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Breathe easy, Bengals fans … Tyrann Mathieu says Joe Burrow will NOT spurn Cincy at the 2020 NFL Draft, and will happily play for the team if it picks him No. 1 overall in April!!
“Me just knowing him for the last couple years,” the Honey Badger tells TMZ Sports, “He’s super competitive … he knows he can be the guy.”
There are A LOT of rumors surrounding Burrow and the Bengals … with some indicating the Heisman Trophy winner might refuse to play in Cincy if it picks him at the top of the draft.
In fact, ex-Bengals star Carson Palmer seemed to advise Joe to do exactly that in an interview with CBS Sports last month … saying he doesn’t believe Bengals ownership truly wants to win a Super Bowl.
Carson Palmer told me this morning that he’d caution Joe Burrow on playing for the Bengals. “That’s why I had to leave. I never felt they were committed to winning a Super Bowl.” pic.twitter.com/YqQgXlhDDC
— Damon Amendolara (@DAonCBS) January 29, 2020
@DAonCBS
Of course, the move wouldn’t be unprecedented … Eli Manning famously balked when the San Diego Chargers picked him in 2004 — leading to an eventual trade to the NY Giants.
But, when we got Tyrann — a former LSU superstar who’s become bros with Burrow the past couple years — at Mr. Chow in L.A. this week … he told us don’t bet on Joe pulling the same trick.
“I think he’ll have a great opportunity to kind of help, hopefully, Cincinnati change things around as a franchise,” Mathieu says.
There’s more … the Chiefs superstar also spoke with us about who his favorite non-Patrick Mahomes QB is — and his answer might surprise you.
And, Mathieu even talked about LSU’s stacked secondary … and which Tigers prospect he thinks will be the next big NFL star.