Cincinnati Bengals News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Power Rankings

Bengals Roster Breakdown: Joe Burrow's motivation has never been higher entering a season

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By John Sheeran | Last updated Sep 6, 2024 1:48 PM ET

Throughout the summer leading up to the regular season, we will go through the entire 2024 Cincinnati Bengals roster. Every single day until the season opener against the New England Patriots, we will break down a player on the roster including his background, contract status, and path towards making the team.

Today, it's the quarterback's turn. Joe Burrow is the Bengals. He will be the Bengals until the day he's no longer with the Bengals. He's everything a franchise could want in a quarterback, and with a clean bill of health, the sky might not be a worthy limit to place over him.

Joe Burrow

Age: 27
Year: 5th
Position: Quarterback
College: LSU
Previous Teams: None
Jersey Number: 9

Burrow was drafted by the Bengals with the 1st overall pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He spent three years at Ohio State as a backup before transferring to LSU in 2018. He won the starting job in his first offseason and led the Tigers to a 10-3 record. He finished the season strong with his best game resulting in a Fiesta Bowl victory over UCF. That game would become strong foreshadowing for what was to come. Burrow won every award under the sun for his 2019 season as he led LSU to a 15-0 record and its fourth National Championship. Heisman Trophy, AP National Player of the Year, Maxwell Award, Davey O'Brien Award. You name it, he won it. 5,671 yards and 60 touchdowns will do that. Many say it's the greatest season a college quarterback has ever had, and the argument is pretty damn strong.

The Bengals started Burrow immediately as a rookie behind a motley crew of an offensive line. That ended up costing them dearly 11 weeks in when Burrow tore his ACL and MCL in his left knee while getting hit as he threw his 404th pass of the season. The injury happened late enough in the season to question if he'd be ready to start Week 1 in 2021. His training camp was definitely impacted, but it didn't take long for him to look exactly like the guy from LSU. Burrow led the NFL in completion percentage (70.4%) and yards per attempt (8.9) while also setting a Bengals record for yards in a season (4,611) despite also taking 51 sacks. He was named the AP Comeback Player of the Year and accepted that award a few days before playing in the Super Bowl. Oh yeah, the Bengals made the Super Bowl that year!

2022 was nearly a carbon-copy of 2021 as Burrow had to endure another tough training camp, this time due to an appendectomy that took him out several weeks leading up to the season. The Bengals' offense as a whole struggled during the first month of the season as Burrow was getting back to full strength, entering Week 6 with a 2-3 record. A trip to the Superdome, where Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase won their championship at LSU, to play the Saints kickstarted a dominant three-month stretch in which the Bengals won 12 of their next 13 games, including two postseason victories. Burrow was playing at a near-MVP level, but had to settle for his first Pro Bowl nod after racking up 4,475 yards and 35 touchdowns to just 12 interceptions. A trip back to the Super Bowl was foiled by the Kansas City Chiefs as his three-game winning streak against the franchise ended in the AFC Championship game.

Nearly two years had passed since Burrow incurred a major football injury, and the streak was broken at the start of training camp in 2023. Burrow suffered a calf strain that took him off the field for about a month, but severely hindered him for an additional five weeks. This didn't stop the Bengals from giving him the largest contract in NFL history right before Week 1, but it wasn't until Week 5 that he was able to put notable power in his throws and utilize his mobility. The six games in which he was at or near 100%, he posted numbers that put him on pace for 4,480 yards, 37 touchdowns and only 11 interceptions over the course of a 17-game slate.

That sixth game was ended abruptly when Burrow tore a ligament in his right wrist, ending his fourth season early. The recovery has been unique for Burrow as he was unable to find other QBs who've experienced the injury. He would begin throwing in the spring and was participated in nearly every offseason program practice outside of a few rest days. He missed practically zero reps in training camp, but the team will continue to monitor and manage his wrist as the season progresses.

Contract details

Burrow signed a five-year, $275 million extension last offseason. He will earn a fully guaranteed base salary of $10,714,982 for the 2024 season, along with an option bonus of $11 million. Due to $7,836,130 of his signing bonus being prorated on the books this year, his cap number for the season is a team-high $29,551,112.

Roster outlook

The formula is simple. If Burrow is healthy at the end of the season, the Bengals are going to be in a position to compete for a title. His two full seasons in the league are evidence enough to always keep the Bengals in the hunt when he's on the field. The Super Bowl is in a certain Superdome this year, for what it's worth.

Missing half of last season and being limited for a quarter of it had an impact on Burrow's perception. Not playing means you get left out of the conversation. He said it himself. This has created a new level of motivation that we haven't seen from him, and this is someone who spent most of his college career trying to prove himself. Now he's fresh off the first healthy training camp he's had since his rookie season.

"Whenever you're coming back from injury, you feel like you gotta come back and show not only that you can do what you did prior to the injury, but also that I've gotten better," Burrow told reporters this week. "I'm excited to go out and show the work that I've put in over the last eight months.

"It's been a long time coming so we're ready to go."

The rest of Cincinnati can agree.

Projected role: Starting quarterback