Joe Burrow traded the gridiron for the red carpet on Monday, but his mind never really left the game. The Bengals quarterback attended the Met Gala in New York City, where he sat down with Vanity Fair to talk fashion—and football.

Dressed in a sharp Bode suit, Burrow was asked about Cincinnati's aggressive offseason moves, most notably the blockbuster trade for defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. The Bengals have been busy, adding safety Bryan Cook, edge rusher Boye Mafe, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, and safety Kyle Dugger in free agency.

“I’m really excited about the moves we made this offseason,” Burrow said. “We need to get better, so it was exciting to see the initiative from everybody in the organization to realize that we’re in this exciting stage. We’re in our primes playing great football. Finding guys like Dexter and Bryan Cook and [Jacob] Bayer, to, you know, really solidify that defense so the young guys can also kind of rise up. We’re really going to try to achieve what we want to achieve.”

(Quick note: Burrow mentioned backup offensive lineman Jacob Bayer, but given the context, he likely meant one of the new defensive stars—a small slip on a night full of glamour.)

This upbeat energy marks a sharp contrast from the deflated tone Burrow carried through some late-season press conferences last year. If that optimism carries into training camp, it could signal that Cincinnati's roster overhaul is exactly what the doctor ordered for a team hungry to take the next step.