The Cincinnati Bengals have a lot of talent on their roster, but they've missed the playoffs in each of the past three years. They'd missed the postseason, despite having a star quarterback like Joe Burrow.
The Bengals are fortunate to have him on the roster, and they can't afford to take any moment for granted right now. They need to win while Burrow is still elite.
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer was recently asked if Burrow would spend his entire career with the Bengals and answered by comparing the Bengals quarterback to Super Bowl champion Matthew Stafford. Stafford began his career with the Detroit Lions, but never won anything meaningful, and was eventually traded to the Los Angeles Rams and won a Super Bowl in his first season (Super Bowl LVI against the Bengals).
Joe Burrow Draws Career Comparisons to Matthew Stafford
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow
Feb 13, 2022; Inglewood, CA, USA; Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) watch the coin toss before Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images | Robert Hanashiro-Imagn Images
"If you really want to dig into it, I think the most relevant case study for Burrow’s future is Matthew Stafford. Burrow is now 29 and six seasons into his career, having made the playoffs twice, advancing to the AFC title game on both occasions and reaching the Super Bowl after his second season as a pro. Stafford turned 29 in February 2017," Breer wrote. "He was eight seasons into his NFL career, had made the playoffs three times and lost in the first round each time. He played four more (playoff-less) seasons in Detroit before asking for a trade in January 2021.
"Like Burrow, Stafford had some high-end talent around him on offense in Detroit, but played with only two top-10 defenses, and just four that ranked in the top half of the league over his 12 seasons as a Lion. So there are some similarities, including the fact that both quarterbacks genuinely wanted to be agents of change for the teams that drafted them."
It's too early to assume that Burrow will leave Cincinnati. The Bengals have made plenty of moves this offseason that should give Burrow a real chance at making a Super Bowl run.
What We Know
Joe Burrow
Mar 21, 2026; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Wildcats FFC quarterback Joe Burrow throws the ball during the Fanatics Flag Football Classic at BMO stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
Burrow showed up for the Bengals' offseason program this week. He also shared his thoughts about the Bengals' offseason additions during an interview with Vanity Fair.
“I’m really excited about the moves we made this offseason,” Burrow said. “We need to get better, so it was exciting to see the initiative from everybody in the organization to realize that we’re in this exciting stage. We’re in our primes playing great football. Finding guys like Dexter and Bryan Cook and Boye [Mafe], to, you know, really solidify that defense so the young guys can also kind of rise up. We’re really going to try to achieve what we want to achieve.”
Burrow and the Bengals knew they needed to add talent this offseason and they did. It's easy to speculate about his future and the speculation will continue, but if the Bengals remain aggressive with hopes of giving him a real chance to win a Super Bowl, then there's no reason to think he'd want to leave Cincinnati.
Check out Breer's entire article here.
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