Jermaine Burton will get another shot in the NFL, with Jordan Schultz reporting April 26 that the 24-year-old receiver will take part in the Buffalo Bills’ rookie minicamp. The move comes after the Cincinnati Bengals cut Burton following two seasons, ending a run that began when the team used a third-round pick on him in 2024.
Burton’s time in Cincinnati was shadowed by off-field problems. A police incident report obtained by in January 2025 alleged that he choked and hit his ex-girlfriend during a domestic dispute, and his previous landlord also filed an eviction notice and a civil lawsuit over nonpayment. Before the Bengals drafted him, there were already concerns about his conduct, including a 2022 social media video that appeared to show him hitting a woman in the head as she ran onto the field after Tennessee’s win over Alabama.
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said in 2024 the team talked with Burton about that incident and did its own digging before making the pick. He said the club discussed the episode with him “just to hear what he had to say about it” and added that it had researched the incidents he had been part of, because Cincinnati knew what it was taking on. Taylor also said he has taken chances on players with red flags before, but added that this was one he felt good about at the time.
The story does not end with Burton alone. Cincinnati’s latest draft class included another receiver with a complicated path, former Georgia wideout Colbie Young, who the Bengals took at the end of the fourth round in the 2026 NFL Draft. Young missed parts of the last two seasons because of a fractured leg and a suspension after being charged with battery and assault on an unborn child, charges that were later dropped.
Taylor said April 25 he felt great about taking a chance on Young, and Young said the Bengals were getting someone who is not really portrayed on social media. He called the pick a chance worth honoring, saying there was nothing but love and respect for Cincinnati. For the Bengals, the two moves underline the same uncomfortable truth: the team is still willing to bet on talent even when the backstory is already in the building.
