​Cincinnati headed into 2025 with a 6-11 finish and Joe Burrow limited to eight games after a season marred by injuries and instability. In response, the Bengals spent the offseason reshaping the roster around their franchise quarterback, aiming to provide more help on both sides of the ball. The marquee move came on April 19, when Cincinnati announced a trade that sent the No. 10 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft to the New York Giants in exchange for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. The deal signaled the team’s urgency to bolster its frontline defense and give Burrow a stronger supporting cast as he returned from injury.
Burrow’s season was cut short by a Grade 3 turf toe injury sustained in the second quarter of the Week 2 loss to Jacksonville. The injury required surgery and cast doubt on his availability, with a recovery timeline of at least three months. Despite playing in a limited number of games, Burrow managed to post 1,809 passing yards and 17 touchdowns. He entered the season as the NFL’s top passer from the previous year, having led the league with 4,918 passing yards and 43 passing touchdowns in 2024. Those high-level numbers highlight why Cincinnati remains so invested in a rededicated supporting cast around him, and they also drew praise from across the league, including from NFL legend J.J. Watt.
J.J. Watt, who has a long-standing connection to Cincinnati and the Bengals, spoke highly of Burrow’s impact and of the team’s March toward improvement. Watt was in Cincinnati for Friday’s international friendly between Burnley FC and FC Cincinnati at TQL Stadium, where the hosts won 3-1. Watt and his wife, Kealia, have been minority owners of FC Cincinnati since May 2023, reflecting Watt’s enduring ties to the area. In comments captured in a video interview posted to X by FOX19’s Joe Danneman, Watt made clear that a quarterback of Burrow’s caliber gives a team a fighting chance in today’s NFL, stressing that Cincinnati needed to do everything possible to assemble the best possible roster around him.
Watt also reflected on his deep ties to Cincinnati, saying, “I feel like I have a kinship with Cincinnati over the years. For some reason, the Bengals, the city of Cincinnati and myself have kind of been intertwined kind of my whole career.” Watt’s own NFL journey began when he was selected 11th overall by Houston in 2011. He went on to accumulate 114.5 career sacks and earned AP Defensive Player of the Year honors for the 2012, 2014 and 2015 seasons before closing his career with the Arizona Cardinals. On the other side of the trade spectrum, the Bengals acquired Dexter Lawrence from the Giants, a 28-year-old stalwart who has carved out a notable NFL résumé with multiple Pro Bowl selections from 2022 through 2024 and two All-Pro nods (second-team) during that span. In 2025, Lawrence produced 0.5 sacks across 17 games, a quieter stat line compared to his 2024 nine-sack surge in 12 games, underscoring the potential for a dramatic uptick in Cincinnati’s pass-rush presence alongside Burrow. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo initially reported the details that Lawrence would be joining Cincinnati late on April 18, reinforcing the league-wide sense that this move could tilt the balance of power in the AFC North.
As the Bengals merged this impactful defensive addition with a continued emphasis on protecting and supporting Burrow, the franchise signaled its intent to contend again in a league where rosters are continually recalibrated to maximize a quarterback’s window. The trade for Lawrence, coupled with Burrow’s proven ability to elevate an offense, kept Cincinnati squarely in the conversation as a potential challenger to perennial contenders, with fans watching closely to see how the revamped defense and the returning signal-caller could translate into a more sustainable and enduring run in 2026.