Former Browns QB Admits Benching Made Him Question Future

The Cleveland Browns brought back Joe Flacco this season. He may not have been intended to be the starting quarterback, but with Kenny Pickett getting injured and rookies Dillon Gabriel and Shedeur Sanders not ready, head coach Kevin Stefanski didn’t have much of a choice.

Unfortunately, things didn’t go as well as they did in his first stint with the organization. He wasn’t given much freedom to throw downfield, and with some unlucky bounces leading to turnovers, they moved on from Flacco after just four games and replaced him with Gabriel.

Now with the Cincinnati Bengals, Flacco recently admitted that being benched by the Browns made him question his future.

“Yeah, of course [retirement crossed my mind]. It’s hard to distract yourself from those thoughts. I think you’re always getting bombarded by these negative thoughts. And, yeah, never playing football again is one of those thoughts. It’s definitely crossed my mind several different times in my career. Whether it was fear of ‘Am I ever going to play again?’ or myself saying, ‘What the h*** am I doing? Am I even having fun?’ Those thoughts have all come into my mind and I’ve dealt with them all at one point or another,” Flacco said.

Since we meandered onto the topic, I asked Joe Flacco if he thought about retiring after this season when he was benched by the Browns.

Short answer: Yes. Bu the long answer is 100% worth the listen. pic.twitter.com/K5J2ZMJXTm

— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) November 12, 2025

Flacco Opens Up About Retirement Fears

Flacco has again turned back the clock to prove the doubters wrong. He’s posting outstanding numbers and has done a great job of keeping the Bengals’ offense going while Joe Burrow recovers from injury.

This is the same quarterback who looked borderline unplayable in the first month of the season. Of course, that has raised some major questions about Stefanski and his offense, as it’s not the first time a quarterback has broken out after leaving.

Countless factors can contribute to a quarterback’s success, or lack thereof. The Browns clearly don’t have a wide receiver who is the caliber of Bengals’ stars Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins, and it’s hard to get anything going when there’s no separation or reliable hands.

That being said, this is yet another testament to how much better a player can be when he’s allowed to play to his strengths. Flacco is a gunslinger, and the Browns kept him on a short leash.