Cincinnati Bengals News & Rumors

The Bengals will bring back Zac Taylor. On Monday, team president Mike Brown announced that the head coach will get a third season at the helm.

“Our fans wanted a fresh new direction two years ago, and that is what we aimed to do in hiring a bright, energetic head coach in Zac Taylor,” Brown said in a statement. “We remain bullish on the foundation Zac is building, and we look forward to next year giving our fans the winning results we all want. In Zac’s two years, we have added many new starters and contributors through the draft, we have invested heavily in free agency, and we have acquired a talented young quarterback with a bright future.”

“This season we faced challenges with injuries at key positions and missed opportunities. I am proud of our football team for fighting hard through adversity. That adversity and hard work will help us next season. We’ll enter the offseason looking to shore up our weaknesses and amplify the strengths of our talented young core. We are not discouraged, but instead feel motivated and confident that next year will reap the benefits of the work that has been done to date. We must capitalize on the opportunities in front of us. Next year we will earn our stripes.”

Taylor hasn’t had an easy two years in Cincinnati, but there was some encouraging progress in 2020. Despite closing out the year 4-11-1 with a lopsided loss to the Ravens, rookie Joe Burrow looked sharp before his season-ending injury. It’s also worth noting that they’ve been plagued by injuries across the board. On offense, they lost running back Joe Mixon and left tackle Jonah Williams. And, on the other side of the ball, defensive tackle D.J. Reader and cornerback Trae Waynes finished the year on IR.

The Bengals won’t be seeking a new head coach, but plenty of clubs will be. As of this writing, the vacancy list includes the Lions, Falcons, Texans, Jets, Jaguars, and Chargers.

The Bengals had some momentum with two straight upset victories the past two weeks, and the Ravens promptly vanquished that with a blowout win on Sunday. We had heard a few weeks ago that head coach Zac Taylor was likely to return for a third season, but that’s apparently not set in stone. 

Taylor “may not be as safe as some believe,” Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com writes. Florio adds “there’s a rumor making that rounds that Taylor could be out.” As for what Cincy could be plotting, Florio highlights the potential reunion between Joe Burrow and his college passing guru Joe Brady, who is now the OC in Carolina. Florio think that the Bengals could be spurred to make the plunge if they fear another team will hire Brady this cycle.

Taylor is now 6-25-1 in his first two seasons as coach, and while circumstances obviously haven’t been ideal it’s still hard to defend that record. Cincinnati went after him due to his association with Sean McVay after he spent a couple years on the Rams’ staff as an assistant. The 37-year-old had never been a head coach at any level before getting hired to replace Marvin Lewis.

As Florio points out, one thing working in Taylor’s favor is Bengals brass’ usual conservative nature when it comes to firing coaches. After all, they did keep Lewis around for 16 seasons, and the fact that he’d likely have millions coming his way could be what saves Taylor for another year. If he does stick around, he’ll need a major leap from Burrow and the rest of the team to buy him a fourth season.

Of course, there’s no guarantee Burrow is ready for Week 1 next year after tearing his ACL and damaging other ligaments, so it could be a tough job for whoever is roaming the sidelines in 2021. We should know more about Taylor’s status tomorrow.