It’s often hard to tell what’s real and what’s manufactured these days when it comes to speculation regarding the NFL Draft but one growing storyline heading into the 2020 NFL Draft is Joe Burrow’s willingness to play for the Cincinnati Bengals, the team that currently owns the No. 1 selection in the draft.

While neither Burrow nor his representatives have yet to come out and expressed their feelings on the Heisman Trophy winner being selected by the Bengals, they have not put an end to any speculation that forcing a trade is out of the question, either.

Burrow has indicated he would be thankful to go No. 1 overall, but he has not specifically noted if that means playing for the Bengals or not. In a recent interview with Drew Davidson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Burrow offered up his feelings that he does, in fact, have leverage when it comes to where he plays in the NFL.

“I do have leverage,” Burrow said. “They have their process and I have my process. We haven’t even gotten to the combine yet. There’s a lot of things that happen leading up to the draft and a lot of information gathered.

“Right now, I’m focused on being the best football player I can be. I’m in this unique spot. You can go watch my film. I don’t have to prove myself at pro day and at the combine, so I’m in a unique spot where I can focus on getting ready for the year.”

Following that comment, former NFL executive Mike Tannenbaum did his best to downplay Burrow’s comments during a recent appearance on ESPN show, “Get Up.”

“He has zero leverage. This hasn’t happened since 2004 when Eli Manning orchestrated a trade from the Chargers to the Giants. He has zero, zero, zero leverage,” Tannenbaum said of Burrow.

The way Tannenbaum sees it, if the Bengals want Burrow they will take him and hold his rights for long enough to make the former LSU signal-caller happy.

“When you draft a player, you have his rights for five years so you have plenty of time (to make Burrow happy),” Tannenbaum continued. “It’s not like a free agency situation and if you think he’s the best player and he’s the best fit, you take him. As an organization, you work really hard to win him over, day-by-day. I know it’s not the ideal situation but if you believe Joe Burrow is the best player, you take him and you work on it.”