Bengals must trade for $180 million Joe burrow replacement

The Cincinnati Bengals experienced their worst fear when franchise quarterback Joe Burrow went down with a severe foot injury. It was later revealed that he suffered a severe turf toe injury that would require surgery.

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Burrow was initially supposed to miss weeks, but further updates placed him as potentially missing two or more months. With Burrow out for an extended period, the Bengals have leaned on backup quarterback Jake Browning.

So far, the Browning experiment has not gone well at all. The Bengals are currently 2-2 on the season, but Browning has not played the best of football. He has seven interceptions, including the game against the Detroit Lions in Week 5.

Browning led the Bengals to 4-3 record in 2023 when Burrow was injured, but he has struggled mightily in 2025. His struggles have been amplified by a horrific stat that proves the team needs to find a new answer.

Following Browning taking over for Burrow, the Bengals have gone on to not score a touchdown in 17 straight possessions. This is an insane stat considering the team has Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

With the Bengals all but drowning with Browning at the helm, the team must make a drastic move for a new answer, and that answer needs to be Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins.

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Cousins has essentially been held captive by the Falcons, as it has been stated multiple times over that he is not tradable. However, Atlanta could soften their stance on it should the Bengals agree to take on the steep contract that Cousins has.

If Cincinnati were willing to cough up a potential second or third round draft pick, while potentially throwing in a later round selection, the Falcons may say yes to this.

The biggest reason the Falcons are likely unwilling to trade Cousins is due to his massive dead cap hit. According to ESPN, “If the Falcons traded Cousins, they would be on the hook for the $37.5 million of remaining proration, while his fully guaranteed $27.5 million of base salary would transfer to his new team.”

There would likely be no deal if the Bengals did not agree to absorb some of that money. If legally possible, they may need to sweeten the deal on the $27.5 million contract, likely having to agree to pay some of the $37.5 million of dead cap the Falcons would face.

At this point, the Bengals need to make a drastic move, and Cousins could help to pump some lifeblood back into this stagnant offense. If Cincinnati wants to ensure they have a favorable record if and when Burrow comes back, they need a big trade.

Cousins would make a ton of sense. He wants out, but can’t do so unless a team takes a big swing on him. The Bengals must be that team if they are serious about rebounding their season.

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