Joe Flacco has landed on ESPN’s 2026 NFL All-Backup Team, a fitting nod after the veteran’s late-season run in Cincinnati last year.
The Bengals’ decision to trade for Flacco in the middle of the season came after Joe Burrow went down, and it gave a team that was sliding fast an immediate jolt. Cincinnati was unraveling early last season, but Flacco helped supply the kind of spark the team, the fanbase, and the city badly needed.
The wins didn’t pile up, but the production did. In Zac Taylor’s offense, and with Ja’Marr Chase helping drive things, Flacco was highly effective and is now officially set to back up Burrow heading into 2026.
Bill Barnwell of ESPN included Flacco on his NFL All-Backup team for the new season and praised the veteran’s ability to keep an offense moving.
“Here’s the veteran in our quarterback room. Flacco, 41, has been effective while bouncing around the league over the past three years, posting a 45.5 QBR while winning games for the Browns, Colts and Bengals.
He’s going to throw some truly painful interceptions, but Flacco still has a strong arm, does a solid job of avoiding sacks and can run the offense from under center. He’s a great short-term option for us,” Barnwell wrote.
Flacco is also the most experienced quarterback to have backed up Burrow since he was drafted in 2020, and he’s already shown he can win in the NFL and operate Cincinnati’s offense if called on again.
In Other News...
One Bengals Splash Move Could Undo Everything This Offseason
A recent CBS Sports note put Cincinnati in the mix for a possible splash addition at receiver, but the idea lands with a thud when you look at how the Bengals are already built. Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are entrenched at the top, and the depth chart behind them already includes Andrei Iosivas, Mitchell Tinsley, Charlie Jones and rookie Colbie Young, which makes any major outside addition feel more like a luxury than a need.
The bigger issue is whether the money and the fit would line up well enough to justify it. Spotrac has the market in a range that would be hard to ignore, yet the Bengals are also working with limited cap room going forward, and a deal of that size would force them to answer a simple question: would this really make the offense better, or just make it more crowded? [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Just Got Encouraging News On A Key Defensive Starter
B.J. Hills summer got off to an unexpected start when the Bengals placed the veteran defensive tackle on the Physically Unable to Perform list, with the issue believed to be tied to an ankle problem. For a team that leans on Hills steadiness inside, any early-camp absence naturally raises eyebrows, but there was at least some encouragement from the front office when director of player personnel Duke Tobin addressed Hills status at the Bengals pre-camp media luncheon.
The bigger takeaway for Cincinnati is that Hill still appears on track to be part of the roster, even if he is not on the field right away. His temporary absence also creates a little extra room for other defensive tackles to make their case as camp opens, which is exactly the kind of depth battle the Bengals will be watching closely while they wait for one of their key interior defenders to get back to work. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Free Agent Sees Something Fans Have Been Desperate For
The Bengals spent the offseason trying to answer the question that has hovered over the franchise for years: can the defense finally catch up to an offense built to contend? A major part of that push came with the addition of Super Bowl champion Boye Mafe from Seattle, one of several veteran moves aimed at giving Cincinnati a sturdier, more complete unit for 2026. Bryan Cook, Dexter Lawrence and Jonathan Allen also arrived as part of the effort to raise the floor on that side of the ball.
Mafe has already noticed the early stages of the transition under defensive coordinator Al Golden, saying the group is working through the kind of learning curve that often comes with a new system. He even drew a parallel to what he experienced in Seattle under Mike Macdonald, a reminder that defensive change can take time before it starts to look natural. For a Bengals team that has invested heavily in the front seven and the back end, the real question is how quickly all that new talent can turn into something more dependable. [Read more 🡒]