Miami Dolphins Reportedly Made An Aggressive Offer To the Cincinnati Bengals For Joe Burrow In 2020
In the National Football League, hindsight isn’t just 20/20—it’s a cruel form of torture for fanbases. As the Miami Dolphins prepare to trot out rookie Quarterback Quinn Ewers for his first NFL start against the Cincinnati Bengals, the irony is thick enough to cut with a knife. While fans in South Florida are currently watching the slow, painful dissolution of the Tua Tagovailoa era, new reports have surfaced revealing that we are living in the darkest timeline.
According to league sources, the Dolphins didn’t just “like” Joe Burrow back in 2020. They were ready to mortgage the entire future of the franchise for him.
The Godfather Offer That Cincinnati Refused
We aren’t talking about a standard swap of picks here. We are talking about an absolute treasure chest. Before the 2020 NFL Draft, the Dolphins reportedly called up the Bengals and offered four first-round picks to move up to the No. 1 spot.
At the time, the Dolphins were sitting on a goldmine of draft capital, largely thanks to the Laremy Tunsil trade with Houston. They had three picks in the first round of 2020 alone and two more in 2021. The front office was ready to push almost all of those chips into the center of the table to secure the kid from LSU.
And the Bengals? They didn’t just say no; they reportedly didn’t even engage. They hung up the phone faster than a telemarketer calling during dinner. Cincinnati knew Burrow was a generational talent, and no amount of draft picks was going to change their mind.
A Tale Of Two Franchises In 2025
Fast forward to today, and the “what if” game is enough to make a grown man cry. The Dolphins are currently staring down the barrel of a salary cap crisis. They have benched Tagovailoa, despite owing him $54 million in guaranteed money for 2026.
The team is desperate to move off the contract before more guarantees kick in next March, but they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Cutting him results in a historic dead cap hit, $99 million, and trading him requires a partner willing to take on the salary, and likely Tagovailoa taking a pay cut.
Meanwhile, Burrow took the Bengals to a Super Bowl, though he’s currently asking loud, uncomfortable questions about his own future in Cincinnati.
The “What If” That Haunts South Florida
If that trade had gone through, the NFL landscape would look unrecognizable. Imagine Burrow throwing passes in Hard Rock Stadium. Maybe the Dolphins don’t trade for Tyreek Hill later because they used the capital on Burrow. Maybe Cincinnati uses those four picks to build a defensive juggernaut.
Instead, the Dolphins settled for the No. 5 pick. They took Tagovailoa. And while there were flashes of brilliance and a high-flying offense for a season or two, the experiment has seemingly reached its expiration date.
Sports are often defined by the moves you make, but sometimes, they are defined by the moves the other guy refuses to let you make. The Dolphins tried to swing for the fences. They tried to buy the Ferrari. But Cincinnati kept the keys, and now Miami is trying to figure out if their rookie spare tire can get them down the road.
As Ewers takes the field Sunday to face the man Miami coveted so desperately five years ago, Dolphins fans can only wonder how different life would be if the Bengals had just picked up the phone.
