What would it take to land the superstar?
Joe Burrow has made waves in the NFL world following his latest press conference. Speculation grows that Burrow may want out of Cincinnati or possibly even retire from football. While it is nothing more than speculation, it is fun to come up with hypothetical scenarios for the Vikings to land Burrow and reunite with Justin Jefferson. Boy, would the Vikings offense be fun.
Will Ragatz of Sports Illustrated has come up with a scenario that may be too good for the Bengals to ignore.
- Vikings get: QB Joe Burrow
- Bengals get: 2026 first-round pick, 2027 first-round pick, 2026 third-round pick, 2027 second-round pick, QB J.J. McCarthy, OLB Dallas Turner
While this scenario is an absolute haul for the Bengals, it is still unlikely, but if the Vikings were to present it, could Cincinnati turn it down?
Ragatz explains his rationale:
"That's obviously a lot. It's two firsts and two Day 2 picks, plus both of the Vikings' selections in the 2024 first round. But we're talking about Joe Burrow here. It would have to be a monumental haul to beat out offers from other teams. And yes, Burrow's injury history makes a deal that like a real risk. His talent also makes it worthwhile.
It should probably be reiterated that this is all extraordinarily unlikely and would only be worth considering if Burrow assured the Vikings that he's not going to retire anytime soon.
The Bengals will do everything they can to try to work things out with Burrow and keep him around for a long time. And even if he were to ask for a trade, the salary cap element of it all would be very tricky. There would be huge amounts of dead cap involved on Cincinnati's side. In our hypothetical scenario, the Vikings would have to figure out a bunch of restructures/cuts/trades to create the space to take on Burrow's contract.
But the odds of it happening aren't zero. And even the remote possibility of something like this is at least fun to dream about."
A blockbuster of this magnitude would shake the NFL world up, and not since Matthew Stafford has a quarterback of this caliber been on the move via trade. Again, it is fun to come up with hypotheticals, but the Vikings are likely to stick with McCarthy, especially if the young quarterback shows improvement down the stretch.
Still, Burrow in Minnesota with Justin Jefferson and Kevin O'Connell would be so much fun.