For any team with a franchise quarterback, a serious injury becomes a major problem. It’s now clear, after two 2025 starts without Joe Burrow, that the Bengals have a major problem.
That’s not a knock on Jake Browning. Backup quarterbacks hold that status for a reason. He’s more than good enough to have an NFL roster spot.
But he’s not Joe Burrow. Few are.
The problem becomes exacerbated for a team like the Bengals, which is built around its passing game. That’s where the money has been spent. The offensive line focuses more on protection for Burrow than blasting open holes for the team’s tailbacks. And the defense isn’t as good as it could be, since the resources have been devoted to getting the most out of Burrow’s skills.
Through two starts and most of a third game in 2025, Burrow’s backup has thrown three touchdown passes and five interceptions. Browning’s passer rating is 67.9.
It’s a far cry from 2023, when Browning generated a passer rating of 98.4 during a season in which Burrow missed seven starts due to a wrist injury. (Browning went 4-3.)
The plan for last night was, ostensibly, to throw the ball to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, early and often. They were targeted on 14 of 25 throws. Eight passes were completed, for only 55 total yards.
After the 28-3 loss, coach Zac Taylor declined to blame the lack of offensive output on Browning.
“I think as a whole, we’ve all got to do a better job,” Taylor told reporters. “There’s not a position I’m going to say that can’t step up. Coaching, we got to do a better job. . . . The quarterback’s always going to bear the brunt of responsibility and [I’m] telling all of us to do a better job.”
The mandate to do a better job extends to the front office. The “next man up” approach only works if the next man up can get the job done. Browning currently isn’t.
So what will the Bengals do, given that Burrow will be out until the middle of December, at the earliest?
The Giants currently have a pair of veteran quarterbacks who aren’t playing: Russell Wilson and Jameis Winston. Both played for AFC North teams in 2024. With rookie Jaxson Dart leading the Giants to an upset of the Chargers on Sunday, one of them is expendable.
Wilson has $1.55 million in remaining base salary, after four weeks. Winston has $1.51 million. (Wilson’s incentive package includes $176,000 for each win in which he takes at least 50 percent of the snaps.)
Last week, there was stray chatter of Wilson to the Bengals for a fifth-round pick. And while a deal for Wilson or Winston is possible, the current dynamic could be that neither side wants to make the first move.
In a high-tech world, it’s the lowest of low-tech negotiation tactics. Don’t make the first move.
The general thinking is that whoever picks up the phone first surrenders leverage. Whatever the Giants would have wanted a week ago for either player, they’ll be inclined to want more from the Bengals if Cincinnati were to call today, given last night’s outcome. Whatever the Bengals would have offered a week ago, they’ll be inclined to nudge it lower, given that Dart’s performance highlights the fact that the Giants don’t need both veterans.
The trade deadline arrives five weeks from today. If the Bengals wait until the clock approaches midnight, the cause could be lost — especially since they face the Lions, Packers, and Steelers in the next three games.
Both Wilson and Winston have the arm strength to deliver the ball down the field to Chase and Higgins. Given Chase’s obvious frustrations from Monday night, he quite possibly would welcome a potential upgrade, given Burrow’s indefinite absence.
Again, it’s not about Browning. It’s about whether Cincinnati is better off with a backup, or whether they’d be in better position to win games with a former starter. And a pair of them remain available.
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