The Cincinnati Bengals held their ground while the rest of the AFC North was in upheaval. The Bengals kept coach Zac Taylor and director of player personnel Duke Tobin despite calls for a franchise reset following a six-win season and third straight campaign missing the playoffs.
Executive vice president Katie Blackburn told several local reporters on Monday that the club opted to allow the brass to right the ship.
"We think they deserve another opportunity to prove that we can do what we hope we can do," Blackburn said, via .
Generally, three straight playoff-less seasons with a player of Joe Burrow's caliber under center lead to change -- heck, Sean McDermott lost his job in Buffalo because he couldn't get over the playoff hump despite seven straight postseason appearances.
Blackburn stopped short of making any ultimatums entering 2026.
"We obviously are hoping to have a successful season this year," Blackburn said. "I know [Taylor and Tobin] 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."
The Bengals have a history of being patient, particularly with their coaching staff. Marvin Lewis, Taylor's predecessor, was given 16 years after digging the Bengals out of the cellar despite never winning a playoff game (0-7). Taylor has two years left on his contract.
"Both Zac and Duke are experienced guys with proven success and really good people," Blackburn said. "We feel good about them for a lot of reasons. I think there's also that element of consistency that hopefully will prove out to be beneficial, too. I think those are the things that we would rather try to take advantage of and build on rather than having to regroup and figure things out a little bit from scratch."
The Bengals have acted as a team that knows it must win now -- highlighted by trading the No. 10 overall pick to New York for veteran Dexter Lawrence. The club hopes the continuity surrounding Burrow & Co. will be to their advantage as the rest of the division breaks in first-year coaches.
