Carson Palmer a little over a decade ago felt it was in his best interest to leave Cincinnati, and he can’t help but wonder if Joe Burrow eventually will follow suit.
Palmer, who played the first seven seasons of his 14-year NFL career with the Bengals before forcing his way out, appeared on the “Brother From Another” podcast a few days before Super Bowl LVI and offered an eyebrow-raising take on Burrow.
“I think Joe’s gonna sit back after this game, win or lose, and be like, ‘Man, am I gonna re-sign with this team?'” Palmer said, as transcribed by Heavy.com.
Palmer added: “Joe’s not thinking about this one Super Bowl. Joe is thinking about getting seven.
“Are (the Bengals) willing to do what it takes to continuously build to get back to the next Super Bowl next year? And the year after that and the year after that? How are they willing to structure salary cap-wise, to be able to afford (Burrow) but also … Ja’Marr Chase when he comes up, or Tee Higgins, or maybe even redo this offensive line that’s given up a league-leading 54 sacks this year.”
In fairness to Palmer, history suggests the Bengals aren’t going to go the extra mile to keep their franchise quarterback happy and maintain their status as a Super Bowl contender. This potentially could change given Burrow’s “generational player” billing, but is Cincinnati in a position to receive the benefit of the doubt?
Burrow wanting to move on from the Bengals is nothing more than a hypothetical at this point, and it’s low-hanging fruit after he was practically fending for his life behind a very weak offensive line in Super Bowl LVI. But situations and feelings can change rapidly in the NFL, so we probably shouldn’t bank on Burrow being a Cincinnati lifer.
