Bengals say Flacco trade gives team hope for this season - ESPN

CINCINNATI — At first, Ja'Marr Chase thought it was a joke when he got a call from fellow Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins with the biggest news of the week.

But after a follow-up call from coach Zac Taylor, it was clear Higgins was serious. Cincinnati had indeed traded for Joe Flacco to be the team's new starting quarterback.

The move comes amid the Bengals' three-game losing streak and a stretch of ineffective offensive performances. With Jake Browning starting for the injured Joe Burrow, Cincinnati failed to muster more than three points in the first three quarters of each recent loss.

By trading for Flacco, Chase said it's a sign of the belief the franchise still has for this season.

«They just see that we've got a chance,» Chase said on Thursday. «Defense is doing a good enough job to help us out. Our playmakers gotta make plays in space. That's what they see. That's what they want — is to keep going. They're just giving us an opportunity to make more of those plays happen.»

Higgins said he was scrolling social media on Tuesday when he saw the news that Cincinnati was dealing a fifth-round draft pick to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for Flacco and a sixth-round draft pick. Both selections are for next year's draft.

Like the bulk of the team born near the turn of the century, Chase and Higgins were still children when Flacco started his NFL career in 2008 with the Baltimore Ravens.

«I was messing with some of the guys; I was like, 'He was in the league when we were getting in trouble for being outside with the streetlights on,» Higgins said at his locker on Thursday.

But both star receivers know what Flacco can bring to Cincinnati's offense.

«The guy's been doing this for a while,» Higgins said. «It