The Cincinnati Bengals are in a precarious position through the first month of the new NFL season. All the momentum from their 2-0 start screeched to a halt as they were outscored 76-13 in back-to-back losses.
Quarterbacks often take more of the blame than they deserve, and get too much credit when things are going well. Football is about as much of a team sport as there is. That said, it's quite glaring how much the Bengals miss the injured-yet-again Joe Burrow.
Despite the offense's putrid output over the last two games, it turns out that head coach Zac Taylor's public backing of fill-in QB Jake Browning wasn't just posturing for the media. Or at least that's what we're led to believe in light of a prominent insider's latest scoop.
Bengals aren't in trade market for new QB despite Jake Browning's woes
NFL Media insider Ian Rapoport reported that Cincinnati is indeed rolling with Browning for "the foreseeable future." A little more from the artist known as @RapSheet:
"The Bengals have not had trade talks for any veteran to come in and start, sources say. Not the Giants' Russell Wilson or the Falcons' Kirk Cousins or anyone in between."
The organization's confidence in Browning stems from his stellar stint in 2023, where he completed 70.4% of his passes and guided the Bengals to a 4-3 record. People forget they even had a Week 17 lead entering the fourth quarter at Arrowhead Stadium.
Browning sure looks like a shell of the player who shined in place of Burrow two seasons ago, though. Maybe that's much to blame on the offensive line's inability to block, or the fact that Browning just had to face two formidable defenses on the road in the Vikings and Broncos.
Unfortunately, facing the Detroit Lions in Week 5 isn't any sort of picnic. Despite the fact that it's a welcome return to home turf, Cincinnati has its work cut out to prevent Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson from basically wrecking their entire game plan.
About the only saving grace for Browning is Detroit having a super banged-up secondary. That could open up major opportunities for explosive plays to the likes of Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
It's just a matter of whether the Bengals can keep the Lions' defense honest enough with a decent running game. That's proven elusive to date in 2025. Browning needs enough time to deliver the ball. Preferably not under near-constant duress.
I've made it clear that I'm not a big proponent of the Bengals trading for Russell Wilson. Nor do I think Kirk Cousins could learn a new playbook on the fly and be a significant upgrade over Browning. Those are the two main names Rapoport brought up in his report re: QB trade targets.
Cincinnati is making the right call to not panic-trade for somebody. If Browning doesn't return close to his 2023 form soon, however, the Bengals' inaction could look very bad and backfire in the worst way.