Joe Burrow has done what all truly great quarterbacks do for the Cincinnati Bengals. His impact on the franchise has transcended on-field excellence and intangible leadership qualities with his teammates. Burrow has raised the organization's standards across the board.
Unfortunately, the Bengals haven't met Burrow where he's at in terms of his burning desire to win at all costs until this offseason. Better late than never as Joe Shiesty enters his seventh NFL season, but at least the light bulb finally flicked on for Mike Brown, Duke Tobin, Katie Blackburn and errbody else.
But will Burrow stick around Cincinnati for his whole career? The question persists even after the Bengals' concerted efforts to upgrade their roster.
Albert Breer compares Joe Burrow to Matthew Stafford in analyzing his future with the Bengals
SI.com's Albert Breer answered a fan question about whether Burrow will change teams, and made an interesting analogy to Los Angeles Rams reigning MVP Matthew Stafford:
"This sort of question would’ve been preposterous 20 years ago. But based on where the NFL is now, and where professional sports are in general, when it comes to player movement, it’s hard to rule out the idea that Joe Burrow could end up elsewhere. If you really want to dig into it, I think the most relevant case study for Burrow’s future is Matthew Stafford. [...] Like Burrow, Stafford had some high-end talent around him on offense in Detroit, but played with only two top-10 defenses, and just four that ranked in the top half of the league over his 12 seasons as a Lion. So there are some similarities, including the fact that both quarterbacks genuinely wanted to be agents of change for the teams that drafted them. All this is to say, I don’t think we’re there yet with Burrow. But like Stafford, he badly wants to win, and he won’t be content with coming up short on Lombardi Trophies forever."
Breer also lays out how Stafford was a dozen years into his time with the Detroit Lions before he finally demanded a trade. Stafford had three one-and-done playoff exits in his first eight seasons before four years of not making the postseason.
The good news for Burrow is that he's not as deep into his career, and when he has gotten Cincinnati into the dance, they've gone to the AFC Championship Game twice and Super Bowl LVI.
But Stafford was the opposing quarterback in that Super Bowl, which the Rams won 23-20. Even in the wake of that heartbreak, Bengals fans thought for sure they'd be back, especially when they lost the conference title game in Kansas City the next year by the exact same score. A Lombardi Trophy seemed well within reach in the next few years.
Alas, it hasn't played out that way at all. Cincinnati hasn't sniffed contention since then. Burrow has suffered two more major injuries. The personnel and scouting departments under Tobin's watch were an embarrassment for most of the postseason drought.
Thank goodness the Bengals found some semblance of urgency in free agency, and in trading for All-Pro nose tackle Dexter Lawrence. Why they can't apply that to their pursuit of solidifying the linebacker corps is beyond my comprehension.
Oh well. Sounds like Burrow is content to stick around the Queen City for now. Breer is bang-on in his analysis. That said, things can change quickly if Cincinnati misses the playoffs yet again in 2026.
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