Ted Karras Dives Into Joe Burrow's 'Win a Super Bowl' Comments During OTAs

Joe Burrow's Super Bowl comments fired up the Bengals roster, but they aren't getting ahead of themselves with months to go until gamedays.

"We're going to go win a lot of games this year and play great and win a Super Bowl," Burrow declared last month.

Center Ted Karras broke down what impact those comments had during Burrow's first press conference of the 2026 offseason. Karras had plenty to say across an extensive interview on First Word With James Rapien.

Excitement Building

Cincinnati Bengals center Ted Karras (64) prepares to take the field for the first quarter of the NFL Week 18 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns at Paycor Stadium in Downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Karras is entering his 11th NFL season and knows what a Super Bowl team looks like in the offseason, having won two Super Bowls with the Patriots last decade.

"I think that's a great goal, and it's always our goal, but there's a lot of football to be played until then, so I don't concern myself with February 27 right now," Karras said on the show. "We got Dexter (Lawrence) again tomorrow, and there's a lot of work to be done. I think we're on the right track.

"I'm not a prediction guy, I'm an internal goals guy. I'll throw out Super Bowl when it's appropriate, but as of June 2, right now, I am going to just continue to do my job to the best of my ability."

A sound perspective from Karras, who laid out some of those internal goals he's seeking again this season.

For every NFL team, it starts with winning its respective division, and Cincinnati is no different.

"You've got to win your division, that's always the first goal. And then, as we get going, the Super Bowl is always the goal, overarching. We don't talk about that much internally, and it did fire everyone up that Joe said that, and I love that, but we have a lot of things to work on before we're gonna be in a Super Bowl after we missed the dance three years in a row."

They are expected to have a hat in the championship ring. ESPN's Football Power Index surfaced for 2026 this week, and it gives Cincinnati a 69.2% chance to make the playoffs and a 4% chance to win the Super Bowl (11th highest in the NFL).

Burrow will drive much of those expected pie slices as the pressure falls fully on the players/coaches following Cincinnati's stellar offseason.

"That's what the good programs do," Karras said about the team's draft/offseason strategy. "I think between the fourth and sixth (round), most of the perennial champions usually take a swing at somebody from the O-line, just to keep guys trained. So, I think the way that they've conducted the offseason has been perfect, and not only for this year, but just the overall health and longevity of the Cincinnati Bengals football program."

Check out the full comments from Karras below:

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