The Cincinnati Bengals aren’t having a good 2025. They came in with high expectations. They had a new defensive coordinator who was supposed to fix the problems that plagued the team last year, and with no contract issues for Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins, Joe Burrow got an entire offseason with his top weapons.
However, an injury in Week 2 to Burrow’s toe that will keep him out for the vast majority of the season, and a defense that still struggles to stop even the worst offenses in the NFL, have created a 3-6 start.
More than that, this is a culmination of years of decision-making coming to a head, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Going from a unit that was a strength in 2021 to gradually becoming historically bad. This has come as they’ve drafted poorly and made bad free agent moves to fill holes, while letting other players walk.
This kind of start could have people wondering how Burrow himself feels about his future in Cincinnati. NFL Insider Adam Schefter went on a tirade while on ESPN’s “Get Up” about how Burrow might be available in the future as a quarterback arms race occurs.
“How do you think Joe Burrow feels about the Bengals defense and the offensive line that’s protecting him?” Schefter quipped. “That’s where it gets interesting, because if that’s what he wants, and we have no idea what he wants, but if that’s what he wants, it’s over.
“Any player, when they’re determined enough, if they want out, they’re gonna get out.”
It is worth noting that the Miami Dolphins had three first-round picks in that 2020 draft, and at the time, people said the Bengals should take them and draft Justin Herbert or Tua Tagovailoa.
Andrew Hawkins noted Burrow’s injury history and said a king’s ransom wouldn’t be a 0% chance that a trade would get done.
The real thing that would have to occur would be Burrow going to the front office and saying he’s done, that he’s willing to pull a Carson Palmer and walk away if they don’t trade him.
Everyone on the set notes that this is the point at which a trade becomes more likely. The thing is, Burrow isn’t that guy, and it would be tough for him to do that when they just went out and got him Chase, Higgins, and Gesicki signed, like he went to the press and asked for.
Burrow also seems like a guy who genuinely loves the game too much to sit out games in the hope of getting traded. That is all without noting the compensation he would be giving up.
It is hilarious how worked up Schefter gets over this whole segment. It gets to the point that the host pulls out a prop they call “Salty Schefty,” which is the most accurate representation of what he’s been like towards this franchise for a while.
There is no doubt serious changes need to occur, but if people think Burrow is a realistic quarterback target for a few first round picks, they are delusional. The Bengals realize how lucky they are to get Burrow. It’s why they signed Higgins and Chase.
Without Burrow, this team is a bottom-dweller.
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