Loads of trade speculation swirled around Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow last season. Even in December, when he backtracked a bit on his viral remarks about questioning how fun football was, it was clear the Bengals' front office needed a massive offseason to appease him.
It wasn't just about making Burrow happy, though. Fans were fed up with the conservative attitude that defined Cincinnati's brass for decades. National media members were floating comparisons between Burrow's adversity-stricken Bengals tenure to what Matthew Stafford endured with the Lions before his trade to the Rams.
To their credit, the powers that be in Cincinnati stepped up, traded for Dexter Lawrence, and made all sorts of improvements on defense. It'd take a Murphy's law type of debacle to derail this season, or so it seems.
Burrow and Co. still have to deliver on the field, yet this has all the makings of a Super Bowl team. Nevertheless, some media folk still want to rain on all the excitement — and yes, float a Stafford-Jared Goff-esque Burrow trade involving San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy.
Burrow-for-Brock blockbuster ignites star quarterback debate
New York Post reporter Vincent Bonsignore wrote a recent story about how Purdy needs to live up to his massive contract in San Francisco. In discussing that storyline, Bonsignore shared that the 49ers could be in the market for a Joe Burrow trade if Purdy can't deliver a Lombardi Trophy soon:
"Multiple league sources have indicated that San Francisco is a team to watch if Burrow serves the Bengals with divorce papers. For the same reasons Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch made an earnest run at Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford in 2021, some believe they would not hesitate to do the same if Burrow is available."
The likes of 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and GM John Lynch can have all the interest they want in Burrow. It takes two to tango in negotiations. While Bonsignore's insider information may be bang-on, his juicy narrative is based on one massive assumption that the Bengals will fail miserably this year and beyond.
With Lawrence under contract through 2028, and several other marquee Cincinnati newcomers on multi-year deals, it's hard to envision Burrow uprooting himself to another team until at least after 2027. He has arguably the NFL's best wide receiver tandem at his disposal in Ja'Marr Chas and Tee Higgins, plus years of continuity with head coach Zac Taylor.
Another thing: It's frankly ridiculous to compare the situations of Stafford in Detroit and Burrow in Cincinnati.
This is nothing like the Matthew Stafford-Jared Goff trade
Toward the end of his piece, Bonsignore writes the following worst-case scenario about how Joe Burrow may be on the verge of demanding a trade with another underwhelming season:
"Much like Stafford’s patience with the Lions eventually ran out and ultimately led him to ask for a trade, Burrow could reach his boiling point with the Bengals. And there has been just enough ice cracking in Cincinnati to suggest another lost season could lead Burrow to take a page out of Stafford’s playbook. If that happens, and if Purdy and the 49ers don’t close the deal this season, the 49ers are a logical trade partner. In fact, Purdy could be the focal point of a hypothetical trade with the Bengals, along with a bunch of draft assets."
Am I missing something? First off, Burrow's last public comment after a 6-11 campaign was that this offseason was "as big as it gets." The Bengals responded with unprecedented aggression.
When did the Lions ever make an all-in push for a Super Bowl with Stafford, who never made it past Wild Card Weekend in the Motor City? The answer is never.
Another logical hole in Bonsignore's hypothetical blockbuster trade: In what world is Purdy under so much pressure that he must win a Super Bowl this year, or otherwise be the centerpiece of a trade?
The 49ers got ravaged by injuries last season. Their core group of veterans is another year older. They play in an NFC West division with the reigning NFL MVP in Stafford, and the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. If the Niners aren't the last team standing when all is said and done, how is that on Purdy exactly?
There are too many question marks for this Burrow-Purdy trade to be a realistic possibility.
Reckless Burrow trade speculation presumes Bengals meltdown
As awesome as the Bengals front office did this offseason, it'd take the most severe cast of workplace negligence and incompetence to even entertain a Burrow trade offer.
Cincinnati's proactive approach to upgrading the roster should quell any itch Burrow might have to ask for a trade, even if this season goes sideways somehow.
Now let's remember what happened over the last 365 days or so to fully put this silly trade scuttlebutt to bed.
The Bengals had the league's last-ranked run defense in 2025, two overwhelmed rookies starting at linebacker, and a cornerback group that didn't come into its own until Dax Hill flexed from nickelback to the boundary and Jalen Davis started in the slot.
That secondary will be even better with safety and two-time Super Bowl champion Bryan Cook defecting from Kansas City for a Cincinnati homecoming.
Cincinnati's defensive tackle group is worlds better with Lawrence and Jonathan Allen in the fold to complement B.J. Hill. Although Trey Hendrickson is now with the Ravens, the Bengals nabbed Seahawks free agent Boye Mafe to add some freakish athleticism at defensive end, plus a second-round rookie in Cashius Howell.
Oh, and Burrow played in only eight games this past season. The team went 5-3 despite a terrible defense, and one of the flukier blown wins in Buffalo you'll ever see, as Burrow threw interceptions on back-to-back pass attempts.
When Burrow wasn't in the lineup, Joe Flacco played very well. Flacco lost consecutive starts by scores of 39-38 and 47-42. He came within six points of beating the eventual AFC champion New England Patriots.
Flip those four games I just mentioned, and despite all the flaws of last year's team, we're talking about 10 wins and a playoff berth.
Saying all that to say, it'd take the most unfathomable collapse by the Bengals to mirror 2025's waking nightmare of a 17-game slate. The schedule is a lot kinder this year, too, and Burrow is playing behind a quality offensive line that returns all five starters. That group should offer him the best protection of his career from further injury.
It can be fun to float radical trade ideas and debate them, especially in the deader portions of the NFL offseason. Training camps are opening now, though. It's time to get real.
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