Joe Burrow on his future with Cincinnati Bengals: ‘I’m here for the long haul’

CINCINNATI — Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow left no room for misinterpretation in an exclusive interview with the team website on Tuesday.

For all the chatter about how he could force his way out of Cincinnati or angling to leave down the line, the franchise quarterback set the record straight.

“I mean what I say,” Burrow told Bengals.com writer Geoff Hobson. “I’m here for the long haul. I’m not going anywhere.”

Burrow is signed through the 2029 season thanks to an extension inked three years ago to the day.

The latest parsing of words came when Burrow affirmed he views this season as “now or never” in a recent news conference. What he made clear in Tuesday’s offering was that it was about the urgency he’s feeling toward a 2026 season with high expectations.

“I’m just trying to bring a now-or-never mentality to the day-by-day process,” Burrow said. “If you’re not, what are you doing? Attack the day with a championship mindset. The rest will take care of itself.”

Burrow has battled injuries throughout his career and enters his seventh NFL season only having played more than 10 games in a season three times.

He expressed excitement about a season where he doesn’t expect to throw the ball as often as in recent years. In his last full season in 2024, Burrow dropped back a team-record 725 times.

“We’re not going to have to throw it 600-something times,” Burrow said in the story. “I don’t think we’re going to have to do that. I’m ready for it if we need to, and the fact that we have that under our belt can help us win games like that. We’ve played so many different ways over the years that whatever the defense throws at us, we’re going to be ready for it.”

Chatter about Burrow’s happiness level followed him last season as he dealt with the mental struggle of returning from another major injury when he missed eight games because of toe surgery.

A December press conference where he discussed searching for his happiness in the game of football stirred up speculation about how long he would want to play and where he would be happiest.

Burrow turns 30 in December and told Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer he used to think he would not play very long. His view has changed now.

“Now I’m like, I’m just going to go until I can’t do it anymore,” Burrow said. “This is fun to do. What the hell else would I do? I used to want to go and maybe play a different sport after a couple of Super Bowls, but now I’m like, I’m just going to play until I can’t.”

Now, he’s made it clear he not only wants to play for a long time but also plans to do it in Cincinnati.

“I’m just really proud to be quarterback of the Bengals,” Burrow said to the team website. “I’m happy to be here. I’m proud to represent the city of Cincinnati, state of Ohio, the Brown family. I’m just proud and I want to make everybody else proud, too.”