Bengals Pull Off NFL’s Version Of “Luka Doncic Trade” By Sending Superstar QB Joe Burrow To NFC Team In Blockbuster Trade Proposal That Would Set Off The League

Joe Burrow looking on (left). Luka Doncic looking on (right).

Joe Burrow and Luka Doncic (Photos by Getty Images)
A blockbuster Luka Doncic-level trade proposal has the Cincinnati Bengals setting off fireworks by trading superstar quarterback Joe Burrow to a surprise NFC team.

Just after midnight on Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks agreed to perhaps the most stunning trade in NBA history. In a three-team deal involving the Utah Jazz, the Lakers acquired Luka Doncic, with future Hall of Famer Anthony Davis headlining the return to Dallas.

Fans on X/Twitter began coming up with hypothetical NFL trades that would equal the impact of the Doncic-Lakers blockbuster. The ML Football X account proposed one such idea involving Joe Burrow and the Dallas Cowboys.

In their proposal, the Bengals would send Burrow to Dallas in exchange for fellow Pro Bowl quarterback Dak Prescott, All-Pro cornerback DaRon Bland, running back Deuce Vaughn, a 2025 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-round selection.

In September 2023, Joe Burrow signed a five-year extension with the Bengals worth $275 million. There’s no clear-cut indicator that he’s even considering requesting a trade out of Cincy, but ML Football’s proposal would certainly be a league-altering and internet-breaking blockbuster.

 

A Joe Burrow Would Require Multiple First-Round Picks

Unless the Bengals were to swap Burrow for a quarterback equal in talent and around the same age (Josh Allen or Justin Herbert, for instance), any trade involving the No. 1 pick of 2020 would have to include multiple first-round selections.

Remember, the Denver Broncos had to give up a giant package headlined by two first-round picks to the Seattle Seahawks for a 34-year-old Russell Wilson in 2022. Burrow is only 2028, so you’d be looking at a minimum of three first-rounders.