Should I Start Joe Flacco?

Tuesday, March 17, 4:18 PM

The Athletic's Paul Dehner Jr. believes that when the Cincinnati Bengals signed 14-team NFL legend Josh Johnson over the weekend, it "sent a clear message" that they "plan on waiting" for free-agent quarterback Joe Flacco. The 41-year-old veteran will return for a 19th season in the NFL, but he's prioritizing signing with a team that will allow him to start in Week 1 of the regular season this fall. At this point, that's unlikely to happen, but Flacco has also stated that he'd have interest in returning to Cincinnati as Joe Burrow's backup if he can't find an opportunity to compete for a starting job. The Bengals essentially bought time to wait Flacco out by signing Johnson. Flacco put up some impressive single-game numbers for Cincy last year when Burrow was dealing with a toe injury, and he finished with 2,479 passing yards, 15 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions in 13 games (10 starts) with the Bengals and Browns. Despite his age, Flacco would be back on the superflex and streaming radar in fantasy if he re-signs with the Bengals and Burrow gets injured again in 2026.