Before Joe Burrow, the Cincinnati Bengals were one of the most archaic franchises in the National Football League.
Since Burrow arrived in the Queen City, we’ve seen the franchise take significant steps to modernize and compete for Super Bowls, though they’ve still made some egregious errors. Arguably the biggest one they’ve made recently is letting standout safety Jessie Bates — the Joe Burrow of the Bengals defense — leave in free agency for the Atlanta Falcons.
Two more painful mistakes the Bengals made were not re-signing Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase to long-term contract extensions.