Joe Burrow received exciting news after the season
The Cincinnati Bengals started the 2025 season strong as they won their first two games of the season for the first time since 2018. However, after Week 2, things quickly turned. Quarterback Joe Burrow was placed on injured reserve after suffering a turf toe injury. The Bengals would go on to lose eight of their next nine games, and by the time Burrow returned, their playoff chances were slim.
Things did not immediately get better once Burrow returned. The team lost a double-digit lead to the Bills as Burrow threw a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions. After the loss, Burrow made headlines as he said, “If I want to keep doing this, I have to have fun doing it. I’ve been through a lot, and if it’s not fun, what am I doing it for? That’s the mindset I’m trying to bring to the table.” The Bengals quarterback’s comments were not directed toward his future with Cincinnati, but that did not end trade rumors around the league.
The Cincinnati Bengals Plan to Spend
During the Pro Bowl, Burrow once again clarified that his comments were not directed at Cincinnati, and that he simply had a bad day at the press conference. Despite that, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport commented on the situation and said his words may actually help the Bengals quarterback. Rapoport said, “I do expect the Bengals to take his words and kind of use it to spur them on a little bit to really spend this offseason. I expect the Bengals to enhance and support everything Joe Burrow does.”
Regarding where the Bengals might spend, he said he expected it to come more on the defensive side of the football. Cincinnati finished with the third-worst scoring defense in the NFL in 2025, after also struggling during the 2024 season. ESPN’s Bengals writer Ben Baby noted on X that the Bengals did have the capability of spending in free agency. He wrote, “Bengals will have plenty of cap space to be aggressive if they want to be.”
ESPN previously predicted the Bengals signing Pro Bowl pass rusher Joey Bosa in free agency. However, it seems the Bengals are planning on being more aggressive than merely going after a veteran pass rusher in the downturn of his career.
Joe Burrow Trade Rumors
Rapoport also commented on the trade rumors that resulted from Burrow’s comments. He said, “I do not expect Joe Burrow to be traded. I do expect teams to call the Cincinnati Bengals after it appeared that Burrow expressed some discontent with Cincinnati late in the season. He is their franchise quarterback, not expected to go anywhere.”
His comments align with what has been reported previously by Bengals insiders or commented on by Cincinnati players. Regarding the trade speculation, Chase Brown said, “Joe’s not going anywhere, I think that was totally blown out of proportion. It was definitely a good talking point for people. It gave the media a lot to talk about and probably made [Burrow’s] Twitter notifications go off, but Joe’s not going anywhere.”
Jose Esquer Jose Esquer is a Mexican-American sportswriter and communications student based in San Diego, CA. His work spans football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. He has written for platforms like RotoWire and DolphinsTalk. You can find him on Twitter/X @JEsquer8, usually talking Dolphins, world football, or both. More about Jose Esquer
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