Bengals Camp Battle: Josh Johnson and Sean Clifford Fight for QB3 Job Behind Burrow and Flacco

Training camp opened this week at the Kettering Health Practice Fields, and while Joe Burrow’s snaps will draw the biggest crowds, the more interesting Bengals quarterback battle is happening behind him. Josh Johnson and Sean Clifford are competing for a roster spot that may not exist once final cuts hit in a month.

Cincinnati’s quarterback room looks stacked on paper. Burrow returns as the unquestioned starter. Joe Flacco, the 2025 trade-deadline pickup who steadied the offense during Burrow’s absence last season, is back as the No. 2 option after re-signing in March. That leaves Johnson and Clifford scrapping for whatever’s left.

According to SI’s Bengals coverage, the QB3 competition is “as clear cut as it gets” among position battles heading into camp, with Johnson and Clifford essentially fighting over one spot — and it may end up being a practice-squad job rather than a roster spot at all.

Why Johnson Is No Sure Thing

Johnson brings a resume nobody else in that quarterback room can match. He’s made 50 career appearances across seven franchises and has been rostered by 14 different teams, an NFL record, according to Bengals.com’s quarterback position primer. That kind of mileage usually buys a roster spot on reputation alone.

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— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) July 29, 2026

Not this time, according to multiple outlets. Bengals Wire’s Chris Roling, writing for Yahoo Sports, projects Cincinnati keeps only Burrow and Flacco on the active roster, with Johnson left off the 53. A to Z Sports analyst John Sheeran went further, giving Johnson just a 5% chance of making the final roster, per the same Yahoo Sports report.

The math is straightforward. Johnson signed before Flacco’s return was finalized, essentially as an insurance policy in case Flacco left for a starting job elsewhere. Once Flacco came back to Cincinnati, Johnson’s role shifted from “possible backup” to “third-string camp arm” — a much shakier position heading into cuts.

Clifford’s Hometown Story Adds a Wrinkle

Clifford’s path is arguably tougher, but his story carries more local weight. The Cincinnati native and St. Xavier High School product signed to the Bengals’ practice squad last September and was later promoted to the 53-man roster, serving as the emergency third quarterback for three games during Burrow’s injury absence. He never appeared in a live snap for Cincinnati.

A recent roster-cut breakdown flagged Clifford’s spot as “increasingly narrow,” noting that in a league where most teams carry only two quarterbacks on the active roster, finding room for a third is difficult even for a hometown favorite. The likeliest outcome, per that same analysis, is a release followed by an attempt to re-sign him to the practice squad rather than an outright roster spot.

“We have guys with so much talent, and I’m just excited to put it all together,” Burrow said of the quarterback room heading into camp.

That quote, pulled from Bengals.com’s position preview, reflects the mood at the top of the depth chart. For Johnson and Clifford, the mood one rung down is considerably more uncertain.

What to Watch in Camp Reps

Per the Yardbarker roster projection published this week, expect Johnson and Clifford to soak up the bulk of camp and preseason snaps while Burrow and Flacco are managed carefully through August — standard practice for a team trying to keep its top two quarterbacks fresh and healthy. That means the QB3 battle will actually be decided in exhibition games, not necessarily in the padded practices open to the public this month.

The bigger-picture stakes for Cincinnati are obvious. Burrow has missed significant time in two of the last three seasons, which is exactly why the Bengals prioritized quarterback depth this offseason instead of treating it as an afterthought. Whoever wins the QB3 job may never take a regular-season snap — but if 2025 taught this franchise anything, it’s that the depth chart matters until it suddenly, urgently does.