Forget Daniel Jones. Sure, he proved to be quite good in Indianapolis Colts head coach Shane Steichen's system for much of 2025, but the quarterback has also had three seasons end early due to various injuries. Counting on him to stay healthy for a long time seems unlikely.
Instead, maybe general manager Chris Ballard, who somehow still has his job but could improve his position with this one bold move, should inquire and acquire Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. After all, the Bengals seem to have no idea what they are doing.
Cincinnati sent out a social media announcement on Monday, a day after their 2025 season ended, that it is keeping head coach Zac Taylor and de facto general manager Duke Tobin, even though the team has been seeing diminished returns in recent years. (Sound familiar, Colts fans?)
Joe Burrow might be available for the Indianapolis Colts to acquire
The announcement also said that the team is "taking a hard look at everything" else in order to get back to being a Super Bowl contender. That could include just how unhappy Joe Burrow is with the team keeping Taylor and Tobin after the quarterback made it pretty clear he isn't having fun playing the sport anymore during the season.
Burrow is expensive, but his cap number is not as outlandish as, say, Dak Prescott's, in 2026, and while he is signed through 2029, Burrow's cap number never goes past $57.5 million. A lot of money? Yep, but not for an elite quarterback in the NFL, and Burrow is elite.
Plus, if the Bengals truly want to do a bit of a rebuild to get back to the Super Bowl (they lost to the Los Angeles Rams in SB LVI), they could trade Burrow, save a lot of money ($27.25 million in the 2026 offseason), get a quarterback happy to be a Bengal who can throw to fantastic wide receivers Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase, and get back to winning.
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After all, Burrow does get hurt a bunch, and even when he was out for a while in 2025, the Bengals' offense was good, being led by Joe Flacco. So, let's hope the Cincinnati Bengals make another bad decision and trade their star quarterback.
Let the Indianapolis Colts have him. Indy has $53,796,372 in cap room and could easily make more room by doing something with the contracts of Michael Pittman and DeForest Buckner. In other words, the Colts could afford Joe Burrow.
Oh, but you know what...maybe not. Cincinnati would obviously want first-round picks back for Burrow, and the Indianapolis Colts don't have that. Chris Ballard decided to give the team's next two to the New York Jets for cornerback Sauce Gardner. Maybe Gardner can play quarterback, too.