Former NFL QB has hottest take on Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes

When it comes to Joe Burrow, Carson Palmer likes him over Patrick Mahomes as the NFL’s best.

Joe Burrow and Patrick Mahomes are absolute superstars, but Carson Palmer is riding with his Cincinnati Bengals guy every day and twice on Sundays.

Admittedly, Palmer has come a long way since crushing his former team in the lead-up to Super Bowl 56. He may have always liked his Heisman Trophy fraternity brother, but Cincinnati nearly cost him his love of the game. After floundering in Oakland, Palmer found himself in The Valley of the Sun to become one of the best players in Arizona Cardinals history to finish out his NFL career.

However, I am not even sure Burrow’s own family members will take him over the greatest quarterback talent we have seen since Dan Marino in Mahomes at this point in time.

Here is Palmer talking to his younger brother Jordan about what makes Burrow the NFL’s best.

For as much as I love Burrow’s game and what he is all about, even I cannot deny the physical traits only Mahomes possesses. Josh Allen and Justin Herbert fans are in absolute shambles…

Carson Palmer tabs Joe Burrow over Patrick Mahomes as NFL’s best quarterback

Look. I think it is utterly fantastic for the NFL to have a budding AFC rivalry between Cincinnati and Kansas City, similar to what we had for over a decade between the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots when Peyton Manning and Tom Brady were at the peak of their powers. However, Burrow is only entering year four out of LSU, while this will be year seven for Mahomes.

This is significant because while Burrow’s final season at LSU was the stuff of legend, he has only had two great years as the Bengals starting quarterback. Mahomes has won NFL MVP twice and has brought two Super Bowl championship parades back to Kansas City for Chiefs Kingdom to enjoy. In time, maybe that age gap won’t matter, but for now, it certainly rests in Mahomes’ favor.

What I will give Palmer credit is that he recognizes Burrow is doing more in a very challenging situation than anyone thought possible. He is winning playoff games in Cincinnati, something Palmer and his really good successor Andy Dalton were never able to do playing for Marvin Lewis. Although the Chiefs are a well-run operation, the Bengals have a bad reputation of being frugal.

In short, Burrow does not have the same resources as Mahomes. I mean, the Bengals are not hopelessly dysfunctional anymore; they have gotten their stuff together. But do you think Mahomes would be doing what he is doing playing for Zac Taylor and the Bengals instead of Andy Reid and the Chiefs? Truth be told, I think he would be just fine, but he would not be this amazing.

Palmer suggested that Burrow is more athletic than we give him credit for. You have to remember his NFL prototype coming out was some variation of Joe Montana and Tony Romo. All three knew what they were doing not only in the pocket, but on the basketball hardwood. Then again, Mahomes’ namesake father was a long-timer MLB reliever, primarily with the Minnesota Twins.

Overall, Mahomes has done more at the professional level over Burrow due in large part for being in the league three years before him. Eventually, that will be a moot point because we all know that Burrow will control to grow as the face of the Bengals franchise. The best part in this debate is that we actually get to have one. Unfortunately, it is lopsidedly in Mahomes’ favor at this time.

Ultimately, I would be shocked if the Bengals don’t win their first Super Bowl in franchise history with Burrow under center. The same principle applies to Mahomes getting at least one more before he hangs up the spikes. And even if Mahomes ends up with three more Super Bowls than Burrow, as long as the latter gets one, there will be a debate. Winning big in Cincinnati is so hard…

While I love Palmer’s praise of Burrow, the league belongs to Mahomes until proven otherwise.