Joe Burrow is heading into his seventh season with the Bengals in 2026, but the conversation around Cincinnati already has a sharp edge to it. Jordan Rodgers put the pressure plainly on Thursday, saying that if the team misses the playoffs again, Burrow may start looking elsewhere.
“If they (Bengals) don't make the playoffs, Joe Burrow's gonna want out.” Jordan said on "First Take."
“If that's not the case, they're going to blow up everything around him, right from the roster and the coaching staff. They're gonna have to find a way to entice him to come back.”
That kind of warning lands because the Bengals have already gone three straight seasons without a playoff berth, even after Burrow helped carry them to the Super Bowl in 2022, where they fell to the LA Rams. Burrow has been the face of the franchise since Cincinnati took him with the top pick in the 2020 NFL draft, and his résumé still carries plenty of weight: a national championship at LSU, 77 regular-season games in the NFL, a 43-33-1 record, two playoff trips, and a 5-2 postseason mark.
Cincinnati’s path back to the postseason in 2026 will have to start before the games count. The Bengals are scheduled to play three preseason games: against the Detroit Lions on Thursday, Aug. 13 at 7:00 p.m.
ET, against the Chicago Bears on Saturday, Aug. 22 at 7:00 p.m. ET, and at the Philadelphia Eagles on Friday, Aug. 28 at 8:00 p.m.
ET on CBS.
Health, though, is the big variable hanging over everything. Burrow missed nine games in 2025 after suffering a Grade 3 turf toe injury in Week 2, and by the time he returned, Cincinnati’s playoff hopes had taken a major hit. If the Bengals are going to get back in the mix next season, they’ll need Burrow on the field and playing at full speed.
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