CINCINNATI — If there’s one thing that Joe Burrow has proved in six years with the Cincinnati Bengals, it’s that he is the transformational player that was promised.
Following his selection with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Burrow has instilled a yearly sense of hope that the team can compete for championships. In turn, the front office and coach Zac Taylor have aligned the organization to support him.
But this year’s roster acquisition period, which starts next week when free agency begins, will be an important measuring stick for a franchise that needs to be a winner again.
As the Bengals careened to their third straight season without a playoff berth, Burrow said that something needed to change.
In theme with the rest of Cincinnati’s offseason, Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin gave no indication that any major shifts were coming. Instead, Cincinnati is banking on continuity, even in their processes, on being enough to end the franchise’s postseason drought.
And according to Tobin, the two have been in communication regarding the team’s plan.
“When I talk to him, he has thoughts,” Tobin told local reporters at the NFL combine in February. “And that’s good. Sometimes I give him things to think about and at least give him an awareness of what we’re thinking about.
“I want him to feel good about at least the reasons why. But I don’t think he’s overly focused on how we’re going about it.”
That might be true. But there is some concern from Cincinnati’s star quarterback. After reaching the Super Bowl in the 2021 season and a return trip to the AFC Championship Game in 2022, Cincinnati has struggled. Some of that can be attributed to Burrow’s injuries in 2023 (torn wrist ligament) and 2025 (turf toe).
But it’s not that simple. Cincinnati hasn’t found the right pieces to build around the high-powered passing attack that features Burrow and star receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, who earned massive contract extensions after Burrow publicly made his case to sign them to long-term deals.
Burrow’s comments about an improved approach were a notable response to a question about making the necessary moves for the franchise to be a contender again.
“We want to be competing for championships every year,” Burrow said on Dec. 31. “We don’t want to be in the spot that we’re in now.
“So something’s got to change, whether it’s players that we have continuing to improve and get better in playing championship-caliber football or bringing guys in that will or whatever it may be.”
Throughout the offseason, Tobin has been consistent that things such as meeting times might change. A wholesale overhaul of any processes was not mentioned. But there have been notable shifts. Cincinnati added Trey LaBounty to its data science team that is spearheaded by Sam Francis and Tyler Gross.
“They’ve elevated it to another level that gives us all the resources we want when our scout is looking at the guy, needs the comparisons, needs the background on the guy, needs everything to evaluate the guy correctly,” Tobin said. “I’ve been very pleased with the new additions that we’ve had.”
But just how good those processes are will be measured over the next few weeks. And the Bengals aren’t the only team in the AFC looking to find their way back to the top. The Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Ravens are also trying to regain conference supremacy. Two of those teams have fired coaches to accomplish that task.
The way Cincinnati spends compared to those teams could be worth noting. Since 2023, when Burrow signed his $275 million contract extension, the Bengals are third among that quartet in total guaranteed money given to current players ($363 million) and last in that group in guaranteed money given to external players ($117 million), according to data available from OverTheCap.com.
Cincinnati feels it has a good plan to attack the most important offseason since Burrow arrived in 2020. What happens over the next two months will chart the course for the franchise for 2026 and beyond.
