Bengals, Joe Burrow Reportedly Not in Talks Yet About Contract Restructure

The Bengals reportedly haven't spurred much movement on a Joe Burrow contract restructure this offseason. WLWT's Charlie Clifford reported neither side has met to discuss the topic as Cincinnati holds less than $10 million in salary cap space moving forward this offseason.

Cincinnati can create some of the largest cap space boosts in the NFL with restructures for Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase, but they don't necessarily need to do that this offseason.

"The Bengals operated in a drastically different fashion this offseason, but one additional uncharacteristic lever has yet to be pulled in Cincinnati," Clifford wrote. "A source tells WLWT there continues to be no dialogue between the team and Joe Burrow's representatives regarding a restructure of the franchise quarterback's contract. Burrow's cap hit for 2026 is $47.99 million, currently the second-highest cap number in the league this season, behind only Los Angeles' Matthew Stafford ($48.2M)."

Next Year Seems More Likely

Cincinnati Bengals Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin addresses the media during a press conference, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, at Paycor Stadium in downtown Cincinnati. | Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Bengals are clearly willing to entertain the idea, but it just doesn't seem to be in the mix right now. Director of player personnel Duke Tobin addressed the possibility in his post-NFL Draft presser last month.

“Those are things that we're working through after the draft,” Tobin said. “We've layered in challenges, but we're up to them. Cap dollars have to be counted, so if we can accomplish what we want to accomplish without pushing things into future problems, we'll do that,” he said. “If we need that, we'll consider that as well. We're open to doing anything we need to do to improve our team to where we're satisfied we're gonna win a championship ... But we have resources right now, and we'll see what we can get done."

According to SFdata9ers on X, Cincinnati can create the second-most additional cap space in the league with restructures ($93 million). Ranking only behind San Francisco in the exercise.

Alas, there aren't a ton of holes still to address outside of linebacker depth behind Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr.—which could easily get solved by a minimum deal for a veteran that's released during training camps.

Tobin feels the team is "pretty complete," but they are always open to a nice deal if it presents itself.

"After free agency, our team is pretty complete,” Tobin said following the draft. “We didn't have a lot of holes. We have a lot of guys who have played a lot of football. We have young guys who are just starting to find their groove and play really well for us. So, it frees you up a little bit. You don't want to be drafting for starters. If your draftees become starters, that's great, but you don't want to be reliant on them to start immediately, and that's not where our team is."

Check out Clifford's full report here, as Cincinnati looks like it may be largely done adding big names to the roster this offseason.

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