Joe Burrow refusing to play for the Bengals is on the table

LSU quarterback, Heisman winner, and likely top overall pick Joe Burrow may be wanted by the Bengals, but that doesn’t mean he wants the Bengals.

LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, who won a Heisman Trophy and a National Title in his final year of college ball, may have the clout to be the first player since Eli Manning (2004) to force his way onto a team of his choosing in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Burrow emerged as the QB1 of the 2020 NFL Draft over the course of the 2019 season, putting together one of the craziest seasons you will see from a college quarterback.

His final stat line for 2019 looked like what many college quarterbacks would put together over two seasons.

• 76.3 completion percentage
• 5,671 passing yards
• 60 touchdown passes
• 6 interceptions
• 5 rushing touchdowns

There were some times in the old NCAA Football video game that quarterbacks posted numbers like that, but that kind of season is unprecedented and Burrow’s emergence has come with a lot of…perks.

This could wind up getting interesting. There’s no report in here from the NFL Network crew that Burrow will for sure force his way onto another team besides the Bengals. That team will have to pay up in the form of a trade, but the Bengals’ leverage is hurt a bit by the fact that Burrow simply may not play for them.

The Bengals could play hardball and force Burrow to either play for them or just sit, but he could certainly opt to do that.

This is a lot more complicated than Burrow simply saying he doesn’t want to play for the Bengals and they just oblige and trade the top overall pick to the highest bidder, but it’s probably a good thing their coaching staff got the chance to know Justin Herbert at the 2020 Senior Bowl.

What could a hypothetical trade look like? What if the Miami Dolphins were interested?

Would it be enough for them to offer their three first-round picks this year, including fifth overall, as well as a future first-rounder and maybe even more future picks?

Four first-round picks plus additional day two/three selections? Is that too much? Is it even enough?

The Dolphins probably didn’t have that in mind, but if Burrow is forcing his way to another city, Miami is more of a destination than Cincinnati.

There’s a lot to think about here over the coming weeks, but Burrow is certainly the caliber of prospect that the Bengals are in danger of him forcing his way onto another squad.