ve been since the day I’ve gotten here … just around town and seeing people in the streets and everything like that, it’s been pretty cool for me.”
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