Bengals Not Taking Joe Burrow, Trading Draft Pick?
Are the Bengals not taking Joe Burrow and trading their draft pick?
That is the question many are asking this week after Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor indicated that drafting the reigning Heisman winner may not be in the cards for his team.
“We’ve started the process of evaluating him,” Taylor said of Burrow.
“We certainly have a long way to go before making decisions on what we’re doing with the first pick.
“That’s been exciting. We’re not preparing for an opponent, so we have a chance to jump into the actual film work for all the position groups.”
On its face, there is some logic to not taking Burrow with the top overall pick.
If you believe that Tua Tagovailoa out of Alabama or Justin Herbert out of Oregon possess a similar level of talent, you could easily trade out of the top pick, nab one of those guys, and then also get a sizable haul of picks, cash and role players.
Of course, if you are of the opinion that Burrow is a generational talent, the suggestion of not taking him number one overall may be viewed as blasphemous.
This week, ESPN personality Dan Orlovsky was asked whether the Bengals should give some consideration to opting out of the Joe Burrow Sweepstakes and trading away their pick.
Orlovsky left no room for interpretation with his response: absolutely not.
“If the Bengals trade out of the No. 1 pick, Roger Goodell needs to make it a 31-team league.
“They got gifted the most important position with one of the best players we’ve seen in a long time.
“Even if Miami goes to them and says ‘Hey, here’s our three first rounders, give us the No. 1 pick.’ Cincinnati should say ‘no.’”
Burrow, for his part, has indicated that he is willing to play for whoever.
During LSU’s appearance at the White House this past week, a reporter asked him if he was okay with playing in Cincinnati.
His reply was priceless.
Here at the White House, I asked Joe Burrow if he wants to play for the Cincinnati @Bengals. He chuckled.
“Whoever wants to pay me money to play the game of football, I’ll play for ’em, it doesn’t matter to me,” he said.
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) January 17, 2020
“Whoever wants to pay me money to play the game of football, I’ll play for ’em, it doesn’t matter to me,” he said.
There is still a long ways to go until the draft, so the Bengals will likely clarify their position on Burrow between now and then. At the moment, all signs point to them taking him number one overall.
Time will tell if anything changes between now and April 23.
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Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7’s go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.
