'Absolutely putrid': Are Bengals wasting Joe Burrow's prime?

It is no secret that the Cincinnati Bengals had one of the worst defenses in the NFL during the 2024 season.

Despite the struggles on defense, quarterback Joe Burrow had the best season of his career, only for the Bengals to fall short of the postseason for the second year in a row.

Former safety and ESPN NFL analyst Ryan Clark was on Tuesday's edition of "Get Up" and was asked if he is concerned that the Bengals are wasting this stage of Burrow's career.

"Absolutely. ... The Cincinnati Bengals are trying to figure out a way to capitalize on having one of the best quarterbacks of this generation," Clark said. "And so what they did in the offseason was re-sign Tee Higgins, re-sign Ja'Marr Chase. But now, you're looking at a defense that hasn't improved. And not only has it not improved, but you also haven't signed your best player (Trey Hendrickson) and one of the few impact players that you had on that side of the football.

"If you're Joe Burrow, the reason that you're out here in the preseason is because you know you have to score 40. The reason that you're trying to do different things, why you're trying to get reps with second-team wide receivers, is because you know you're gonna need them at some point in the season in order to make plays to help a defense that's gonna be absolutely putrid."