Dave Clark

Cincinnati Enquirer

• Bengals great Andrew Whitworth talked about quarterback Joe Burrow's future in Cincinnati during an interview with Athlon Sports.

• Whitworth expressed excitement for the Bengals this season after the offseason additions they've made.

Former Cincinnati Bengals great Andrew Whitworth, an Amazon Prime Video analyst, talked about Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow's future in Cincinnati during an interview with Athlon Sports, in addition to Burrow's comparison of the Bengals to the 2019 LSU Tigers team he helped to a national title.

"Yeah, dude, I'm excited. I really am," Whitworth said. "I think that they're excited and they're pumped up. And I think you can see some real change in Joe, in the sense of there's a real emphasis by him and his leadership style to make an emphasis in changing that and being a different dude. I'm excited for him on that, and then I think that really when you look at it, what they've done on defense and really the changes there, I think they feel excited that this division is wide open.

"I think that there’s a lot of questions with all those other (AFC North) rosters, and the one thing the Cincinnati Bengals can say is, regardless of how long it's been, they had this run, and yes, they've been great on offense. But they've been injured. They've been insane statistically on offense in every one of these seasons. Nobody's been able to stop them, so they've got to feel good about the fact that if you had one thing you think in this division that you can count on that offensively this team is going to be really good, and now defensively they're going to be a little bit better, and maybe way better. ... I think they have every bit as much opportunity. They just have to stay healthy and be ready to go."

Whitworth addresses Burrow's Bengals future

"Well, I just think that for one, what is Joe Burrow worth in an open market of people trying to trade for him?" Whitworth said. "I mean, it's got to be something insane. And then with Cincinnati and a league that's driven by who you have holding the football in their hand every time you snap a football, would you ever give up Joe Burrow? I think that it's a fun narrative more than it's a realistic narrative, and that's kind of what I mean. When I think of the organizations that would take that swing, one of them already just took the swing with Myles Garrett and the draft and Ty Simpson and everything else in the Rams."

Whitworth shared some eye-opening remarks in April about Baltimore Ravens defensive end Trey Hendrickson during an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show," when asked about the Bengals' trade with the New York Giants for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.

In October 2025, Whitworth blasted the Bengals' front office for the players the team has acquired via draft and free agency to play offensive line during an appearance with McAfee.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2026/06/24/andrew-whitworth-cincinnati-bengals-joe-burrow-nfl-football-trade-proposal-insane/90681048007/

Don't think we need Whitworth to tell us that (re: the headline)

Glad he's buying in, though.

5 hours ago, T-Dub said:

Don't think we need Whitworth to tell us that (re: the headline)

Glad he's buying in, though.

Would like to see a one day contract and retire a Bengal

8 hours ago, High School Harry said:

Would like to see a one day contract and retire a Bengal

dude, same, maybe a tough sell when he has a ring with a different org.. that he won vs this one.

wouldnt bother me any but it does kinda put a * after "lifetime Bengal"

The trade package for Burrow doesn't even begin with anything less than 6 first round picks + 6 second round picks. And teams can't trade that far into the future. So carry on ...

I'm not trading him, you don't find the kind of QBs he is every year in the draft, just ask Miami who wanted to give us alot of picks as well, but ended up with Tua who has to compete with Pennix for the starting job in Atlanta now.