The Cincinnati Bengals traded for Joe Flacco to replace Jake Browning, but before landing on that deal, were widely reported to be calling around the NFL for roughly 48 hours.
According to ESPN’s Dan Graziano, some rumblings linked the Bengals to Sam Howell of the Philadelphia Eagles and Drew Lock of the Seattle Seahawks:
“I’m told that neither of the Giants veterans — Russell Wilson or Jameis Winston — were ever real possibilities, nor was Atlanta’s Kirk Cousins. There was some chatter about Drew Lock in Seattle, Sam Howell in Philadelphia — guys like that. But teams aren’t eager to trade from their QB depth.”
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Most of this was likely just due diligence from the Bengals. Kirk Cousins was probably too costly and Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston, while entertaining on the field, might not have been a fit in the locker room.
Lock and Howell are younger guys with upside, which makes them more valuable and less likely to be moved. Think of them along the same lines as Browning before he imploded over the last three games.
As such, the Bengals landed on Flacco, who has some built-in advantages: He’s a veteran with experience in the AFC North, lots of experience learning new systems quickly and already prepped to play the Green Bay Packers once this season, meaning he could start in a few days.
RELATED: Bengals called about trades for ’48 hours’ before Joe Flacco deal
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals ‘chatter’ included Seahawks, Eagles before Joe Flacco trade
