41-year-old veteran earns first Pro Bowl honor in improbable season that saw him benched by Browns, traded to Bengals mid-year
After 18 years in professional football, Joe Flacco is finally a Pro Bowler. The 41-year-old veteran was named as an AFC quarterback for the Pro Bowl Games, earning the honor as an alternate ahead of the competition in Santa Clara, California. It’s the first time in his career that Flacco has been named to pro football’s all-star game a remarkable fact given his longevity, his success, and his 163 starts with the Baltimore Ravens alone.
This achievement bookends an improbable year for the veteran. At the beginning of the 2025 season, Flacco was the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns. Four games later, he was benched. Then, on October 7th, he was traded to the Cincinnati Bengals, who desperately needed a starter after Joe Burrow went down with a turf toe injury. Flacco went from NFL afterthought to essential starter in a matter of days.
And then he proved he still belonged.
In the middle of the season with Cincinnati, Flacco enjoyed one of his best spells in recent years. He completed 61.7% of his passes for 1,664 yards, 13 touchdowns and just 4 interceptions. Those aren’t Hall of Fame numbers, but they’re respectable production from a 41-year-old who was supposed to be riding out the end of his career on a bench. More impressively, his expected points added per dropback (0.11) matched Burrow’s exactly, according to Research. When the numbers are adjusted for quality of performance rather than just volume, Flacco was performing at the same level as the Bengals’ franchise quarterback.
His QBR a comprehensive measure of quarterback performance was 54.7 in Cincinnati. Burrow’s was 63.1. The gap is noticeable but not vast, especially considering the circumstances. Flacco was coming into a new system mid-season. He didn’t have training camp. He didn’t have spring practices. He had maybe days to learn the playbook before being thrown into live action. And he still managed to match Burrow’s EPA and stay reasonably competitive on QBR.
That’s not a backup performance. That’s a credible starting quarterback playing at a respectable level despite unprecedented circumstances.
When persistence finally pays off
Here’s what makes this Pro Bowl honor significant: it’s validation for a career that’s been defined by perseverance. Flacco was a Super Bowl XLVII MVP with the Baltimore Ravens. He started 163 games for Baltimore from 2008 to 2018. He won big games. He won playoff games. He won a championship. And yet, he’d never made a Pro Bowl until now, at 41 years old, as an alternate, after being benched mid-season and traded to salvage another team’s injury crisis.
That’s not supposed to happen. Late-career success stories in the NFL are rare. Quarterbacks who get benched don’t typically get traded to teams that desperately need them and then perform well enough to make Pro Bowl consideration. Flacco did all of that. He proved that at 41, with minimal preparation time, in a new system, he could still compete at a level worthy of recognition.
The Ravens the organization where he built his legacy might look at this Pro Bowl honor and wonder what could have been if they’d kept him longer or used him differently. Flacco played 10 years in Baltimore, starting 163 games, winning a Super Bowl. This Pro Bowl is his first recognition at that level. That’s either a statement about how Pro Bowl selections work, or it’s a statement about how underrated Flacco’s career has been.
The journey from starter to backup to relevant starter again
Flacco’s career arc has been unusual. Super Bowl MVP with the Ravens. Then a journey through the NFL where he’s been a viable starting option for several teams, but rarely the long-term answer. Denver had him. Kansas City had him. Indianapolis had him. New York Jets had him. Then Cleveland. Then Cincinnati.
Once Burrow returned from his turf toe injury, Flacco became the Bengals’ backup. But by then, he’d already made his mark. He’d already proven he could perform. And the Pro Bowl voters took notice.
Now Flacco is set to become a free agent this offseason. Bengals coach Zac Taylor said he’s open to having him back in 2026. But Flacco has expressed the desire to be a starter once again. At 41, after 18 years in the league, after finally making a Pro Bowl, he wants one more shot at being the guy.
