Since the 2025 NFL season has not officially begun, the Cincinnati Bengals are not officially a mess yet. But, as training camp practices kicked off on Wednesday, it’s fair for one to wonder what morale was like around the facility.
It’s no secret that the Bengals are – again – involved in high-profile contract disputes in the summer. Last year, it was wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase wanting a well-deserved extension. This year, defensive end Trey Hendrickson is nowhere near training camp and first-round rookie edge rusher Shemar Stewart has already publicly voiced his thoughts on team ownership and management.
All-world quarterback Joe Burrow is still just 28-years old, but the way the Bengals do business it’s highly possible his prime will be wasted as owner Mike Brown worries about pennies.
Joe Burrow just wants everyone to get along
Burrow just wants everyone to be in training camp on time so they can all get to work and prepare for Week 1 on the road against the Cleveland Browns. He said Wednesday that the contract issues are definitely frustrating.
“Obviously disappointing,” Burrow said. “You’d like to have all your guys out there Day 1 to try to build that cohesion that I was talking about earlier, but that’s not how it usually works out.”
As has been the case in the last couple of years, Burrow’s words read differently in print than when you see the video of his comments.
“You know, it’s a business,” the quarterback said before a pause and a hefty sigh. “And, that is how it’s gone.”
Burrow sides with Hendrickson and Stewart
Of course, the Pro Bowler is going to side with the two holdout players. Not only do players firmly understand each other’s positions, but Burrow has seen this movie with the Bengals millions of times now. He knows his clock – like all professional athletes’ – is ticking.
“Nobody’s ever gonna fault the player for doing business how he feels he needs to,” Burrow said. “It’s cutthroat business. You gotta fight for everything you can get. That’s how it goes.”
Burrow isn’t complaining about his own contract situation, he’s been taken care of already. But, if the Bengals continue to do business like this (oh, and they will), who is to say that he won’t pull a Carson Palmer at some point?
Burrow’s sentiments probably go ditto for head coach Zac Taylor. He’s just trying to get his team on the same page so they can go avenge a disappointing 9-8 season.
“It’s newsworthy, certainly,” Taylor said, glossing over the elephant in the room. “The guys that have been in the locker room, they just want to go take care of business. It does not come up for us. I understand in [media] settings it’s going to come up. But for us, it doesn’t come up.”
For what it’s worth, Burrow is not-so-subtly telling team ownership that they could save a lot more money and have a lot happier players if they would just sign guys in a timely fashion after they’ve already proven themselves.
“The earlier you get these things done, the better,” Burrow said.
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