Orlando Brown dismissed rumors Monday that Joe Burrow wants to force a trade out of Cincinnati, saying the noise around the Bengals quarterback will fade if the team starts winning again. Brown made the comments during an appearance on FanDuel TV's Up & Adams show.
"At the end of the day, no matter where you are, winning cures all," Brown said. "Whether it's real or not, I don't think it's real."
The Bengals have had little to quiet speculation. After back-to-back AFC championship runs, they missed the postseason in three consecutive seasons. Burrow missed nine games in 2025 because of injury, and Cincinnati went 1-8 in non-Burrow starts last season.
Brown said he had never really spoken to Burrow about the rumors, but he pushed back on the idea that the quarterback is looking for an exit. "At the end of the day, Joe gives his all for the city and he loves being a Bengal," Brown said.
Rumors swirled this offseason that Burrow was unhappy in Cincinnati and wanted to force a trade out of Ohio, even as the Bengals have struggled to give him a complementary defense. Brown said those storylines are a routine part of the NFL and can be overblown. "These storylines are always great, but a lot of times they are full of s---," he said.
The best way to end the speculation, Brown said, is simple: get back to the playoffs and into position to play in February. If Cincinnati can do that, the talk around Burrow should lose its power on its own.
