Will Cincinnati’s Ownership Ultimately Cost The Team Joe Burrow?
Cara Owsley via Imagn Images
The Cincinnati Bengals have a long and glorious history of failure, but it has not been due to a lack of talent. Over the last quarter century, players like Corey Dillon and Carson Palmer have come to a wit’s end and given up on the organization.
In the present day, yet another massively talented Bengals quarterback who dons the number 9 is visibly frustrated, and very possibly might be on a similar path.
— Joe Burrow Fan Club (@JoeyBClub) November 18, 2024
Statistically, Joe Burrow is having a season for the ages. He has a 27:4 touchdown to interception ratio. His top wide receiver, Ja’Marr Chase, leads the NFL in every major receiving category. Tee Higgins, when healthy, has been his old, productive self. Mike Gesicki has been a reliable asset, particularly when Tee has been unable to play.
Despite all that, the team is 4-7. All four of their wins in 2024 have come against teams that are currently in last place. In his postgame press conference after the loss to the Chargers, Burrow’s answers were short, concise, and screamed “I’m frustrated”.
#Bengals Joe Burrow when asked if this has been the most frustrating season
“Yeah, it’s pretty self explanatory” pic.twitter.com/kqzFivYDrC
— Around The Jungle (@aroundthejungle) November 18, 2024
It doesn’t appear that anything is going to get better any time soon, particularly with those in charge. Chase and Higgins, both of whom Burrow has developed a special chemistry with over the last half-decade, are without long term deals despite both players publicly stating their desires to be extended. The Bengals traded Joe Mixon to Houston for a late draft pick, and he’s been a huge reason why the Texans could run away with the AFC South title. Trey Hendrickson, like Higgins, also requested a trade after failing to come to an agreement on a long-term extension.
This is not a new thing, either. Corey Dillon famously stated that he would rather flip burgers than continue to play for the Bengals. Just over a decade later, Palmer threatened to retire if the Bengals didn’t trade him after voicing his frustration with the organization. The Bengals eventually gave in and traded Palmer to the Raiders, and the team was. bailed out after the draft picks they received for Palmer turned into Dre Kirkpatrick and Gio Bernard.
The era of Joe Burrow has seemed like so much of a rinse and repeat of the Palmer era, it has made fans realize that Palmer may have been onto something.
It would be an ironic plot twist if after ~15 years Carson Palmer is no longer seen as a villain
— Bengals Snob (@BengalsSnob) November 18, 2024
Cincinnati has been a championship-starved city (they have one professional championship since 1976) where the star players are put under a microscope. Star players are seen as players who are supposed to be the teams’ saviors, and when that doesn’t come to fruition, they receive blame. When Joey Votto failed to win a World Series during his Reds career despite a Hall-of-Fame career, many were quick to blame his large ten-year contract that teams like the Yankees could afford by pulling loose change out of their pockets and not the organization whose owner told frustrated fans “Where you gonna go?”.
It’s no different with the Bengals. When players like Dillon and Palmer left, it felt like a knife in the chest. Their supreme talent made it hard to watch them leave, and fans became bitter towards them as a result. They gave up on an organization that has dropped the ball so many times, the word “Bengalized” (which rolls off the tongue to an uncomfortably easy degree) has its own Wikipedia article. Watching Joe Burrow go through the exact same process, despite leading the Bengals to a Super Bowl in only his second season, is unnerving.
The front office sat on their hands as talented players like Jessie Bates, DJ Reader, and Joe Mixon walked to other teams. They’ve spent extensive draft capital on defensive players like Myles Murphy and Dax Hill, only to struggle to develop them. They also brought in Xavien Howard for a workout, and because the Bengals can’t get out of their own way, the former First Team All-Pro turned down the contract offer that the Bengals gave him.
As a result, Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase have been given the daunting task of carrying the entire team on their backs. They have been undoubtedly the best QB-WR duo in the league (argue with a wall about it if you disagree), but not only has their historic season not resulted in wins, but they’ve even been sporadically and incorrectly blamed for the team’s losses. There is no more surefire way to Bengalize your star players than to have them struggle to contemplate a loss after successfully doing what they need to do (and then some) to give the team a victory.
It’s even worse knowing that quarterbacks who have produced to the lethal degree that Joe Burrow is producing usually have no issue accumulating wins.
This is just insane. pic.twitter.com/jhrahXs9qk
— WINCINNATI (@WINCINNATI_) November 18, 2024
(Now if you’ll excuse me, I just threw my phone into the Ohio River and I need to retrieve it. Anyone got a hazmat suit?)
That frustration that Palmer felt in the 2000s is almost assuredly the same feeling that Joe Burrow is feeling now. The Bengals are monumentally fun to watch, which makes their losses all the more frustrating. A rebuild isn’t as simple as it sounds, as Burrow’s $55 million contract extension kicks in next season, and Ja’Marr Chase will likely receive a monster payday of his own after this season. Those two players are indispensable, which hopefully provides the Bengals with a starting point to turn things around in 2025 and get back to their status as AFC juggernauts.
However, turning things around will be an uphill battle, especially since the biggest obstacle the Bengals have to overcome is themselves.
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