Joe Burrow Reveals LSU's Stance on No. 9 Jersey Amid Jayden Daniels, DJ Pickett Uniform Drama

Amid the ongoing situation at LSU over DJ Pickett's use of the No. 5 jersey and its connection to Jayden Daniels, another former Tigers legend spoke about his jersey potentially being brought back into circulation.

Speaking to reporters after the Cincinnati Bengals' preseason game on Thursday night, Joe Burrow explained LSU officials told him they "wouldn't use" the No. 9 jersey again, but "you never know what happens" as time passes.

Pickett, who appeared in 13 games as a freshman, wore jersey No. 3 last season. He is switching to No. 5 for his sophomore campaign.

The number was famously worn by Daniels during his two seasons at LSU from 2022 to '23. No one has used the jersey number for the Tigers since he left.

On Thursday, a representative for Daniels sent a cease-and-desist letter to LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry informing the school it can no longer use Daniels' name, image and likeness.

Daniels posted a statement on social media that said there are "issues to be worked out" between his camp and LSU, but his "hope" is it can be resolved privately.

Pickett's father told Koki Riley of The Advocate his son has no plans to switch from the No. 5 despite all of the controversy around the situation.

There was no indication from LSU in the time since Daniels left school that the No. 5 had been retired or wouldn't be put back into circulation at some point.

Per LSU's official jersey retirement bylaws, a specific jersey being retired doesn't take it out of circulation for current student-athletes and the decision to let it be used is "subject to the discretion of the head coach."

The bylaws were established on Jan. 1, 2007, so the five numbers LSU retired in various sports prior to that remain ineligible to be used by anyone. Those retired jerseys belong to Pete Maravich (No. 23), Bob Pettit (No. 50), Shaquille O'Neal (No. 33), Billy Cannon (No. 20) and Skip Bertman (No. 15).

Burrow's number being taken out of use stems from him winning the Heisman and leading one of the best teams in the history of college football in 2019. LSU went 15-0 and set an FBS single-season record with 726 points scored.