Finley was waived by the Texans on Monday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

EDGE Analysis

Finley had been traded from Cincinnati to Houston in March, but the Texans also brought in Jeff Driskel and preferred what they saw in Driskel. Originally selected by the Bengals in the fourth round of the 2019 Draft, Finley will be subject to waivers before he's free to sign with another team.

Finley was traded from the Bengals to the Texans on Friday, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

EDGE Analysis

The 2019 fourth-round pick played in eight games for Cincinnati, completing 48.7 percent of his passes for 5.4 YPA while taking a sack on 14.4 percent of dropbacks. Finley slots in at the bottom of Houston's depth chart, behind Deshaun Watson and Tyrod Taylor. Regardless of what happens with the team's other quarterbacks, Finley isn't likely to be in the mix for a Week 1 start.

Finley, who didn't play in Sunday's loss to the Ravens, finished his 2020 season completing 17 of 32 passes for 164 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He also ran 11 times for 66 yards and one touchdown throughout his five games.

EDGE Analysis

His second year as a quarterback for Cincinnati, Finley had played an inconsistent backup quarterback role. As starter Joe Burrow suffered a knee injury during Week 11, it was up to Finley and Brandon Allen to take over his duties. While it is clear Allen was the better choice and played more than the 26-year-old, Finley led an upset of the Steelers in Week 15 in a spot start. The quarterback's signed throughout the 2022 season, while Allen is entering the offseason as an unrestricted free agent.

Finley didn't see the field while serving as the backup to starting quarterback Brandon Allen in Sunday's 37-31 win over the Texans.

EDGE Analysis

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor declined to name a starter for Week 16, but the prevailing expectation was that Finley would return to the No. 2 role after filling in for the injured Allen in the team's upset win over the Steelers in Week 15. Allen shook off his knee injury to turn in full practices Thursday and Friday, then proceeded to carve up the Texans for 371 yards and two touchdowns while completing 29 of 37 attempts. Allen's stellar outing will leave no question about the Bengals' starting quarterback heading into the Jan. 3 season finale against the Ravens.

Finley completed seven of 13 passes for 89 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions in the Bengals' 27-17 win over the Steelers on Monday night. He also rushed 10 times for 47 yards and another score.

EDGE Analysis

Finley spearheaded the NFL's second massive upset in 24 hours, helping the Bengals follow the Jets' lead from Sunday and garner a victory over a Pittsburgh team that had plenty of urgency after coming in with a two-game losing streak. The second-year signal-caller clearly operated with a limited playbook, but he avoided turnovers in a highly difficult matchup and made a substantial impact on the contest with a 14-yard scoring toss to Giovani Bernard and a 23-yard scamper into the end zone on a designed play early in the fourth quarter after the Steelers had pulled to within 17-10. Finley's pair of scores helped make make up for his considerable lack of yardage, and it's possible he may have earned himself a Week 16 start on the road against the Texans even if Brandon Allen (knee) is healthy enough to return.

Finley will start Monday against the Steelers after Brandon Allen (knee) was ruled out, Tyler Dragon of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

EDGE Analysis

Finley was hardly impressive in any of his three starts last season, failing to throw for more than 200 yards or complete more than 54 percent of his passes in a Week 9-11 stretch filling in for an ineffective Andy Dalton. It's hard to imagine Finley's stint in the role will be much better in 2020, though the Steelers defense has looked vulnerable in back-to-back losses in recent weeks.

Finley took all the first-team reps with the Cincinnati offense at Thursday's practice while starting quarterback Brandon Allen (knee) was sidelined, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

EDGE Analysis

Head coach Zac Taylor is viewing Allen as day-to-day after the signal-caller was forced out of action early for a second straight week due to an injury in last Sunday's loss to the Cowboys. Allen's absence from practice to begin Week 15 isn't a promising early sign for his status heading into Monday's game against the Steelers, but the Bengals will wait and see how the next two practices unfold before deciding whether he or Finley will pick up the start. Finley has been wholly unimpressive through his first two seasons in the NFL, completing 51 of 106 pass attempts for 549 yards (5.2 YPA), two touchdowns and four interceptions.

Finley completed one of his two pass attempts for five yards in Week 14 against the Cowboys.

EDGE Analysis

Brandon Allen (leg) served as the Bengals' quarterback for nearly the entire game. However, he exited late in the fourth quarter, leaving Finley as the signal-caller for the final two offensive possessions. Given that the game was already well out of reach, he wasn't asked to do much. It remains unclear whether Allen will be healthy enough to retake the starting role in Week 15 against the Steelers.

Finley entered the Bengals' 19-7 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday in place of Brandon Allen (chest) with 7:08 remaining in the fourth quarter and completed six of seven passes for 40 yards with no touchdowns and one interception.

EDGE Analysis

Finley averaged just 5.7 yards per attempt but connected on all but one of his short-area throws, doing a serviceable job in emergency duty while playing without Tyler Boyd, who was ejected in the first half. Finley was positively dreadful in relief of Burrow against Washington in Week 11, completing just three of 10 attempts for 30 yards and an interception in that contest. However, Finley may find himself in the top job under center Week 14 against the defensively challenged Cowboys if Allen is unable to suit up.

The Bengals plan to start Brandon Allen at quarterback over Finley in Sunday's game against the Giants, Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports.

EDGE Analysis

Finley has been active as the Bengals' No. 2 quarterback all season and replaced top signal-caller Joe Burrow (knee) after the latter tore his ACL and MCL in Sunday's loss to Washington, so the fact that Finley was passed over for the starting assignment in favor of a practice squad call-up in Allen is perhaps an indictment of his abilities. Though the 2019 fourth-round pick out of Boise State only has five NFL appearances to his name, his performance hasn't been encouraging in those outings, as he's completed only 45.4 percent of his passes for 5.2 yards per attempt and a 2:3 TD:INT. Allen's track record at the NFL is only marginally better, so it wouldn't be unfair to downgrade most of the Bengals' skill-position players the rest of the season regardless if Allen or Finley is under center.