Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow made his feelings known. And the Bengals have wisely blinked.
A team with a longstanding reputation of being extremely careful with money has prioritized the pursuit of a silver trophy over the hoarding of its gold, thanks to the public pressure Burrow has placed on the team.
His remarks, during the non-Pro Bowl Pro Bowl and through a series of Super Bowl-week visits with the likes of SiriusXM NFL Radio, Breakfast Ball podcast and Pardon My Take, made his position clear. If the Eagles can pay more players than their quarterback, the Bengals can do it, too.
Left unsaid was Burrow’s unmistakable message: “Or else.”
The “or else” didn’t need to be said. The Bengals lived it, 14 years ago. That’s when former franchise quarterback Carson Palmer decided he’d had enough because, as he’d later explain, the organization was more concerned about making money than winning games.
It wasn’t enough for the Bengals to give Burrow a market-level deal. Burrow, like most great quarterbacks, wants to build his legacy through the accumulation of hardware. And with several high-end performers other than himself on the team, he wanted them to stick around.
He mentioned, at one point, believing the team could, and should, keep receiver Ja’Marr Chase, receiver Tee Higgins, defensive end Trey Hendrickson, and tight end Mike Gesicki. Three have now signed multi-year deals. Hendrickson is the last man standing.
Even though the Bengals have allowed Hendrickson to seek a trade, their goal (we’re told) was to let Hendrickson see that other teams won’t pay a 30-year-old pass rusher well over $30 million per year. The thinking is that he could eventually come back and accept Cincinnati’s current offer, perhaps with a slight sweetener.
Regardless, the Bengals faced a gigantic fork in the road. And despite their history of choosing the path of least expensiveness, they’ve opted this time around for the road less traveled. Which had been less traveled by the Bengals because the tolls are much higher.
Few who have paid close attention to the league over the past 20 years expected it. It’s dramatically out of character. And it happened because Burrow made it clear that he wanted it.
What he didn’t need to say was that, if they didn’t do it, it was just a matter of time before he, like Palmer, would be choosing the road right out of Cincinnati.
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