Joe Burrow Trade Talk for Vikings Runs into Brick Wall
Minnesota Vikings fans have spent about six weeks pondering Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow in purple and gold clothes as a long-term solution for a team that hasn’t won a playoff game in six years. But according to Burrow’s teammate, running back Chase Brown, a trade isn’t happening.
Cincinnati’s leadership group has shown it can let standoffs drag, making any trade path messy and unlikely. And Bengals players don’t think a Burrow trade is possible.
SI.com‘s Grant Cohn ignited trade talk last week, explaining that a source told him that Minnesota was calling Cincinnati about a deal. That may not matter.
Bengals Signals Keep the Burrow Rumor from Taking Off
Burrow evidently isn’t for sale.
Chase Brown: Burrow Won’t Be Traded
Regarding Burrow trade rumors that have picked up steam with the start of most teams’ offseasons, Brown isn’t buying them.
He told CBS Sports this week, “Joe’s not going anywhere. I think that was totally blown out of proportion. It was definitely a good talking point for people. It gave the media a lot to talk about and probably made [Burrow’s] Twitter notifications go off, but Joe’s not going anywhere.”
Brown also said about the Bengals’ performance late in the season: “We picked up some momentum at the end of the season that we can carry into this coming season. There’s a lot that we went through this year. We lost our quarterback. We had multiple different quarterbacks, and that’s hard on everybody on offense and definitely hard on receivers.”
“When you look at the season as a whole, we went through a lot. So I look forward to having a full season with everybody. Not that that’s promised, but that’s what I look forward to.”
It’s worth noting that Brown is close with Burrow, so he probably isn’t speaking out of left field.
Tee Higgins Agrees
Higgins, the team’s WR2, was also available for the CBS Sports interview, and on a Burrow trade, he agreed with Brown.
“You heard it from my wing man right there,” Higgins told Pereles.
Of course, neither playmaker wants Burrow to leave their organization, but for each to emphatically state that Burrow won’t be traded is rather significant. For example, if they knew something was amok, with Burrow possibly available on the trade block, Brown or Higgins might say, “That’s not our job. The general manager handles trades.”
Instead, they insisted that Burrow is not leaving.
Does the Bengals’ Front Office Agree?
Here’s the reality with Burrow trade theories: Cincinnati’s front office won’t bend easily. This is the same leadership group that left Burrow visibly frustrated in December and has built a reputation for grinding negotiations into the dirt. Extensions take forever. Trade requests pile up like mail on family on vacation. Then the team stalls, the player eventually reports, and everyone walks away irritated. Trey Hendrickson already ran this script.
Burrow could request a trade and carry real leverage simply because of who he is — and the Bengals could still refuse to move him and let the standoff linger.
That’s the point. If things ever slide that far, a Burrow trade request wouldn’t play out cleanly. It would turn ugly pretty fast.
It’s also worth noting that if Burrow requested a trade — meaning Brown and Higgins are flat-out wrong — Cincinnati could probably add three 1st-Rounders and a couple of notable players in a deal with the Vikings.
The Spun‘s Chris Rosvoglou on the Burrow trade theory: “CBS Sports reported mid-season that Cincinnati wants a ‘Ricky Williams-type’ trade offer from teams interested in Burrow. The New Orleans Saints sent all of their picks from the 1999 NFL Draft as well as two of their top three picks from the 2000 NFL Draft to the Washington Redskins just so they can select Williams.”
“Offering up J.J. McCarthy, Jonathan Greenard and two first-round picks might not be enough to land Burrow, especially since other teams can put together better packages. Let’s not forget the New York Jets own five first-round picks over the next two drafts. For now though, we expect Burrow to stay with the Bengals.”
Why Burrow for the Vikings?
Burrow, if eventually available via trade, would stabilize the entire Vikings enterprise. Minnesota won nine games in 2025 with the league’s fifth-worst overall quarterback play per Dropback EPA. The sky would’ve been the limit if the franchise had an average quarterback from September through January.
On the other hand, Burrow in Minnesota would bring the heat of a Top 3 or Top 5 passer every Sunday. Kevin O’Connell would feast with his elite pocket passer, while defensive coordinator Brian Flores furnished one of his now-patented Top 3 defenses. For most fans, Burrow feels like the missing link. He’s the one guy who could be quasi-available that would situate the Vikings at the grown-ups’ table in 2026 and beyond.
But per Brown and Higgins, the Bengals just won’t let him out of the building, which, all things considered, makes sense.
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