The Cincinnati Bengals have seen several key contributors make trade requests recently. Last offseason it was Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson. This year, it was Germaine Pratt. Popular pundit and host Colin Cowherd thinks star quarterback Joe Burrow will eventually join the list.
Cowherd thinks that Burrow will eventually get fed up with Cincinnati's frugality and unwillingness to pay their own players, and ultimately that frustration will boil over into a trade request.
"So Joe Burrow, to some degree, is trapped. Think about this, I'll say this. I absolutely think at some point he'll demand to be traded," Cowherd said on air, via the Cincinnati Enquirer. "I really believe that. It's very hard to miss the playoffs when you have a great quarterback."
Colin Cowherd thinks Joe Burrow will eventually request a trade from the Bengals
These comments from Cowherd came on the heels of recent remarks from Burrow about how he would like to see the Bengals operate more like the Super Bowl-champion Philadelphia Eagles, in terms of their ability to manipulate the salary cap.
"The Eagles are paying everybody," Burrow said. "That seems like the way. Whatever they're doing."
The gulf between the Bengals and Eagles is extremely wide, though, as Cowherd went on to explain.
"Philadelphia has a GM, Howie Roseman, and two assistant GMs," Cowherd said. "The Bengals don't even have a GM. They have the son of the owner is the VP of personnel and then Duke Tobin is the director of personnel. They don't have a real GM. [The] Eagles have like one of the best, if not the best, and two assistant GMs. Eagles have 21 scouts on their website, we looked. Bengals have four."
Obviously, Burrow requesting a trade would be a nightmare scenario for Bengals fans. He's the single best thing to happen to the franchise, perhaps ever. But, the organization runs the risk of drawing his ire if they allow his top teammates out the door.
Burrow has consistently campaigned for the team to pay the likes of Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Trey Hendrickson and Mike Gesicki. He's even offered to restructure his contract in order to make things easier on Cincinnati's front office. He's under the impression that the team has enough salary cap space to keep the band together, and he wants to see that plan executed.
And who could blame him? Burrow was arguably the best quarterback in the entire NFL in 2024, and the team still fell short of qualifying for postseason play. He doesn't want his prime playing days to get wasted with an organization that won't do the necessary things to maximze the team around him.
For now, any talk of Burrow requesting a trade is simply speculative, as he's shown nothing but loyalty to the team that drafted him. The Bengals should do everything within their power to keep it that way.