Bengals make unfortunate Jermaine Burton decision, raising contract and draft questions originally appeared on The Sporting News.
Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.The Cincinnati Bengals’ Jermaine Burton draft pick isn’t aging well.The Bengals drafted Burton with the No. 80 overall pick (third round) in the 2024 NFL Draft out of Alabama.But this weekend, Burton isn’t even traveling with the Bengals to Buffalo for their Week 14 game against the Bills.Burton won’t play due to non-injury related reasons, according to ESPN’s Ben Baby.There’s no guarantee that this is a negative reason related to the team. Burton could also be going through something personal.But it’s not a great sign.MORE: LeBron James’ 10-point streak ends in the most LeBron James way possibleBurton hasn’t played in a game yet this season for the Bengals.As a rookie in 2024, he appeared in 14 games and had just four catches for 107 yards.Burton, as a third-round pick, comes with a four-year rookie contract. That means he’s under contract through 2027.The Bengals wouldn’t be down a lot of money if they eventually moved on from him, though.And with the way Burton has been an entire non-factor this season, his future with Cincinnati is looking more and more iffy by the day.More news:Cleveland Browns make a new Deshaun Watson decision for 2026Warriors’ Pat Spencer continues improbable journey from lacrosse to NBAToosii somehow committed to college football after a non-descript HS careerLegend Bey’s recruitment was a wildly weird oneGeorge Pickens blasted for miserable effortGoogle tells us what we already knew about Shedeur Sanders