Joe Flacco Was Interested In Giants This Offseason But New York Didn’t Reciprocate

September 30, 2026

According to Pro Football Talk, veteran QB Joe Flacco was interested in playing for the Giants this offseason.

However, that interest was not reciprocated by New York and Flacco ended up returning for another year in Cincinnati. The Giants were happy with Jameis Winston as their backup quarterback at the time.

New York went so far as to extend Winston ahead of this season but ended up trading for QB J.J. McCarthy after two shaky performances from Winston following QB Jaxson Dart‘s injury. Winston remains the starter for now but McCarthy could push him eventually.

Flacco went to college at Delaware and played most of his career with the Ravens, so his family lived in the area last year. Playing for New York would have been more convenient than Cincinnati but he also meshed well with the Bengals after being traded last year and the team wanted him back.

He picked the Bengals over interest from the Rams and Raiders.

Flacco, 41, is a former first-round pick of the Ravens back in 2008. After over a decade in Baltimore, the Broncos agreed to trade a 2019 fourth-round pick to the Ravens for Flacco.

Flacco was in the fourth year of a six-year, $125 million contract that contained $44 million guaranteed and set to make a base salary of $20.25 million for 2020 when Denver released him with a failed physical designation.

He signed a one-year contract worth $1.5 million and up to $4.5 million with the Jets in 2020 before joining the Eagles in 2021. Philadelphia traded him back to the Jets ahead of the deadline for a conditional sixth-round pick.

Flacco later re-signed with the Jets on a one-year, $3.5 million deal in 2022. He signed on with the Browns during the season in 2023 and parlayed a strong performance into a deal with the Colts in 2024.

He re-signed with Cleveland on a one-year deal in 2025 but was traded to the Bengals before Week 6 of the regular season. Flacco re-signed with the Bengals on a one-year, $6 million deal in 2026.

In 2025, Flacco appeared in 13 games for the Browns and Bengals and completed 60.3 percent of his pass attempts for 2,479 yards, 15 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.