Bengals checked in with retired Pro Bowl quarterback before making surprise trade for Joe Flacco, per report

The Cincinnati Bengals pulled off the most surprising trade of the season Tuesday when they acquired Joe Flacco from the Cleveland Browns. 

After watching Jake Browning struggle through three starts, the Bengals knew they had to make a move at quarterback if they wanted to save their season, and that's how they ended up with Flacco. However, the former Browns quarterback wasn't the only QB targeted during their search. 

In fact, the Bengals made quite a few phone calls in the 24 hours after their Week 5 loss to the Detroit Lions, according to NFL Media.

"This trade was the result of an exhaustive search," Ian Rapoport said. "Essentially what they did in canvassing the league was call every team that had three quarterbacks or a viable practice squad option."

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John Breech

The Bengals were so desperate for help that they actually called to check in on one quarterback who's actually retired, and that's four-time Pro Bowler Derek Carr. The 34-year-old announced his retirement back in May, but he left the door slightly open for a possible return if he found the right situation. Although Carr is retired, he's still under contract with the Saints, so if the Bengals wanted to add him, they would have had to make a deal with New Orleans. Any possible trade for Carr would have been difficult to pull off from a financial standpoint for New Orleans because the team restructured his contract in March. Also, Carr has been dealing with a shoulder injury and it's unclear if he even would have been healthy enough to play. 

Besides Carr, there were several other notable names the Bengals inquired about, including Houston's Davis Mills and Philadelphia's Sam Howell. There were also a few notable names the Bengals did NOT attempt to trade for, including Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston. 

In the end, the Bengals decided to make a trade for Flacco, who was their starting quarterback on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers. Although Flacco only had four days to learn Cincinnati's offense, he actually played pretty well against the Packers, throwing for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Things seemed to click for Flacco during a second half where he threw for 179 yards. 

Flacco's passing numbers won't wow anyone, but they should give the Bengals some confidence going into Week 7 when they host the Steelers on "Thursday Night Football."