The Bengals’ 2025 campaign has crumbled faster than even the most pessimistic Cincinnati supporter could have ever imagined. After Joe Burrow was sidelined in week two with a devastating turf toe injury, the offensive engine that was supposed to power Cincy back to the playoffs after two years away evaporated overnight. Just one look at the football betting odds proves that.
In preseason, Cincy was considered a +1600 dark horse for Super Bowl glory. Now, the latest football betting at Bovada odds makes the Bengals a +15000 no-hoper. That almighty slide is due almost solely to the injury to their talismanic quarterback.
Burrow is a top-three QB when fully fit. He led the entire NFL in passing yards and touchdowns last season, and if we’re being honest, no one could replace him under center at Paycor Stadium. As such, backup Jake Browning was inheriting the impossible job. That said, the former undrafted free agent shone standing in for Joey B back in 2023, and there were hopes that he would do the same this season.
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Jake Browning Disaster Leads To Joe Flacco
Unfortunately, his second crack of the whip has been an unmitigated disaster. Over the course of three games post-injury, the Bengals scraped together a mere 37 points, their offense flatlining while Browning tossed five harrowing interceptions. Pressure mounted in the Queen City as, week after week, the promise of a deep playoff run faded into disbelief.
Desperate for answers, Cincinnati moved to acquire Joe Flacco from the Cleveland Browns, hoping a seasoned hand might steady a sinking ship and somehow keep faint playoff hopes alive until Burrow returns. Yes, Flacco’s Super Bowl MVP credentials cannot be denied—but in 2025, the 40-year-old veteran looked every bit his age in his four starts this term.
After being dropped in favor of rookie Dillon Gabriel, the gunslinger suddenly became available for trade. The Bengals have swooped, but is this truly the best path forward for a team so stacked with young talent? Which quarterbacks could have changed Cincinnati’s fortunes this season, and did the team miss a golden opportunity? Let’s break down the three signal-callers the Bengals should have pursued instead of Joe Flacco.
Kirk Cousins
Sometimes the smart play is the obvious one, and Kirk Cousins stood out for all the right reasons. Despite falling down the pecking order in Atlanta after a disappointing debut campaign with the Falcons, the 37-year-old remains a surgical passer. His career 66.1% completion rate didn’t come by accident—it’s the residue of years spent dissecting defenses, and it’s the perfect fit for a Bengals offense reliant on crisp, quick throws to weaponize arguably the best wide receiving corps in the league in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Did anyone see the Falcons hoarding him? Not likely. Atlanta, stuck in a cycle of almost-but-not-quite, would have jumped at a chance to offload Cousins’ expensive $180 million deal. The price? Any pick at all would have done, such is the Falcons’ urgency to free up cap space for a backup quarterback on a hefty contract. But ultimately, it’s that lofty salary that likely pushed the Bengals in a different direction.
Cousins’ steady hand and elite anticipation would have insulated the Bengals from chaos. Plug him into Taylor’s play-action-heavy system and you unlock a version of the Bengals where panic recedes, and the postseason window stays wide open, at least until Burrow is back and firing. Instead, the front office opted for Flacco—a man whose best trait these days is nostalgia.
Russell Wilson
Russell Wilson has made a habit of proving doubters wrong. His 2024 campaign in Pittsburgh was resurgent by every measure: 3,118 yards, 26 touchdowns, and countless fourth-quarter escapes that reignited his brand as one of the NFL’s great improvisers. While consistency woes ultimately saw him ousted to the Giants, his raw playmaking ability is everything Flacco simply can’t offer anymore.
Imagine: Wilson under center in Cincy, supplementing Burrow’s absence not just with production, but with hope—rolling right, flipping passes 50 yards downfield to Chase and Higgins, and turning broken plays into magic. The Giants saw Wilson’s value post-Steelers, giving him a lifeline, but after a poor start to life in the Big Apple, he has since fallen behind rookie first-rounder Jaxson Dart.
That plight suddenly made Russ easily accessible; a Day 3 draft pick and some light financial reengineering would have made the move feasible for the Bengals. And how would Wilson fit at Paycor? Like a glove.
Jameis Winston
For fans craving volatility, Jameis Winston may have been the ultimate gamble. Reckless? Sometimes. But defensive coordinators do not sleep easily when the former number one draft pick’s arm is unleashed. In just a handful of 2023 starts in New Orleans, Winston amassed 2,214 yards and 14 touchdowns. In Cleveland last season, he was the ultimate paradox, rifling 13 touchdowns against 12 interceptions and guaranteeing chaos on a weekly basis.
He, too, has wound up at the Giants, sitting behind both Dart and Wilson on the depth chart. As such, any trade cost would have been minimal. Wandering the wilderness of the depth chart in the Big Apple, Winston—with a $9.5 million salary and little franchise buy-in—was a phone call away. Instead, it was Flacco who got the call, and it remains to be seen whether the much-criticized Cincy front office will live to regret their decision.
