{"id":278163,"date":"2026-04-22T16:36:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T20:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=278163"},"modified":"2026-04-22T16:36:56","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T20:36:56","slug":"bengals-pro-bowler-may-heading-towards-divorce-after-2026-season-potential-trade-spots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/04\/22\/bengals-pro-bowler-may-heading-towards-divorce-after-2026-season-potential-trade-spots\/","title":{"rendered":"Bengals, Pro Bowler May Heading Towards “Divorce” After 2026 Season – Potential Trade Spots"},"content":{"rendered":"

After trading for DT Dexter Lawrence this offseason, the Cincinnati Bengals are putting the pressure on QB Joe Burrow this upcoming season, and if he shows no signs of improvement, the team could move on. The Bengals lost Trey Hendrickson to the Ravens in free agency, but they quickly made a few replacements, including signing Boye Mafe and Jonathan Allen. Burrow has a top-tier defense and, of course, an offense that contains Ja’Marr Chase<\/a> and Tee Higgins. There isn’t any excuse for Burrow to thrive this upcoming campaign as long as they focus on rebuilding the offensive line in this year’s draft.<\/p>\n

However, it’s still interesting to decipher what Adam Schefter predicts for Burrow’s future. He said it’s a crucial season for the QB, who is coming off a year where he didn’t play up to standards and dealt with yet another significant injury. Burrow missed games last season once again, and if that continues to become the case for this upcoming campaign, he indeed might be better off joining a new roster.<\/p>\n

“If the Bengals cannot turn it around, some have speculated about whether Burrow might wonder whether he is better off playing in another NFL city. The Bengals had to give Burrow and the franchise the best chance to win now. Lawrence does that, more than any player they could have picked at No. 10,” said Schefter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Bengals, Pro Bowler Joe Burrow May Heading Towards “Divorce” After 2026 Season<\/h2>\n

As it stands, Burrow really doesn’t have any excuse. The Bengals reportedly push for Maxx Crosby, so they were serious about improving the team. It will be up to Burrow how he responds this season, which is understandable, as it’s crucial for him. If Burrow truly doesn’t “enjoy” football again, similar to a press conference earlier<\/a> towards the end of the 2025 season, it might be time to move on.<\/p>\n

Next Possible Teams<\/h2>\n

Arizona Cardinals<\/h3>\n

The Arizona Cardinals have one of the worst quarterback rooms in the league. Between Jacoby Brissett<\/a> and Gardner Minshew, many should expect the Cardinals to select a QB in the draft this week. The Cardinals moved on from Kyler Murray earlier this offseason, and with head coach Mike LaFleur stepping in, the team needs to make a big swing.<\/p>\n

It shouldn’t be Minshew or Brissett. They’re solid, but nothing on the level where they’ll get this offense to a postseason. If Burrow doesn’t work out in Cincinnati, the Cardinals could make some calls for the QB next year to jumpstart this offense.<\/p>\n

Carolina Panthers<\/h3>\n

Meanwhile, similar to the Bengals, the Panthers are also making major improvements on their defensive side. Head Coach Dave Canales has benched Bryce Young<\/a> before, and he likely will if he shows signs of inconsistency. The team traded Andy Dalton<\/a>, which means they could be making room for a QB in the draft. However, if the Panthers don’t replicate what they did in the 2025 season, Burrow might have another chance in the league and join the Panthers, who could have one of the scariest defenses in a long time.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Rams<\/h3>\n

The Rams could keep their eye on Burrow once Matthew Stafford<\/a> retires. The team is working on a new deal for Stafford, but he might call it quits if he feels satisfied with his career. Sean McVay has the brains and tools to get Burrow into something he’s never been in before, and that’s called prime. Burrow faced the Rams in the Super Bowl before, so McVay knows what type of QB he is, and that could intrigue if Stafford doesn’t come to terms on at least a three-year contract this offseason.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Cincinnati Bengals and star QB Joe Burrow could part ways after the 2026 season if there’s no improvement. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4795,"featured_media":278168,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":true,"sfio_embed_code":"<\/smartframe-embed>","_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":[1647,33,30,7,34,36,6431],"tags":[33533,7801,9487,7739,7725,4752,1500,5819,32193,7473,404,246,7661],"class_list":["post-278163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","category-cardinals","category-panthers","category-bengals","category-rams","category-nfl-news","category-nfl-teams","tag-2026-nfl-draft","tag-arizona-cardinals-news","tag-bryce-young","tag-carolina-panthers-news","tag-cincinnati-bengals-news","tag-dexter-lawrence","tag-jacoby-brissett","tag-joe-burrow","tag-lastest-nfl-news","tag-los-angeles-rams-news","tag-matthew-stafford","tag-nfl-news","tag-panthers-featured"],"modified_by":"Anthony Palacios","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278163","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\/4795"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278163"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":278268,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278163\/revisions\/278268"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}