With quarterback Joe Burrow likely to return to the Bengals lineup in Week 13, veteran Joe Flacco has likely played his last snap of the 2025 season. Originally starting the year with the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati traded for the 41-year-old veteran after backup Jake Browning proved incapable of handling starting duties. While Flacco went 1-5 with the Bengals, nobody should blame him for the lack of wins. The veteran played remarkably well under the circumstances, completing 61.6% of his passes for 1,636 yards, 13 touchdowns, and four interceptions. He couldn’t overcome Cincinnati’s historically awful defense, but very few quarterbacks could.
Now set to finish his 18th year in the league on the bench, one must wonder if the Bengals could be the final stop for Joe Flacco on his NFL journey. While only time will tell for sure, a report from ESPN’s Ben Baby suggests Flacco will return to the NFL in 2026. In a recent article, Baby claims the quarterback believes he’s still a starting-caliber option and hopes to start next year under center for one of the game’s 32 teams.
REPORT: Bengals Joe Flacco Wants to Start Next Year
It goes without saying that, barring an injury, Joe Flacco will not start for the Cincinnati Bengals next year. Joe Burrow is one of the game’s best quarterbacks and, despite his strong play in relief, Flacco will not usurp him on the depth chart. However, the former Super Bowl MVP will be a free agent in the upcoming season and could sign with any number of quarterback-needy teams.
A lot can happen between now and the start of the 2026 NFL Draft, but right now it appears as though the upcoming class of quarterbacks is a weak one. Teams like the New York Jets, Las Vegas Raiders, Arizona Cardinals, and Cleveland Browns would all love to find a rookie quarterback ready to start on Day 1, but there may not be enough to go around. A veteran like Joe Flacco would be the ideal short-term starter to keep the team competitive while a youngster develops on the sideline.
