3 ways Bengals can extend their championship window in a lost season

1. Higher draft pick

In Joe Burrow's rookie season, he was injured midway through the season and the Bengals finished the season with a bad enough record to land the fifth overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. That's when they nabbed Burrow's buddy, Ja'Marr Chase, and the rest is history.

The following year, they made it all the way to the Super Bowl so they didn't pick until 31 and in 2023, they picked 28th overall. You can obviously still get talented players late in the first round but not anywhere near close to the talent level teams can get in the top 10 of any given draft.

While the Bengals probably aren't going to be bad enough to draft Marvin Harrison Jr. out of Ohio State or Joe Alt out of Notre Dame but they might end up with a top-10 pick if they lose enough games. I don't see the Bengals losing out but last year's draft saw the Falcons picking in the top 10 with seven wins.

A top-10 pick is doable for the Bengals even if they win a few games. That means they could be in the running for Brock Bowers, the tight end out of Georgia, who would make this Bengals offense even scarier.

The Bengals are going to be in a rare spot this year. They're a Super Bowl contender with Joe Burrow on the field but without him, they can land an elite talent to help them get to the big game and raise the Lombardi Trophy in New Orleans in early 2025.