As Joe Burrow returns, Bengals need to evaluate roster

CINCINNATI — The next six games will be extremely tough for the Cincinnati Bengals.

On Thursday against the Baltimore Ravens, Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow is set to return after missing the last nine games due to a turf toe injury.

The Bengals are 3-8 and on the verge of missing the playoffs for the third consecutive year. When healthy, Burrow has proven to be the franchise-changing quarterback that the team expected when drafting him first overall in 2020. But over the past three years, Cincinnati has struggled to build a quality roster around him.

According to ESPN Analytics, the Bengals have a 1% chance of making the playoffs. And for the final six games, Cincinnati will need to take stock of everything inside the building to see if it’s enough to support one of the NFL’s truly outstanding quarterbacks.

“We’re trying to maximize our guys,” Duke Tobin, the Bengals’ de facto general manager, told reporters in February. “When you have Joe Burrow, you’re trying to fit him around and give him the best chance to have a Hall of Fame career. And he’s certainly capable of that.”

Till now in 2025, Bengal has lagged behind that figure.

Between undrafted players, the surge in free agency and changes to the coaching staff, things have not gone as expected. If anything, it was highlighted when Burrow was absent the last two months.

After the Bengals acquired veteran quarterback Joe Flacco, the offense found the spark it was looking for. In six games with the Bengals, Flacco posted a total QBR of 55.4, which is rated on a zero to 100 scale. It was his best mark since the 2014 season with the Baltimore Ravens (68.6).

The Bengals were unable to capitalize that stretch and went 1–5 during Flacco’s tenure as the starter. Bengals coach Zac Taylor said that the quarterback play did not hold the team back, and he was supported by the statistics. The Bengals lost 39–38 to the New York Jets in Week 8 and 47–42 to the Chicago Bears in Week 9. According to ESPN Research, it was the second time since the 1966 Jets that a team scored 38 points or more in back-to-back weeks and lost. The reason? The Bengals finished Week 9 with the worst defense in the NFL in several statistical categories.

“There are a lot of games I wish we could have finished as a team,” Taylor said. “You could see two back-to-backs where we were (close), just at some stage somebody would have been making a play and he wouldn’t have finished it.”

Like last season, Cincinnati will need to evaluate which players can turn the team into a contender again. The contracts of defensive ends Trey Hendrickson and Joseph Ossai, as well as cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt, are expiring. Hendrickson, a four-time Pro Bowler and All-Pro player in 2024, is out indefinitely with a hip/pelvis injury. Taylor-Britt is on injured reserve with a Lisfranc injury that required surgery.

Since 2021, the Bengals have used 11 top-100 draft picks on defensive players, the third-highest total during that span, according to Pro Football Reference. Those players, like defensive tackle McKinley Jackson, are eager to show they can be blocks going forward.

“I know they’ve got guys like me and other guys out of the top 100 just for production,” said Jackson, who has been able to get back into the defensive rotation after not playing earlier this season.

Ultimately, the team will have to find a way to make contracts for Burrow ($55 million annually), wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase ($40.25 million) and wide receiver Tee Higgins ($28.75 million).

A statement defined expectations for the Bengals as long as Burrow is on the roster. After the Bengals defeated the Ravens to end the 2022 regular season, Burrow established annual benchmarks for success – championship or bust.

“The window is my whole career,” Burrows said. “Things change from year to year, but our window is always open.”

That’s how it felt at that time. Fresh off a Super Bowl appearance last year, the Bengals finished the 2022 season with eight consecutive wins and went back to the AFC Championship Game. But since then, Cincinnati has missed the playoffs twice. Burrow has missed 16 games due to injuries. And the days of celebratory cigar smoke-filled locker rooms feel like a faint memory.