Bengals, Joe Burrow Trade Rumors Receive Interesting Update

Although it’s considered highly improbable, any offseason deal sending Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow to another team could rank among the most monumental exchanges in NFL annals, comparable to the massive NBA swap involving Luka Doncic and Anthony Davis earlier this year in February.

Unless Burrow explicitly demands a move, the Bengals organization has little incentive to consider parting ways with their cornerstone player.

Talk of a possible Burrow transaction surfaced several weeks back after the accomplished passer voiced concerns about his enjoyment of the game, remarking that without finding pleasure in it, he questioned his reasons for continuing.

Interpretations varied widely: some saw it as hints of possible retirement, others as an indirect plea for a trade, while many viewed it as pressure on team management to bolster the offensive line and prevent further injury-plagued campaigns.

Burrow has repeatedly affirmed his commitment to staying in Cincinnati, and team officials have firmly stated no plans exist to move him—yet should attitudes shift, interested clubs would need an extraordinary offer to persuade the Bengals to relinquish their elite signal-caller.

An unnamed league executive recently discussed with CBS Sports reporter Jonathan Jones the kind of compensation Cincinnati might demand.

“Probably depends on if a team has a young QB or players to offer but imagine they won’t even answer the phone if you don’t have at least two first-round picks plus more,” an NFC executive told Jones. “Maybe even three if you’re not doing it with any players involved.”

Reports indicate that shortly following Burrow’s debut season, the Miami Dolphins proposed sending four first-round selections to Cincinnati, an overture that was swiftly rejected, leading Miami to select Tua Tagovailoa soon afterward.

Jones provided additional perspective, noting that pursuing Burrow would require surpassing recent high-profile quarterback swaps.

“The floor for any such deal would seemingly be the Deshaun Watson trade from 2022,” Jones said. “The Browns sent three first-round picks, two second rounders and one third to the Texans to acquire Watson (and a sixth-round pick).”

“But even that wasn’t enough for one AFC team executive, who told CBS Sports a ‘Ricky Williams type’ of trade would have to transpire. That was when the Saints traded their entire 1999 draft, plus two future first-round picks, to Washington in order to move up seven spots and select the Texas running back.”

Top-tier quarterbacks rarely hit the trade market, and when they do, the cost is invariably exorbitant.

In 2022, the Denver Broncos dispatched two first-round choices, two second-rounders, quarterback Drew Lock, ex-first-round tight end Noah Fant, and defensive lineman Shelby Harris to Seattle in exchange for Russell Wilson.

A year earlier, Detroit forwarded two first-round picks along with accomplished passer Jared Goff to the Rams for Matthew Stafford.

A hypothetical Burrow transaction would almost certainly demand an even greater return, potentially including three or four first-rounders, several mid-round selections, and either a reliable quarterback stand-in or promising young talent for future development.