It would not be unfair to say Joe Burrow could end up becoming this generation’s Dan Marino. For one, Burrow has reached just one Super Bowl with the Cincinnati Bengals so far. And secondly, Cincinnati has consistently struggled to build a complete roster around its most valuable asset, especially when it comes to properly protecting him.

More importantly, though, this is not exactly a new problem for the organization either, which is why former NFL wide receiver Cris Carter, who grew up near the Bengals’ facility, recently gave a harsh assessment of why he never wanted to play for the Bengals and why Burrow’s future there could eventually mirror what Carson Palmer experienced with the franchise.

“I cannot explain the Bengals. I was born and raised less than 25 miles from the Cincinnati Bengals facility, and there was never a second in my young life, eight years old in the projects. I’m talking about broke, I’m eating oatmeal, we ain’t got no butter, we ain’t got no brown sugar, and I am not playing for the Bengals. I’m hungry, my stomach is bloated, I’m drinking water,” Carter said.

“I’d rather be in the projects. They’ve done stuff wrong for 50 years. You’re a pro sports team. You make money, no matter what. They’re shopping on a budget every single day, and they got Joe Burrow. I love Joe Burrow, but his career is going to be so much like Carson Palmer’s. He’s going to wake up one day and be like, ‘I’m done, man.'”

The Bengals used the No. 1 overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft to select Palmer. But even before Cincinnati drafted him, multiple people around the league, including former quarterbacks, agents, and NFL insiders, reportedly warned him against going there, labeling the franchise a “quarterback graveyard.”

Still, Palmer was a young quarterback who genuinely believed he could help change the organization and become a difference maker. And for a while, it looked possible. He developed into the face of the franchise and appeared to be the long-term answer at quarterback. Eventually, though, Palmer admitted he had completely underestimated how much organizational structure matters in the NFL.

“I was naive. I didn’t want to believe it and want to hear it. And I thought, ‘Well, they haven’t had me. I’ll go there and change it.’ … I thought I was the difference-maker. I thought, ‘The organization doesn’t matter. The players on the field are what matters.’ And I was 100 percent wrong. All that matters is the organization. Because great organizations get the right players. So I was wrong on that. And it was just an accumulation of so many things,” Palmer said a couple of years after his retirement.

Ultimately, Palmer spent eight years in Cincinnati and started in seven seasons before frustration finally reached its breaking point after the 2010 season. He demanded a trade, something owner Mike Brown initially refused to grant. At the time, reports suggested both Palmer and then-head coach Marvin Lewis were privately pushing the organization for structural changes.

Lewis reportedly wanted upgrades to the scouting department, an indoor practice facility, greater authority over staffing decisions, and more control over inactive-game designations. Palmer’s exact requests were never fully revealed publicly, but it was widely assumed he wanted more organizational stability around the team.

Instead, very little changed. And once Cincinnati refused to trade him, Palmer reportedly threatened retirement before eventually following through temporarily. At the time, WCPO-TV quoted one of Palmer’s friends saying:

“I will never set foot in Paul Brown Stadium again. I have $80 million in the bank…I don’t have to play football for money. I’ll play it for the love of the game, but that would have to be elsewhere.”

Palmer eventually continued the rest of his career with the Oakland Raiders and later the Arizona Cardinals. Fast forward to now, and Carter believes Burrow could eventually follow a similar path if things continue heading in the same direction.

Like Palmer, Burrow was also a first overall pick, selected by Cincinnati in 2020. Since then, he has become the franchise’s most valuable player while leading the Bengals to a Super Bowl appearance and another AFC Championship Game. But there is also a reason why Burrow could lead the NFL in pass attempts, completions, and passing yards while Cincinnati still misses the playoffs.

The biggest issue continues to come back to protection and the lack of investment in building a complete roster around Burrow. Yes, the Bengals have two elite receivers in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. But operating almost entirely from shotgun formations inside a pass-heavy offense only works to a certain extent when your quarterback constantly absorbs pressure and hits.

The 2021 season remains the clearest example. Burrow reached the Super Bowl in just his second year, but the cost was massive. Cincinnati’s offensive line allowed 51 sacks during the regular season, and Burrow later set the postseason record after being sacked 19 times throughout the playoff run. Even in the Super Bowl against the Los Angeles Rams, he still threw for 263 yards and a touchdown while taking seven sacks.

Then there are the injury complications.

Halfway through his rookie season, Burrow tore multiple ligaments in his knee after taking a hit that immediately ended his year. He returned to reach a Super Bowl in Year 2 and another AFC title game in Year 3, but during the 2023 season, he suffered a major wrist injury.

Fast forward again to the 2025 season, and Cincinnati opened with a 2-0 start before Burrow suffered turf toe during a Week 2 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The injury caused him to miss most of the season as the Bengals ultimately failed to make the playoffs again.

So yes, Burrow remains one of the league’s best quarterbacks. But at the same time, he is also a quarterback constantly fighting injuries while carrying a franchise that still has not fully solved its biggest problem around him. And if Burrow eventually reaches a point where he demands a trade a year or two from now, it probably would not shock many people around the league at all.

At the same time, while it is evident that the Bengals’ offensive line has repeatedly failed to properly protect Joe Burrow, the franchise also desperately needs reinforcements on the defensive side of the ball as well. After all, the Bengals would not want to risk eventually losing their franchise quarterback simply because they failed to build a complete roster around him.

The last thing the Bengals would want is a Joe Burrow exit

As much as the Bengals need reinforcements to better protect franchise quarterback Joe Burrow, the need on the defensive side of the ball is just as important. During his show, Dan Patrick claimed Burrow is currently the one driving major conversations inside the building and suggested the quarterback could eventually consider leaving if the organization failed to improve defensively.

“I was told Joe Burrow is the one calling the shots in Cincinnati,” Patrick said. “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.”

And considering how last season unfolded defensively for Cincinnati, Patrick’s comments do carry some weight. The Bengals finished the year ranked 30th in total defense while allowing 28.9 points per game. So while the possibility of Burrow eventually growing frustrated with the situation feels understandable, it also creates another obvious question: Can Cincinnati realistically afford to lose its franchise quarterback?

One AFC exec believes the answer is pretty simple.

“I just don’t see them ever moving him,” the AFC exec said. “I think all of the posturing on his end was to make sure they were doing what they could to make the team better around him. He’s still too young and too good for them to move on.”

That supposed “posturing” from Burrow’s side starts making much more sense once you look at Cincinnati’s offseason moves. The Bengals traded for nose tackle Dexter Lawrence by sending the No. 10 overall pick to the New York Giants. On top of that, Cincinnati also added pass rusher Boye Mafe and safety Bryan Cook.

So defensive reinforcements are clearly arriving. Still, the bigger long-term question probably remains whether Cincinnati’s offensive line can finally keep Burrow protected throughout the 2026 season. Because Burrow is already entering Year 7 of his NFL career and it is hard to imagine the quarterback wanting to spend his prime years chasing a Super Bowl without ever actually winning one.