{"id":108776,"date":"2021-03-28T16:11:17","date_gmt":"2021-03-28T20:11:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=108776"},"modified":"2021-03-29T06:31:48","modified_gmt":"2021-03-29T10:31:48","slug":"cincinnati-bengals-rumors-bernard-burrow-chase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021\/03\/28\/cincinnati-bengals-rumors-bernard-burrow-chase\/","title":{"rendered":"Cincinnati Bengals: Teams Calling About Bernard, Burrow Wants Chase\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the midst of a busy free agency cycle, rumors surrounding the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/bengals\/\" target=\"_self\">Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> indicate more changes coming on offense. The team\u2019s biggest splash on that side of the ball so far is <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021\/03\/19\/riley-reiff-signs-contract-with-cincinnati-bengals\/\" target=\"_self\">the addition<\/a> of tackle <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/R\/ReifRi00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Riley Reiff<\/a>. With <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BurrJo01.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Burrow<\/a> at the helm, the team needs to prioritize <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2021\/02\/19\/cincinnati-bengals-off-season-plans-joe-burrow\/\" target=\"_self\">building a winning culture<\/a> while his contract is cheap. Now, with rumors of more offensive change coming, it seems like the Bengals are attempting to maximize that window.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rumors Surrounding Cincinnati Bengals Offense Could Change Picture in 2021<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After a flurry of moves on the defensive side of the ball, the Bengals are starting to make some offensive ripples. Though there\u2019s not a transaction yet, a few new whispers about their impending plans provide insight towards their next move. The first major piece of news surrounds the potential movement of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BernGi00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giovani Bernard<\/a>. While Bernard is a franchise fixture, the team is attempting to rework his contract to save money. Still, the Bengals may move the rusher if they can\u2019t come to an agreement according to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Multiple teams have called to inquire about <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Bengals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Bengals<\/a> RB Giovani Bernard, per source. Barring a restructured contract, Bernard \u2014 one of the NFL\u2019s top receiving backs and still only 29 \u2014 could be headed elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TomPelissero\/status\/1375135389640450048?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 25, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The movement of Bernard would mean they lose an excellent pass protector, but the economics provide logic. According to Spotrac, the Bengals are spending <a href=\"https:\/\/www.spotrac.com\/nfl\/cincinnati-bengals\/positional\/running-back\/2021\/active-cap\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">$15.9 million on running backs<\/a>, which is second in the league. Bernard\u2019s contract, a roughly $4.1 cap figure, is set to expire after the season. At 30-years-old and eight seasons into his career, the clock is running out on Bernard. Moving on would help the team get back to the middle-of-the-pack in running back spending. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The team is also preparing to get <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/M\/MixoJo00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joe Mixon<\/a> back into his normal running load. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/P\/PeriSa00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Samaje Perine<\/a> to a two-year, $3.3 million agreement this off-season as well. Seemingly, Bernard could be the odd-man-out in the mix and wind up in a trade before the season. Keep an eye on the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/panthers\/\" target=\"_self\">Carolina Panthers<\/a> in these Bernard trade rumors with the Cincinnati Bengals.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Joe Burrow Looking for a Reunion With a Key College Teammate<\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There\u2019s another rumor emerging in another facet of the team\u2019s offensive attack. According to Albert Breer of <em>Sports Illustrated<\/em>, Joe Burrow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nfl\/2021\/03\/25\/gameplan-nfl-mock-draft-trevor-lawrence-top-four-quarterbacks\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">is campaigning<\/a> for a reunion with LSU teammate <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sports-reference.com\/cfb\/players\/jamarr-chase-1.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ja\u2019Marr Chase<\/a>. As things stand, the Cincinnati Bengals own the fifth pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. While some might <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=bengals+offensive+line&amp;oq=bengals+offensive+line&amp;aqs=chrome..69i57j0l4j69i61l3.3631j0j7&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8#scso=_xt1dYIO3NsjLtQaf_Z2ABg47:660\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">beg for offensive line help,<\/a> they could be in a prime position to take Chase. After all, the appeal of a receiving core featuring Chase, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/B\/BoydTy00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tyler Boyd<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pro-football-reference.com\/players\/H\/HiggTe00.htm?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Tee Higgins<\/a> is quite tantalizing. In an off-season built around Burrow\u2019s future, giving him his desired weapon could keep him happy going forward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>[pickup_prop id=&#8221;5385&#8243;]<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Over the next few months, the Bengals have the opportunity to continue renovating their roster. The prioritization of Burrow\u2019s health and happiness should come first. If they\u2019re able to accomplish that, they\u2019ll set themselves up with a nice window for success. If they fail, the next set of rumors surrounding the Cincinnati Bengals could involve an unhappy young quarterback. The next moves for the team set the way for more big changes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"sPHNXt1WS7ph7CAQcRkyMA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1230421570\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'sPHNXt1WS7ph7CAQcRkyMA',sig:'P7Dqkcm7Lx4pE8vpia69z-MR4bRedsWRjuxYPObYUYs=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1230421570',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the midst of a busy free agency cycle, rumors surrounding the Cincinnati Bengals indicate more changes coming on offense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3734,"featured_media":108981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[6669,330,565,6672,5819,1911],"class_list":["post-108776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bengals","tag-2021-nfl-draft","tag-cincinnati-bengals","tag-giovani-bernard","tag-jamarr-chase","tag-joe-burrow","tag-joe-mixon"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3734"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}