Jermaine Burton's future with the Bengals has to come into question with his Week 18 plans now cancelled
UPDATE: A civil suit of $2,506.33 was filed against Jermaine Burton on December 23, 2024. Burton appears to have been evicted from his apartment building in downtown Cincinnati. Radius at the Banks is located a block away from Paycor Stadium. Below is the case summary courtesy of the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts. It's unclear at […]
UPDATE: A civil suit of $2,506.33 was filed against Jermaine Burton on December 23, 2024. Burton appears to have been evicted from his apartment building in downtown Cincinnati. Radius at the Banks is located a block away from Paycor Stadium.
Below is the case summary courtesy of the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts.
It's unclear at this time if this is part of why Burton did not travel with the Bengals to Pittsburgh this weekend. The Bengals had their Week 17 game against the Denver Broncos on December 28, five days after the case was filed. Burton played in that game.
A very troublesome regular season for Cincinnati Bengals rookie wide receiver Jermaine Burton will come to an end before Week 18 even begins.
The Bengals announced Friday afternoon that Burton will not be traveling with the team to Pittsburgh to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in a do-or-die game. Head coach Zac Taylor made the final call.
This will be the second game Burton will not play due to Taylor's decision. The 23-year old rookie was also a healthy scratch for Cincinnati’s Week 9 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders after he missed the team's final walkthrough the day prior to kickoff.
"Jermaine was a big part of the plan, and as the week unfolded, there was a lot of positive things people were saying about him. It was all true, and then late in the week, we just got to handle all of our business the right way," Taylor told reporters after that game. "And so I can sit here and say it was a difficult decision to make him inactive but it was absolutely the right decision with all the information we had."
Burton was the Bengals' third-round pick from the 2024 NFL Draft. Many draft analysts pegged him to be more talented than a traditional third-round selection, but character and maturity concerns were prevalent within his profile and led to his eventual draft spot of 80th overall.
It's unclear exactly why Burton isn't traveling with the team this week, but a coach's decision usually entails things akin to what happened in Week 9. Now with two games lost entirely due to the same concerns many had about Burton, the Bengals will need to evaluate where to go with him from here.
Jermaine Burton may be entering an uncertain offseason in Cincinnati
Burton will wrap up his rookie season with just four receptions for 107 yards in 14 games played. That's the 13th-fewest yardage total for a drafted Bengals rookie wideout who played at least 10 games. Only Tim George, a rookie from 1973 drafted with the 68th overall pick, was taken earlier than Burton on the list.
This week was not likely to help elevate Burton's production as he's been a non-factor offensively for most of the season. His biggest contributions have come as a kickoff returner, a role he started to run with ever since he committed strike one in the middle of the season.
Strike two has now come across the plate. Will Burton get another pitch? It's honestly hard to tell at this point.
The Bengals made it clear they knew what they were getting in to when they drafted Burton in April. Taylor faced the music moments after showcasing absolute glee following his phone call to inform Burton he'd be a Bengal.
"We did our research on all these guys that we talked to and made sure we're aware of every incident they've been part of," Taylor said following the pick in April. "There's certainly maturity things that come with some of these guys coming out of these colleges, and that's one of the things he'll continue to grow with."
"You ready to work?" "We believe in you." "Sounds good." *slams armchairs repeatedly with elation*
How all of this contrasts with not one, but two disciplines throughout Burton's rookie year is simply fascinating to behold.
Can the Bengals cut Jermaine Burton this offseason?
Burton has three years remaining on his rookie contract. As a third-round pick, his signing bonus of $1,053,380 was the only guaranteed portion of his four-year, $5,820,896 deal. If the Bengals want to cut ties after this season, they can do so and save $532,896 in salary cap space.
There's nothing really to protect Burton's future in Cincinnati if he's indeed lighting it on fire. In fact, the main thing he's doing is giving veteran teammates Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase even more leverage for the upcoming restarting of their contract negotiations. Burton was the highest pick the Bengals have spent on a receiver since drafting Higgins and Chase in back-to-back years. If he can't prove to be accountable, let alone productive, Higgins and Chase look even more valuable for the future of the offense.
The good news for Burton is the Bengals don't normally cut loose an early draft pick after just one year. The most recent example involved former running back Mark Walton, the club's fourth-round pick from 2018. Walton was waived almost exactly a year after he was drafted due to being arrested multiple times after his rookie year concluded.
No matter how you viewed Burton entering the NFL, he was a risk. The Bengals are learning the hard way just how risky he was, and they'll have to decide how much more risks they want to take with him.
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