Joe Burrow’s performance in the national title game seemed like just another step toward his joining the Cincinnati Bengals via the first pick in the 2020 NFL draft.

And awaiting him might be star wideout A.J. Green.

Green missed all of this year and is scheduled to be a free agent. He’s been brutally honest about the predicament, suggesting he wouldn’t be a fan of the franchise tag and that the open market would see plenty of teams willing to pay up.

He’s not wrong. But if Monday night’s LSU and Burrow triumph was anything besides an affirmation the Heisman winner is the pick, it’s this:

Burrow’s deep accuracy is off the charts. So is his ability to drop a pass in a bucket over a defender’s head right where his target needs it. Really, it’s uncanny and part of what makes him probably the best quarterback prospect to enter since Andrew Luck.

We’ve gone over and over about why the Bengals must extend A.J. Green. And paying up for the chance at having a top-15 wideout around to help Burrow is a big part of it. It’s a big-money risk for the organization, but if the front office wasn’t going to spend the cash on anything else anyway, who cares? And there’s nothing more important than making sure a rookie passer succeeds.

Regardless of one’s feelings toward Andy Dalton, fans haven’t seen him hit Green in stride down the field often. But that’s a strong suit of Burrow’s game and it’d be fun to see — especially on the same field as Tyler Boyd, John Ross, Tyler Eifert and Joe Mixon.