Who knew the Browns had two Pro Bowl quarterbacks on the roster when their 2025 season began?
The quarterback who ended the Browns’ season as the starter, rookie Shedeur Sanders, was named to the game at the beginning of the week. The week ended with the starting quarterback from the start of the Browns season — Joe Flacco, who finished the season on the Cincinnati Bengals — being added to the game.
Those two will be joined by two other Browns in the game: Myles Garrett and Denzel Ward in the game. The Pro Bowl Games have been moved for the first time to the week and site of the Super Bowl, and will be held Tuesday, Feb. 3, at the Moscone Center South Building in San Francisco.
The event will feature an AFC vs. NFC flag football game coached by Hall of Famers Jerry Rice (NFC) and Steve Young (AFC). It will be aired on ESPN, Disney XD and ESPN Deportes, with coverage starting at 6:30 p.m. and the game at 8 p.m.
Flacco played in 13 total games with 10 starts between the two Ohio teams. He was traded to the Bengals by the Browns on Oct. 7 along with a sixth-round pick in 2026 in exchange for a 2026 fifth-round pick, the first trade ever between the two franchises.
The 41-year-old started the first four games of the season for the Browns before he was benched in favor of rookie Dillon Gabriel ahead of the Week 5 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London. At the time of his benching, Flacco ranked second in attempts (160) and fourth in completions (93) among quarterbacks in the league, but 30th in completion percentage (58.1%), 19th in yards (815) and 32nd in passer rating (60.3).
Flacco immediately started for the Bengals in place of an injured Joe Burrow and a ineffective Jake Browning. From his first Bengals start in Week 6 through his final start in Week 12, Flacco ranked second in the NFL in completions (154), tied for third in TD passes (13) and fifth in passing yards (1636).
That stretch included a career-high 470 passing yards in Week 9 vs. Chicago, and a 342-yard, three-TD performance in the team’s Week 7 win over Pittsburgh. Cincinnati went 1-5 in Flacco’s six starts.
Flacco played one play for the Bengals in their Week 18 loss to the Browns. He ran for two yards on a fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak to get a first down.
Chris Easterling can be reached at ceasterling@thebeaconjournal.com. Read more about the Browns at www.beaconjournal.com/sports/browns. Follow him on X at @ceasterlingABJ
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Joe Flacco joins former Browns teammate Shedeur Sanders as Pro Bowl QBs
Reporting by Chris Easterling, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
