The Bengals have plunged into an ignominious place, being set to miss three straight playoff brackets in Joe Burrow‘s 20s. The team’s status received additional scrutiny after some puzzling comments from the superstar quarterback last week. Although Burrow attempted to clarify the disillusionment he expressed was not directed at the Bengals, antennae around the NFL sprang up after the press conference.
Sitting 4-10, the Bengals have regressed considerably from a 2024 season that featured a woeful defense deny Burrow playoff access after an MVP-caliber season. Cincinnati’s defense has dipped from 2024, as Trey Hendrickson has missed much of this season with a hip injury. For most franchises, a housecleaning would be considered. But the Bengals do not operate like most clubs.
While rumblings about de facto GM Duke Tobin‘s job security emerged midway through this season, The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. counters by noting the executive VP is not going anywhere. The Bengals view Tobin “like family,” per Dehner.
Tobin, 55, has been with the Bengals since 1999. The team did not win a playoff game for 20-plus years into Tobin’s stay with the team. In most cases, the person in the GM seat would have been fired long ago. But the Bengals have kept Tobin around; success during the Burrow era followed, but the team is certainly in a rut.
Hired in 2019, Taylor will end this season 2-for-7 in playoff qualification. Burrow injuries have defined much of Taylor’s tenure, however, and the team made back-to-back AFC championship game berths for the first time in franchise history on the current HC’s watch. This included a narrow Super Bowl LVI defeat. Since the Bengals’ 2022 AFC title game loss to the Chiefs, they are 22-26. Like Tobin, however, Taylor should be viewed as likely to remain in his post beyond this season, per Dehner.
Taylor’s extension carries two more years, as Dehner adds the contract runs through the 2027 season instead of 2026. The sides agreed on a five-year extension in 2022, but Dehner notes the parties huddled up again on an amended deal following the 2022 slate; this tacked on a year to the previous agreement. That additional bump could prove to be significant regarding Taylor’s future.
When the Bengals last made a coaching change, Marvin Lewis coached a lame-duck season. This left no guaranteed money for the longtime HC, giving the Bengals a clean out after the 2018 season. Most teams do not proceed this way, but the Bengals certainly have a reputation for thriftiness under Brown. Firing Taylor with two seasons left on his deal would be out of character, though it would stand to reason the HC’s seat would be reasonably warm come 2026.
Burrow lobbied aggressively for the Bengals to retain Tee Higgins and then stumped for a Hendrickson payday. Hendrickson is on track for free agency, seeing his extension push fail when the Bengals refused to include guaranteed salary beyond Year 1 of a new deal. His raise has led to a seven-game season; the Pro Bowl pass rusher is now on season-ending IR. Higgins has played well when healthy, though he has sustained two concussions this season. It will be interesting to see if Burrow pushes for any additional moves, as many roster updates will be required after this wildly disappointing season.
Additionally, Dehner notes DC Al Golden is more likely to stay than go in 2026. Although DVOA had Golden’s defense ranked as the worst in NFL history through 10 weeks, the Bengals have shown some improvement recently.
The team ranked last in EPA per drive and points allowed per drive before its bye week; it is now 23rd and 19th in those categories, respectively, since. Those are not exactly impressive statistics, but the Bengals have employed Golden on multiple occasions. The former Notre Dame staffer is likely to be given a chance to repair the unit in 2026.
A stay-the-course path certainly will be risky for the Bengals, who have seen some prime Burrow years squandered due to injuries, poor defensive performance and slow starts. It will be interesting to see if any real chatter about Burrow visiting the Carson Palmer playbook surfaces. For the time being, the high-end QB is not taking any aggressive tactics with regard to his Cincinnati status. He will also keep playing despite Cincy’s playoff elimination, even as yet another season of his became defined by injury (this one turf toe). But plenty of heat will be on the Bengals’ top decision-makers coming out of this double-digit loss season.