The Cleveland Browns traded veteran quarterback Joe Flacco to the Cincinnati Bengals on Tuesday, a move directly impacting rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
After the trade, Sanders was promoted to the role of starter, with fellow rookie Dillon Gabriel as his backup. Sanders shared his reaction to the trade with Fox 8 Cleveland’s P.J. Ziegler, saying Flacco was a person he had been able to lean on early in his career.
Flacco signed a one-year, $4.25 million deal with the Browns this offseason. During his second stint with the team, he started four games, completing 58.1% of his passes for 815 yards, two touchdowns, and six interceptions.
“He was definitely somebody I leaned on for wisdom, and I feel like he helped me a lot,” Sanders told Ziegler. “He helped me a lot with my time being here in Cleveland and his time being here in Cleveland. Everybody has their own destiny and have their own plans for their lives. I’m just happy for him.
Sanders said he saw Flacco in the facility earlier on Tuesday, where Flacco shared the news of the trade. Sanders was surprised not only by the trade itself but also by how quickly it happened.
Sanders, who the Browns took in the fifth round of this year’s draft, has voiced his desire to get playing time and competed with Gabriel and Flacco for the starting job in training camp. Flacco was ultimately named the starter, Gabriel the backup, and Sanders the emergency quarterback.
After the Browns benched Flacco to evaluate Gabriel as a starter, he became expendable. The Cincinnati Bengals needed a quarterback to replace Joe Burrow, who was placed on injured reserve because of a Grade 3 turf toe following their Week 2 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The timetable for Burrow to recover was reportedly three months, meaning that he may not be ready to return until December, if at all.
Jake Browning, who has backed up Burrow since the 2023 season, has struggled with turnovers, throwing eight interceptions in the three games he has played, contributing to the Bengals going 0-3 with him as a starter. The Bengals rank last in the league in total offense, averaging only 228.6 yards per game. Those numbers led to the Browns and Bengals engaging in the first-ever player trade between the two AFC North rivals.
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