Joe Burrow has returned from his offseason travels talking about the special something crackling through Paycor Stadium this spring. Back home in Ohio Monday, the presence of his boyhood hero and fellow Buckeye Kid Cudi cranked a big-time offseason even higher.

The Kid is a Bengal even though he was born in Cleveland 42 years ago. On Monday, he wore a Bengals jersey with that '84 birth year and discovered there were two people at the practice field who attended Shaker Heights High School. The Kid and Bengals president Mike Brown.

"That's dope," said Scott Mescudi.

Mescudi, a towering figure of versatility in the music industry, kept it in Ohio over the weekend on his Rebel Ragers Tour at Riverbend. He caught up with Burrow Monday because they always do.

"It's always fun to see him. He meant a lot to me when I was a kid," said Burrow, finally used to the idea he's friends with one of his idols and texts with him regularly. "It was certainly a shock at the beginning. Now it's just life."

Life is good for Burrow these days. He's able to merge an L.A. offseason and a Met Gala appearance with trips home to Athens, as he did this past weekend.

"I love Ohio," he'll tell you, and Monday was definitely an ode to his roots. Participating in a social media exercise, Burrow stayed with "Mr. Rager," for his favorite Kid Cudi song. From Mescudi's 2010 Man on the Moon II album, Burrow has had that in his pre-game ears since he was hoping to play some cornerback for the Athens varsity.

"He's always been a supporter of mine for a while. I remember when he was in the draft. Remember?" The Kid asked Dennis Cummings, his manager. "And I gave him a little shoutout. So exciting."

Six years later, it still is in this part of Ohio. Burrow is pumped about what the Bengals did to their defense over the offseason and what it means for head coach Zac Taylor’s eighth season.

"They're going to keep getting great players to come play for the Bengals, and when they do that, then it's my job and Zac's job and the leaders of this team to bring the locker room together and then go execute on the field," Burrow said. "We have everything we need.

"We made a big trade for a big-time player. Signed a free agent top safety on the market, And, other additions. We'll see how the rookies end up … But first impressions, we've got guys that care about the game, care about their job, and want to be great. When you have young guys like that and veterans like we do, it's a recipe for success."

Burrow is particularly bullish about the new veterans. He says the impact of guys like defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II, the big-time player in that big trade, and Bryan Cook, that top free-agent safety, as well as vet inside pass rusher Jonathan Allen, is already being felt.

"You can feel the vibe and the leadership has changed in the locker room a little bit," Burrow said. "It's exciting for everyone.

"B. Cook, in the limited time he's been here, you can feel his presence early. Dexter, too. A lot of guys on the D-Line now. You have Jonathan Allen. Myles (Murphy) is walking around with a little more pep in his step this year. That's exciting to see. I think he grew in confidence from the last five, six games. We need to carry that over, and I'm excited to see that."

Burrow also thinks that experience might be a key to getting off to that elusive fast start. A start that begins with seven straight 1 p.m. games, a first in the seven seasons of the Burrow Era.

"That's good. When we go on the road, we get back home early and watch more football," Burrow said. "It's always beneficial to watch more games. See how teams are playing and what teams are doing. See what defenses are doing.

"We'll try to get flexed a couple of times into the sweet spot later in the season. Everybody feels like this is going to be an exciting season for us, so now we put in the work over the next several months to put the pieces in place to get to where we want."

Burrow sounds like he senses another run to the elite. He lobbied for an overseas game, so when it came Nov. 8 in Madrid against the Falcons, he thought it made perfect sense.

"We're a marketable team. You would want us to go overseas and try to grow the game," Burrow said. "We're an exciting team to watch. We've got big names. We're going to be really good this year."

A bye would have been nice after Spain, rather than a Sunday night game at Paycor against the Steelers ("That's going to be tough"), and an early bye on Oct. 18 is going to be challenging, he says, with 12 straight games to finish the season. Although he seems to recall in 2022 that the Bengals won nine straight after the bye.

"Week Six, you're into the flow of the season, and you're geared up and still ready to go," Burow said.

"You probably won't be ready for it physically and mentally. We've to figure out a way to take advantage of it … it's something we've done before."

Going to the Super Bowl is something they've done, too. Kid Cudi was there at that one in SoFi and then performed at the afterparty trying to make everyone feel better.

"That's what I do," The Kid said as he watched his buddy Burrow working on another script for Ohio.