Shortly after the Cincinnati Bengals missed the playoffs for a third straight season, a report revealed that Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and director of player personnel/de facto general manager Duke Tobin were safe in their jobs.
Both men are still employed by the organization heading into the summer. During a Monday chat with Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic and other reporters, Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn explained why the franchise retained Taylor and Tobin for at least the 2026 season.
Zac Taylor, Duke Tobin deserved another opportunity to lead Bengals to successful campaign
“We think they deserve another opportunity to prove that we can do what we hope we can do,” Blackburn said.
A serious toe issue caused Bengals star quarterback Joe Burrow to miss nine games last season. While Tobin and Co. will understandably spend portions of this fall hoping that Burrow will stay healthy, the Bengals also made numerous moves to improve the team’s defense during the offseason.
Perhaps most notably, Cincinnati acquired defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II from the New York Giants ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft.
“We obviously are hoping to have a successful season this year,” Blackburn continued. “I know (Tobin and Taylor) want to do that as much as I want to do that. I can’t predict anything into the future, but we’re certainly counting on, right now, having a good season and going from there.”
Did Bengals talk to Joe Burrow more than in previous offseasons?
Burrow sparked some concerns among Bengals fans when he mentioned this past December that he needed “to have fun [playing] again.” Some think he could look to join a different team in 2027 if the Bengals once again fall short of qualifying for the playoffs.
According to Ben Baby of ESPN, Blackburn said on Monday that the team didn’t talk to Burrow more than in previous offseasons.
“There were conversations with him, and he’s always pretty easy to talk to,” Blackburn said. “There was no rub. He has good conversations that are, I think, productive. Certainly not edgy in any way, and I would generally say positive.”
A report from late May suggested that Cincinnati “needs to make the postseason” in January 2027 and that “anything shy feels like the restart button gets hit” for the franchise. Whether or not such a reset would involve Burrow making himself available to other clubs is unclear as of the middle of June.