CINCINNATI — Sometimes words are cheap. But when they come from the undeniable leader of your franchise, they take on much more significant weight.
Joe Burrow made it clear in his final press conference before taking off for World Cup parts unknown Wednesday that he is not accepting business as usual as a standard operating procedure this season.
The front office made their commitment by significantly upgrading the roster with established NFL veterans, especially on defense. Burrow saw this and had no issues with restructuring his $275 million deal to free up $10 million in cap space this year.
“It opened up some cap space which is good for us,” Burrow said. “I have been open about how I am willing to do whatever they need me to do so they can operate freely and will continue doing that as needed. It’s always open and honest. We got a great line of communication and I think we are in a great spot. We filled just about every hole that we have had. Operationally we are improving. We are bringing in the right kind of people. I think for the most part getting to know the rookies they fit into our culture and what we are trying to do here. We had a great offseason.”
For his part, Burrow is increasing the urgency and pressure on his teammates going into the 2026 season.
“(There’s) a lot of urgency this year. We have everything we need,” Burrow said, repeating his comments from May. “We’re deep at just about every position on the team. We’ve talked a lot this year about in years past, we wondered who was going to make the team, it was top-heavy. This year, it’s guys that were once at the top level that were on the team for sure, now there’s a lot of competition for those spots at the end of that list. It’s the first year that’s really the case in my opinion. It’s an exciting place to be where you have too many good players. It’s our job to try to find ways to make this work, build that trust and build those relationships.
We’re expecting to win every game we set foot on the field. Obviously you want to win the Super Bowl. That’s certainly the plan. We’ve got to take it one day at a time. One week at a time. I’m excited for the journey.”
The journey in years past has felt like more of a grind for Burrow. You could sense by the look on his face and his words at the podium that he felt the responsibility of carrying the team, regardless of how good or not-so good the defense was playing. This summer, it feels like Burrow knows that if he can focus on his own job he’ll be much better off. That doesn’t mean not holding teammates accountable.
“I think the opposite. I think this offseason I really focused on trying to bring urgency to the room and try to just get everybody to understand the level of urgency that we have this year; the level of play that’s going to be required from every individual who steps on that field,” Burrow said. “I’ve tried to communicate that. I’ve tried be a little more vocal, in a mean way. I think that’s a little out of my comfort zone, but that’s somewhere that I’m improving. Maybe it’s good and maybe it’s bad, but we’ll find out.”
With the urgency comes inherent added pressure. Burrow says bring it on.
“I hope so. Put pressure on guys. I love it. I thrive in it. We’ll find out who else does,” Burrow said. “I know we have the kind of people who want to be in that spot. I want everybody talking about the Bengals. I want everybody talking about what I’m saying in my press conferences. You go back and watch what I said before the 2019 season at LSU. I feel very similarly about this team. I’m so excited to get started and get moving. I wish we ramped this right into training camp so we can continue to improve. I feel like there’s so much greatness we’ll be able to achieve this year that I’m just excited to get going.”
So Burrow is trying to bring the 2019 unbeaten LSU Tigers into the conversation. That’s not by accident. Burrow and the Tigers laid the foundation for their title run in 2018 with a 10-3 mark and a 40-32 win over UCF in the Fiesta Bowl. The Bengals were 6-11 in 2025 but the foundation for these Bengals is everything that’s been said and done since in the most seismic offseason in franchise history.
“I certainly feel this way about this team,” Burrow said of the comparison. “I think we have guys that have been there and done that and also guys who have had a lot of individual success and not necessarily the team success that we’re looking for. Guys like Dexter (Lawrence) and guys like Jonathan (Allen), bringing guys like that in is so advantageous to a lot of different people. Players trying to improve makes it easier on coaches. We have guys with so much talent and I’m just excited to put it all together.
“I’m just trying to bring urgency to every room that I step in and try to foster an environment of improvement.”
Burrow has always been about leading by example. That’s why the “Mean Joe” moniker may or may not stick. Mean Joe Greene of Steel Curtain fame in Pittsburgh was about using the name to intimidate on the field. He was someone you didn’t cross. Burrow has never been a loud, vocal leader on or off the field (except for maybe that time he lost it on Zac Taylor in Tennessee during a sloppy win in 2024). But Burrow doesn’t have to lose it or yell. He simply has to remind everyone what is acceptable and what’s not in no uncertain terms. And maybe do it a little more with a touch more force this year. Which all leads to the next question.
How is Burrow trying to get better, himself?
“Every way imaginable: Mind, body, soul,” he told me. “Just trying to improve myself and be there for my teammates and build team camaraderie. Obviously, I am going to improve my individual skills and strength and speed, but trying to build that culture and that vibe in the locker room you need to win a championship is just as important.
“It’s a challenge sometimes because when you are younger you are just trying to improve every area of your game. Nothing is good enough. To some extend, that is still true, but when you have hit a certain level then you are trying to improve by this much instead of that much. To do that you have to get really nitty gritty into the technical details of how your body moves, how you hold the ball, how the ball is coming out, your body position, when you are moving. There are certainly cons to thinking about that critically. Now is the time to do it. Not August. That is the rabbit hole I have gone down over the last four or five months. Certainly found some improvements, but found the negatives that come with it.”
Burrow knows all the pieces are there after the front office filled nearly every void on the defense with star quality and depth. The offense has all five of its starting offensive linemen in place plus a couple of draft picks who could step in. The tight end room is deep and versatile. They have one of the top three receiving combos in football. They have versatile running backs.
“It was great. We have all the spots filled. We have all the starters back, so that’s a great feeling,” Burrow said. “We don’t have any young guys, any new guys coming in that you really need to count on. The guys that are young and come in and produce and perform is kind of like icing on the cake for us at this point. It’ll certainly be hard for those guys to find a role this year considering how deep we are, but I’m excited to see who will and who will help us. There certainly are some guys that are gonna be able to, a couple of receivers, a couple tight ends. We’re deep at O-line this year, which is exciting.
“All the guys are putting in a lot of work to try to improve. With the veteran players we have coming back, they’re doing a great job of setting an example for the younger guys and trying to teach them how to be great. I think the spring has gotten everybody better. We need to continue that over the next month before we come back.”
Other Bengals takeaways on last day of work before team reports on July 28:
“Andrei looks great this year,” Burrow said. “Andrei looks unbelievable. He looks big, strong, fast. He made a couple really nice contested catches in the spring this year in our limited reps. That’s a big area of emphasis for him. So, that was exciting to see. He’s going to continue to improve there, but he looks just like he’s playing with so much confidence, confidence in his role, confidence in the offense, and his ability.”
Taylor explained that the team accomplished all of its spring installation goals ahead of schedule, taking advantage of Phase 2 especially, making extra non-padded practices unnecessary. Taylor noted the team reached a point of diminishing returns after getting in necessary work and that it was time to let the players focus on being ready for the next phase.
Unlike previous offseasons that featured contract holdouts or external distractions, Taylor praised the roster’s singular focus leading into the 2026 season:”It’s a great thing. Guys go about their business, but I feel like everybody’s really focused, showed up, got the work in that we needed to get, and so now it’s time to move on,” Taylor said.
