After leading the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl in just his second year as a pro quarterback, Joe Burrow has given the fans of Cincinnati hope for the Bengals organization. He also gives them the best quarterback situation in the AFC North, which is quite the gauntlet of a division.
Burrow is only entering the third year of his rookie contract and this is the time for teams to go all out and win championships. Once they have to pay their quarterback the money he deserves, it’s harder to continue to compete with the big boys.
This is why the stripes have the edge over the other three teams in their division.
Lamar Jackson hasn’t signed an extension yet, and as of now, who’s to say that he will remain in Baltimore? His situation is an odd one, as his mother is his agent and the two sides have not come to an agreement on an extension yet.
Gary Davenport of Bleacher Report said that the Ravens have a better quarterback situation than the Bengals and I disagree, for the reasons listed above. Baltimore isn’t even sure if their franchise quarterback will be their franchise quarterback a year from now. That isn’t the case in Cincinnati.
Cincinnati Bengals clearly have the QB edge in the AFC North
Davenport had the Ravens ranked fifth and the Bengals ranked sixth in his QB situations and my guess as to why is that Baltimore has a more proven backup with Tyler Huntley at the helm. Brandon Allen isn’t nearly as experienced and if Burrow goes down, the Bengals are a much worse team than if Jackson is hurt and Huntley takes over (as we saw last year).
At No. 11 on Davenport’s list is Cleveland, who traded for Deshaun Watson and then threw a boatload of cash at him immediately upon his arrival. Watson has been accused by 23 different women of sexual assault and might not even play much, if at all, this year.
You have to scroll all the way to No. 24 to find the fourth and final AFC North team on Davenport’s list. Ben Roethlisberger retired this offseason so the Steelers are now onto the next era of quarterbacks in Pittsburgh. The Steelers signed Mitchell Trubisky in free agency and spent their first-round pick on Kenny Pickett. Neither of these guys are exactly menacing.
While the Ravens’ QB situation might be viewed as better because of their backup situation, Burrow makes the Bengals a Super Bowl contender and he’ll be in Cincinnati for, hopefully, a long time, but at the very least, the next three years. That makes this team a contender over the next three years.