Although many fans are talking about the potential trading of wide receiver Tee Higgins , the Cincinnati Bengals’ offseason is focused on the health of superstar quarterback Joe Burrow . Last season, the team’s entire season derailed when Burrow suffered a torn ligament in his wrist in Week 11 against the Baltimore Ravens. After that moment, all playoff hopes for this Southwest Ohio club were immediately dashed for the year.
Cincinnati Bengals Superstar Returns to the Field in March 2024
Just months after the injury, Burrow has once again shown why he is regarded as the hardest worker in the National Football League. While there was initially some concern that Burrow would miss time during the 2024 preseason or even the regular season, Burrow was seen throwing footballs with no restrictions on Wednesday morning.
When healthy, Burrow has demonstrated that he is amongst the best players in the entire league with a killer instinct that allows him to win games that the team should have absolutely no claim to. As of this moment, Burrow’s greatest achievement at the NFL level was the first Super Bowl berth for Cincinnati since 1989 when he took the team through Kansas City in early 2022.
A new challenge will be presented to Burrow next season as he will have to figure out how to generate an elite offense without slot wide receiver Tyler Boyd and likely without star target man Higgins. Boyd is a free agent this season and is almost guaranteed to sign with another team. Higgins is under contract to play in Cincinnati next season after the team applied the franchise tag but the 6’4″ Clemson product demanded a trade shortly after. The team will still have Burrow’s collegiate teammate and arguably the best of the bunch in wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase but will be down two of three receivers for next season.
Even without two of his favorite targets from the past few seasons, Burrow will have additional target Mike Gesicki and two promising rookie receivers from 2023: slot receiver Charlie Jones and wide receiver Andrei Iosivas. Iosivas specifically showed promise in 2023 by pulling in four touchdown passes for the team even with Burrow missing most of the season.
It will definitely be interesting to see if Burrow can continue his elite form in 2024 without Boyd and Higgins but if anyone can do it, this excellent LSU product will be the one.
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