Dec. 12, 2025, 9:33 a.m. ET
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow gave a heartfelt interview this week, opening up about his recent injury comeback and the down season for his franchise.
Fans often clamor for athletes to be more open when they talk in public. It humanizes them and gives fans something interesting, rather than the obviously PR-trained stuff.
But Burrow is the latest example of how this refreshing offering from players can backfire.
ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky went on radio this week and served up a good example. While he admitted that he doesn’t think Burrow is going to retire or anything, he also was asked to provide (and did) teams who should be figuring out ways to offer the Bengals trade packages for Burrow right now:
“Right now, it would shock me if three teams weren’t on the phone today after what he said yesterday, figuring out, how do we make him part of our football team? Jets, Raiders, Steelers. Oh, those would be the three that if I were those three organizations, I’d be in a brainstorming meeting now. We are figuring out a way to propose a way to get Joe Burrow.”
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ESPN’s Adam Schefter wasn’t much better, sort-of-reporting that Burrow’s comments caught the attention of other teams.
Burrow’s comments were honest and vulnerable, even. They gave an inside look into how he’s dealing with another playoff miss, never mind hinted at how he’s juggling his non-football life, too.
When it comes to Bengals quarterbacks, the knee-jerk reaction is to bring up Carson Palmer.
But this is the same Burrow who got in front of the media and straight-up told the franchise to stop letting good players leave.
That was a warning then, and if nothing else, it feels like Burrow just issued a warning now. Not that he’s leaving the game he loves, but perhaps throwing out a hint that the Bengals are headed for an offseason of big changes.
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