Irv Smith Jr. had the opportunity to rejoin former Alabama teammate Tua Tagovailoa in the NFL this offseason. Instead, the tight end decided to join another quarterback – former SEC rival Joe Burrow.

Smith is joining the Cincinnati Bengals as an unrestricted free agent after four seasons with the Minnesota Vikings. Smith told Geoff Hobson of the Bengals’ official website that his choice came down to Cincinnati and the Miami Dolphins, who have Tagovailoa as their quarterback.

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“I felt like Cincinnati had the best chance to win a Super Bowl,” Smith said. “It’s a great organization. Great coaching staff. (Head coach) Zac Taylor was very adamant about me coming to the team, knowing what I can do to help the offense. And the proof is in the pudding at the tight-end position. Having a relationship with (wide receiver) Ja’Marr (Chase), getting to play with Joe Burrow and those guys speaks for itself.

“I’ve watched a lot of Bengals games over the years. I wanted to be a part of this opportunity to chase a ring and be a part of something special.”

The No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Burrow missed the final six games of his rookie season because of a knee injury. In Burrow’s second season, Cincinnati lost to the Los Angeles Rams 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI. In 2022, the Bengals’ season ended with a 23-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game.

“I feel like I’m almost the missing piece to get us that Super Bowl,” Smith said.

Smith and Tagovailoa were Alabama teammates in 2017 and 2018, and Miami wide receiver Jaylen Waddle also was a member of the 2018 Crimson Tide team.

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Burrow had one season as LSU’s quarterback while Smith played at Alabama. Smith knows Chase better as former rivals in the New Orleans Catholic League, but the tight end said he talked to his new QB after agreeing to come to Cincinnati.

“Once he got into the NFL, he’s been outstanding,” Smith said of Burrow. “The type of person, type of leader he is. I don’t know Joe personally. I talked to him on the phone a little bit, but I feel like I already know him just watching him from afar. He told me he was fired up to have me out there and how much I’ll love the culture.”

The three tight ends on the Bengals’ roster before the addition of Smith caught 12 passes in 2022. Smith had 25 receptions for 182 yards and two touchdowns in eight regular-season games in 2022 as he came back from a meniscus injury that caused him to miss the entire 2021 campaign.

Smith joined Minnesota in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft and caught 66 passes for 676 yards and seven touchdowns in his first two seasons while forming a tight-end tandem with Kyle Rudolph.

“I think he’s great with the football in his hand,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said about Smith on Tuesday while attending the NFL’s annual meeting in Phoenix. “We found ways, either screens or on some of the keeper game, movement game, we found ways to get him the ball. Once he has the ball in the open field, he’s very rarely going to get tackled by the first defender.”

Last year, Smith suffered a thumb injury at training camp on Aug. 1 and had surgery the next day. He returned to practice on Aug. 22. Smith sustained an ankle injury in a 34-26 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 30 and missed the next nine games. Smith returned for the regular-season finale, then played in the Vikings’ 31-24 loss to the New York Giants in the first round of the postseason.

“I thought he was having a great training camp and had a little bit of a finger injury that happened,” O’Connell said. “It didn’t slow him down by any stretch because he was still out there working, but just getting acclimated in our offense. He was having that great training camp, so it was tough to see that. He got off to a good start with us, and then he got dinged up with the ankle during the season. I just loved seeing the way he battled and came back from that to be a part of our team at the end and help us in Week 17 and the playoffs.

“I really enjoyed coaching Irv and wish him nothing but the best, and I think the best thing, just because of where he’s at in his career, I think there’s a lot of really, really good football out in front of Irv, and I know he’s motivated to go do that.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.