Colin Cowherd Thoroughly Blasts Bengals Ownership
Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
Even with the AFC being an outrageously stacked conference, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have come out on top in five of his seven seasons as the full-time starter. This has consistently left elite quarterbacks like Joe Burrow, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Dorian Thompson-Robinson on the outside looking in on Super Bowl Sunday.
On the Colin Cowherd Podcast, Cowherd was talking with Nick Wright about which quarterbacks will have the toughest time building a resume. Cowherd quickly mentioned the fact that the Bengals’ signal caller will have to overcome one very big obstacle to overcome the treacherous AFC.
“The one that’s in trouble is Joe Burrow,” Cowherd said to Nick Wright. “The Bengals had to sell naming rights to the stadium to pay his contract! People don’t understand this. First of all, the Bengals don’t have any money. They don’t have any money. It’s the poorest ownership group. Joe Burrow knows it. They had to sell naming rights to a stadium to pay him. They started peeling off players even before they paid Ja’Marr Chase!…They are the opposite of the Eagles. They are anti-risk and reward. They take no risks. [Duke] Tobin [has] been there forever. Pleasant, very nice guy; [he’s] got no power. The Brown family runs the organization like they are essentially a triple-A operation in Major League Baseball that happens to have Joe Burrow. People make fun of the Raiders, but because of some new ownership groups that have come in, [they] are flushed with cash. That’s why they can pay four coaches and three general managers; they’ve got nothing but money… and the Raiders are a brand, and also it’s Las Vegas, it’s a growing city. There’s real money there, no estate tax, very attractive place. Cincinnati, they’ve got no money… they’ll never have a stacked roster. The only time to really be great with him was when he was on the rookie contract. When they pay Ja’Marr Chase, they’re out of money. Joe Burrow, I feel terrible for him. Joe Burrow would need to be superhuman, I mean this year he was as good as he’s ever been, [and] they couldn’t make the playoffs…I think Burrow is the one in trouble.”
None of this is news to a fan base that is used to the penny pinching ways of the Bengals. They rely on taxpayer funds to upgrade and maintain their stadium. They do take risks, but none of them are financial; rather, they are on players with character issues or injury concerns in the draft. They failed in the negotiations with Ja’Marr Chase this past offseason, and as a result, not only will they have to start from scratch, but they will have to pay more than they originally would have a season ago.
None of this is to mention that they have to make a decision on Tee Higgins, and Tobin has used a pessimistic tone in terms of being able to retain their star WR2. Time and time again, the Bengals’ ownership has struggled to put the betterment of their team ahead of their bottom dollar. Their penny-pinching ways will likely make Joe Burrow’s Lombardi chances exponentially more difficult. It’s a difficult reality for a fan base who watched a generational talent fall into their lap. He may very much be in trouble, and like Cowherd said, he will have to play at a more superhuman level than he already has.
Ownership has shown no signs of getting out of their own way in terms of finances, and Burrow’s long term prognosis in terms of building a resumé seems bleak as a result.
Up Next