Bengals waive WR Jermaine Burton, parting ways with troubled former third-round pick

The Cincinnati Bengals waived Jermaine Burton. The Bengals parted ways with Burton, a 2024 third-round NFL Draft pick, one day after suspending him without pay ahead of their Week 14 loss to the Buffalo Bills. 

The Bengals drafted Burton with the hope that he could complement fellow receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins as a receiving option for quarterback Joe Burrow. That plan never materialized as Burton caught just four passes for 107 yards during his time with the Bengals. 

Burton played in 14 games (with one start) as a rookie but didn't appear in any games this season for the Bengals, who are 4-9 entering this Sunday's home game against the Baltimore Ravens. Burton continued to be a non-factor for the Bengals despite expressing optimism this summer that things would be different this season. 

"Nobody should be happy with it," Burton said at the time when discussing his rookie season. "I was very disappointed, but it's something that I moved on from and grew from. ... I'm just trying my best to be the best player I can be. I learned a lot of things last year. You've really got to be a professional in this league."

In January, Burton was accused of assaulting a woman, although no charges were filed against him. During his college career at Alabama, there was an allegation that Burton struck a female Tennessee fan during the aftermath of the Volunteers' upset win over the Crimson Tide. 

There were also issues regarding Burton's ability to be a dependable teammate. Cincinnati benched him for the team's midseason win over the Raiders during his rookie season after missing practice time. Ahead of the team's season-finale against the Steelers, it was announced that Burton wouldn't travel to Pittsburgh with the rest of his teammates due to a coach's decision. 

One of Burton's college coaches, Nick Saban, delivered some telling comments shortly after Cincinnati drafted Burton with the 80th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. 

"Jermaine Burton is a tremendous competitor," said Saban, who was working the draft as an analyst. "He's got great quickness. He's got really good speed. He can come in and out of a break, he can come man-to-man. I really, really like this guy. 

"The No. 1 thing that he needs to do and I think emotional maturity is the best way to say it. Do the right things all the time. If he does the right things on the field, he knows the importance of what he has to do on the field, he wants to be a player, that's all he thinks about. But you got to do the right things in your life all the time so that you can do the best things that you can do on the field and be the best you can be."

That never appeared to happen in Cincinnati for Burton, who will now begin the process of finding his next opportunity.