3 ways Bengals have helped Joe Burrow in 2023 offseason

The Cincinnati Bengals have shown that they're all in when it comes to helping out their franchise quarterback, and why wouldn't they? Since Joe Burrow joined the Bengals in 2020, the team has been to back-to-back AFC Championship Games and went to the Super Bowl in Burrow's second season.

When a team has a quarterback as talented as Burrow, they'd be foolish not to build around him and help make him the best possible signal-caller he can be. That's why it's been awesome to see the Bengals make moves and try to give Burrow as much help as possible.

Let's check out three moves this offseason that have shown the Bengals are dedicated to helping out their QB1.

3. Signing Irv Smith Jr. to play tight end

For the second straight year, the Bengals saw their starting tight end depart in free agency after receiving a big contract from another team. Last year, they lost C.J. Uzomah to the Jets and signed Hayden Hurst weeks later.

This year, they lost Hurst to the Panthers and then signed Irv Smith Jr. There's definitely a risk with signing Smith, as the former Alabama tight end has battled injuries throughout his NFL career that, to this point, he had spent with the Vikings. He missed all of 2021 due to an injury and only played a full regular season once, which came during his rookie year in 2019.

Even with that being the case, Smith is an athletic player and has the ability to help the Bengals offense in a positive way. We know how much Burrow loves to target his tight ends on key downs so if Smith can remain healthy, this will be an excellent weapon for the former LSU quarterback to have at his disposal.