The Cincinnati Bengals have failed to sign Trey Hendrickson and Tee Higgins to long-term deals, while Hendrickson now appears to be on his way out via trade.
That’s led to quite a bit of heat rightfully being placed on the Bengals heading into one of the most important offseasons the franchise has ever seen.
Our friends at FanDuel Sportsbook took it a bit further, going as far as to propose a trade that would trade Joe Burrow to the New York Giants for a massive package.
Getting a budding star like Kayvon Thibodeaux to go with a top-five pick this year — likely to be used on Burrow’s replacement in this hypothetical trade — and two other future first-rounders sounds nice in theory, but there’s simply no way to put an accurate valuation on a player like Burrow, whose value is probably closer to 10 first-round picks then what FanDuel proposed.
The fact that outlets are even proposing trades involving Burrow just shows how poorly the Bengals are thought of right now, and it’s not completely unwarranted.
Hendrickson, a top-three player on this roster and its best defender, is all but gone after the team allowed him to seek a trade.
Meanwhile, Higgins still hasn’t gotten a long-term deal done, and if one isn’t done by the start of free agency, you have to wonder if it ever comes and he ultimately leaves via free agency in 2026.
That’s the kind of disaster scenario that could have Burrow questioning if he wants to remain with this franchise beyond the end of his current deal, which ends in 2029 when he turns 33.
The Bengals need to have the kind of offseason that leaves no doubt Burrow will want to end his career here, but that’s not off to the greatest of starts.