Joe Burrow Is A Great Quarterback But A Poor-Sighted General Manager

It's not fair to say Joe Burrow is frustrated with the Cincinnati Bengals because, for a while there, they made him the highest-paid player in the NFL and gave him a buffet of weapons so he could produce big numbers and try to get back to the Super Bowl for a second time.

But the tone Burrow had last week during the lead-up to the Super Bowl LIX wasn't exactly happy or joyful. It was at times bordering on annoyance or irritation. We saw it when he received the Comeback Player of the Year award and said, "I wouldn't say this is necessarily an award you wanted to be nominated for two times …"

And we saw it when he made the rounds on radio row, and made the point that the Bengals have to figure out how to pay players – most of them impending free agents or guys seeking an extension – so that the team could stay together.

"The Eagles are paying everybody," Burrow said on the Pardon My Take podcast. "That seems like the way, whatever they're doing."

Joe Burrow at the 14th Annual NFL Honors held at Saenger Theatre on February 6, 2025 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Variety via Getty Images)

Burrow Offers Salary Cap Advise

Burrow clearly sees the Eagles paying receivers A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and quarterback Jalen Hurts and wonders aloud why the Bengals cannot pay him and both Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

He sees the Eagles acquire talent on a defense that ultimately sacked Patrick Mahomes six times, collected two interceptions and a forced fumble and wonders why the Bengals cannot also afford to acquire talent like that.

Burrow obviously is frustrated at the possibility, indeed the likelihood, the Bengals are about to lose Higgins and not make Hendrickson happy and perhaps have to move on from tight end Mike Gesicki for money and cap reasons.

And he has a strong suggestion: Adjust his contract.

"You could convert some of the money to a signing bonus, which will lower the cap hit," Burrow said. "You can push some of the money to the back end of the contract. That lowers the cap hit … And then when you get to the back end of the contract, you can restructure it and convert it to a signing bonus."

ARLINGTON, Texas - Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)

Fake GM Joe Burrow Doesn't See It Right

So Joe Burrow is playing quarterback for the Bengals and offering his services as the general manager as well.

But there are problems with Fake GM Burrow's view of the Bengals cap structure and his comparison to the Eagles.

The Eagles, you see, are paying guys and getting results. 

They have made the playoffs four consecutive seasons under coach Nick Sirianni. They have played in two Super Bowls in that time and won Super Bowl LIX. And all those guys the Eagles are paying?

These players generally stay healthy, produce, and win – including the Super Bowl.

The Bengals, as built the past four seasons, really don't do that. Sure, Cincy made a fun and fascinating trip to the Super Bowl in the 2021 season. And they returned to the postseason and the AFC Championship game in 2022.

But the last two years have been a bitter disappointment for the franchise. And players expected to lift the team to great heights, including Burrow, have had some disappointing years.

Philadelphia Eagles WR DeVonta Smith celebrates his TD with teammate WR A.J. Brown in the NFC Divisional Round at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

Eagles Get Better Results For Less

So the non-playoffs Bengals of the last two years are not in any way comparable to the Super Bowl winning Eagles. Anyone with eyes should see this. 

The Bengals are not comparable because Burrow has been injured. Because  Higgins also struggled to stay healthy last year, or the defense aged, lost players in free agency and to injuries, and basically fell apart. So why would Burrow's best idea be to keep that band together?

The Bengals are 18-16 the past two seasons in finishing last and third in their division. And that's the team Burrow wants to keep together – paying the same core players more money, probably at the expense of adding reinforcements elsewhere?

Burrow must forget there were four games last season in which the offense scored 33 points or more. And the Bengals lost the game. 

Another thing Burrow doesn't seem to get is in comparing himself, Higgins, and Chase to Hurts, Brown, and Smith of the Eagles is that the Bengals guys all want way more money than the Eagles Super Bowl champions are getting.

Cincinnati Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase and QB Joe Burrow warm up before an NFL playoff game vs. the Baltimore Ravens at Paycor Stadium in Ohio. (Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer/USA TODAY NETWORK)

Bengals Wants More $$$ Than Eagles 

Hurts, the Super Bowl MVP, is averaging $51 million per season. Burrow, great individually but still not able to get his team back to the Super Bowl, is averaging $55 million per year.

Chase, meanwhile, expects to become the NFL's highest-paid wide receiver. Higgins expects to eclipse $30 million per season. And Hendrickson, admittedly underpaid based on his production, still makes $21 million per season and would love that number to soar close to $30 million as well.

So it doesn't make sense that Burrow is comparing what the Bengals should do to what the Eagles do. Because the Bengals players involved aren't willing to take what the Eagles players get.

It begins with Burrow, by the way. Again, he is a premier player and arguably the best quarterback in the NFL. But if his goal is to be surrounded by a great team rather than be the second-highest paid player in the league – it's hard to do both – then he should volunteer to give back some salary.

He has volunteered to restructure his deal, but only to move the same money around and save cap space. He hasn't offered to make more actual dollars available for the Bengals to use elsewhere.

Burrow is bordering on complaining about how the Bengals handle their salary cap while Patrick Mahomes, who has been to seven consecutive AFC Championship games and five of the last six Super Bowls, averages $10 million less per year than him.

Fake GM Joe Burrow should have a sit down with QB Joe Burrow and explain why doing what the Eagles do should start on the field.