"I feel like Joe's the best quarterback in football right now and best player in football," Orlando Brown Jr. said. Brown was in Baltimore when Lamar Jackson won MVP. He was in Kansas City when Patrick Mahomes won MVP. He knows what it looks like.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has had an excellent season, leading the league in a number of statistical categories. But even he knows that his excellent play isn’t quite enough to be named the MVP of the league this time around.

In this case, it came on New Year’s Eve at his weekly news conference, offering a resolution for an ownership group that has allowed stars Jessie Bates, DJ Reader and others to leave in recent seasons while facing another round of negotiations with star receivers Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase this offseason.

As the Cincinnati Bengals prepare for Saturday's regular-season finale against the Pittsburgh Steelers, quarterback Joe Burrow spoke Tuesday about his hopes that the franchise can secure new contracts for star wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

Cincinnati’s coach would like to keep his offensive stars together. Plus, more on Ladd McConkey, Cam Ward and Carson Wentz in Albert Breer’s Tuesday notes.