When you have a star like Joe Burrow in your team, you’ve got to keep him happy. The Bengals have charted commendable growth with Burrow leading the charge. It’s natural for him, and leaders like Ja’Marr Chase to know what’s best for the team. Cincinnati Bengals assistant GM Steve Radicevic did not shy away from talking about the importance star players like them have in roster-building.
“There are definitely different styles of players that guys prefer to play with. But when you’re adding someone to the locker room, if there’s a player already there who has a relationship with someone you’re considering bringing in, you’ll go to them and ask their opinion,” Radicevic said on the Wincinatti podcast about Burrow and Chase influencing the Bengals’ player acquisition strategy.
“You ask what that person is like and whether they’d be a good fit as a Bengal. It’s important to rely on players who have been around others when you’re considering bringing them into your locker room.”
From the outside looking in, this appears to be a thoughtful approach for an organization to take. The feedback from marquee players on candidates who could be future teammates is definitely worth some thought. For Cincinnati in particular, this rings true because it has worked out for them. Burrow was included in the talks before the Bengals drafted Ja’Marr Chase in the 2021 draft. He was only a second-year QB in the league then, but it showed that Cincinnati was going to build this team around its star.
Today, Burrow and Chase, along with Tee Higgins, are considered one of the most electric passing fronts in the NFL. The QB had also been vocal in his support for the Bengals keeping Higgins on after the 2023 season. Today, they make the team’s current identity. Since entering the league in 2020, Burrow has thrown for 157 touchdowns against just 51 interceptions while posting a 101.1 passer rating. He boasts of a win-loss record of 43-33-1 and led the Bengals to the Super Bowl in 2021 and the AFC Conference game in 2022. Chase has earned Pro Bowl nods five times now.
The Bengals have been eyeing the Super Bowl with Burrow, Chase, and Higgins in play. You take them out of the equation, and the hopes are out for the team. That is why their opinions carry weight. Burrow took the Bengals in his third season with Chase, which proves that this is working for the team. They have blown their postseason chances of late, but they are always in contention. That potential is something the Bengals want to keep building on. Burrow’s voice, in particular, is something that will always matter.
“Joe was drafted out of LSU 5 years ago,” insider Albert Breer said in 2025. “There [were] people wondering,’ Does he really want to go there?’ This is
a pretty smart guy who seems to have a good sense for the business. … He chose to go there because he wanted to be the guy who changed everything. I think he legitimately has done that here.”
For the money that Burrow is getting from Cincinnati, he’s also giving them returns as the team’s pseudo-general manager. He’s someone who is also wary of how the defense is being shaped by the Bengals, not just his own side of the ball.
Joe Burrow wanted the Bengals to go for Dexter Lawrence
When the star QB decides to hang up his cleats, he can very well be retained by the team in an executive role. Because he has backed the team on moves that were risky, but came with big returns if rolled out well. According to NFL insider Dan Patrick, Burrow had gone as far as giving the team an ultimatum when it came to star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.
“I was told Joe Burrow is the one calling the shots in Cincinnati,” he said on his show. “From what I’m told, Joe Burrow said to management, ‘You have to do something defensively, or I’m out of here. ‘ I was told this morning by a source, who said that Joe has given them an ultimatum.”
Burrow asked, and the Bengals delivered. They sacrificed their 10th overall pick in the 2026 draft for the Lawrence trade, who will now play for Cincinnati for the next three seasons. His new team will only have to pay him $28 million for one season, according to the deal struck with the New York Giants. The latter then used this pick on offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa. All the sides are happy now. But it was important to listen to Burrow, because he’s the guy who is going to do it all ultimately.
Nobody knows the sting of repeatedly missing playoff chances like Joe Burrow. So, Cincinnati might as well listen to the person who can guarantee postseason play. This might be the year the Bengals finally reach where Burrow, Chase, and Higgins have always tried to.
