{"id":246387,"date":"2025-09-14T19:02:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T23:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=246387"},"modified":"2025-09-14T19:02:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T23:02:18","slug":"3-quarterbacks-the-bengals-could-sign-after-joe-burrow-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/09\/14\/3-quarterbacks-the-bengals-could-sign-after-joe-burrow-injury\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Quarterbacks The Bengals Could Sign After Joe Burrow Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joe Burrow suffered a turf toe injury that will likely sideline him for multiple weeks, which means the Cincinnati Bengals could be in the quarterback market. While former undrafted free agent Jake Browning<\/a> is an adequate short-term starter who can keep the ship afloat, this team could use more insurance at the position. As of this posting, Browning and Brett Rypien are the only healthy options under team control, and Rypien is on the practice squad.<\/p>\n

3 Quarterbacks the Bengals Could Sign Following the Joe Burrow Injury<\/h2>\n

It’s basically impossible to find a starting-caliber option at this stage of the offseason, but the Bengals don’t need one of those. The team can get by with Browning for a little while, but the following options could provide some much-needed depth and add some competition in case Browning isn’t up for the challenge.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Sam Greene – Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"panthers
Main Photo: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. Taylor Heinicke<\/h3>\n

Taylor Heinicke is probably the best quarterback remaining on the free agent market and is an ideal fit for this team following the Joe Burrow injury. Browning is a relatively inexperienced quarterback and could benefit from someone like Heinicke, who has bounced around the league and made starts with multiple organizations.<\/p>\n

Since entering the league, the former undrafted free agent has appeared in 42 games while making 29 starts with three different organizations. During his time on the field, Heinicke has completed 62.5% of his passes for 6,663 yards, 39 touchdowns, and 28 interceptions while adding some mobility on the ground. While he’s not a franchise quarterback, he’s a solid backup who is comfortable holding a clipboard but could step in if Browning struggles.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Kyle
Aug 23, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Kyle Trask (2) throws a pass against the Buffalo Bills in the second quarter at Raymond James Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. Kyle Trask<\/h3>\n

Taylor Heinicke offers a safe floor, but former second-round pick Kyle Trask offers the promise of untapped potential. Originally selected in the 2021 NFL Draft<\/a>, the Florida product spent his career behind Tom Brady and Baker Mayfield before losing Tampa Bay’s backup job<\/a> to veteran Teddy Bridgewater.<\/p>\n

If the Bengals believe they already have a competent veteran backup in Brett Rypien, then perhaps they could kick the tires on a low-floor, medium-ceiling prospect like Trask. While he admittedly hasn’t looked like much to date, he’s only attempted 11 passes in his professional career. You can’t have too many good quarterbacks, and perhaps an offensive-minded coach like Zac Taylor can get the most out of the former Day 2 pick.<\/p>\n

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\"falcons
Main Photo: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3. Kirk Cousins<\/h3>\n

This one only makes sense if the Joe Burrow injury is season-threatening. That doesn’t appear to be the case right now, but stranger things have happened. Cousins looked like a shell of himself for most of the 2024 season, but he was also coming off a season-ending Achilles injury. While first-round pick Michael Penix<\/a> is the unquestioned QB1 in Atlanta, Cousins may have more gas in his tank now that he’s a full season removed from his injury.<\/p>\n

At his best, Kirk Cousins was a borderline top-10 quarterback who wouldn’t elevate a team on his own, but could lead a high-powered offense if surrounded by the right pieces. Cincinnati has those pieces, as the wide receiver duo of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins is second to none. The Bengals might have to get creative to make the money work, but Cousins could keep their season alive if the Joe Burrow injury ends up being more serious than initially believed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a turf toe injury, and the team may sign a quarterback to add some depth to the rostera<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":246384,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[36,7],"tags":[7725,9314,5819,403,6253,2092],"class_list":["post-246387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","category-bengals","tag-cincinnati-bengals-news","tag-jake-browning","tag-joe-burrow","tag-kirk-cousins","tag-kyle-trask","tag-taylor-heinicke"],"modified_by":"David Latham, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246387","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\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246387"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246399,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246387\/revisions\/246399"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}