Bengals bring back 41-year-old Joe Flacco to back up Joe Burrow

The Cincinnati Bengals added key depth behind Joe Burrow on Wednesday.

The Bengals announced that they re-signed 41-year-old quarterback Joe Flacco to a one-year deal. The contract is for $6 million, but is worth up to $9 million with incentives, according to ESPN.

"I love the building," Flacco told the team website. "I enjoyed being there, and I’m excited about being back with the fellas."

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The Bengals acquired Flacco after he was benched by the Cleveland Browns after four starts. Burrow was hurt at the time, and Jake Browning, who was the backup before Flacco arrived, had underwhelmed.

Flacco made six starts for the Bengals and played well, despite the team having a 1-5 record in that span. He completed 61.7% of his passes for 1,664 yards with 13 touchdowns and four interceptions, and the Bengals offense averaged more than 27 points per game.

Making Flacco’s performance more impressive, he played through a sprained AC joint in his shoulder with the Bengals.

Flacco was looking to find a starting job in free agency, but after not getting one, he struggled with the reality that he might not play at all.

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"I don't know what Plan A was. It's tough to kind of say exactly what that looked like, so you kind of just have to go with the flow a little bit," Flacco said. "I have good feelings there. The hardest thing for me is probably coming to grips with the fact that I might not play."

The veteran quarterback didn’t want a repeat of last season with the Browns, when he was benched for rookie Dillon Gabriel after four games.

"I felt like I had to be careful with some certain decisions. I don't want to be in another situation where I'm going and playing four games like I did last year in Cleveland. I was a little bit nervous about that for whatever reason, and kind of getting thrown under the bus. I think there was a time to be that guy, but I don't know if I was willing to do that. It just felt right in the gut," Flacco said.

Flacco, at 41, is the oldest player to ever play for the Bengals.

He is 14th on the all-time passing yards list and just 1,824 yards away from 50,000.

In a perfect world for the Bengals, Flacco never steps on the field because that would mean Burrow remains healthy all season. However, if Burrow gets injured, they can trust that they have a capable backup who can lead the offense at a high level.  

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