Ever since the end of the 2025 regular season, Minnesota Vikings fans have been dreaming about the possibility of their favorite team finding a way to make a trade with the Cincinnati Bengals to acquire all-world quarterback Joe Burrow this year.
The odds of it actually happening have always felt very low, but they got even lower on Sunday following an update from NFL Media's Ian Rapoport.
When talking about Burrow, Rapoport shared that while he does "expect teams to call the Cincinnati Bengals" about making a deal for the talented signal-caller, he "[does] not expect Joe Burrow to be traded" this offseason.
Ian Rapoport lowers chances of Minnesota Vikings making a trade for Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow
Minnesota acquiring Burrow from the Bengals this year has felt like a long shot ever since more and more Vikings fans started to talk about the possibility late in the 2025 season.
He's a true, one-of-a-kind, franchise quarterback, and unless they have a plan for an immediate replacement, Cincinnati would be insane to move on from him at this point in his NFL career.
As Rapoport mentioned, teams from around the league are still probably going to call the Bengals about trading Burrow this year, even if a deal is unlikely to be made. So, at the very least, Minnesota should still be among the teams calling Cincinnati this offseason about their quarterback.
More likely, the Vikings' focus this offseason will be on adding an experienced signal-caller who can not only help further the development of J.J. McCarthy, but also challenge him for the team's starting job.
Obviously, that path isn't as fun as Minnesota making a blockbuster trade for Burrow. But given how the Vikings aren't expected to have much cap space this year and how many assets they would have to give up to acquire the Bengals quarterback, the less-exciting path to adding a new signal-caller is the one that Minnesota will likely follow this offseason.