INDIANAPOLIS — The Bengals insist they’re all in heading into the most critical offseason of the Joe Burrow era.
But will that mean being super aggressive in free agency? Will that mean handling the draft and moving up from No. 10 to target their impact player or down to stockpile picks for a defense in desperate need of overhaul? Will they tag-and-trade Trey Hendrickson? Will they restructure Joe Burrow’s contract like the Chiefs did with Patrick Mahomes to free up cap space to be more aggressive in signing free agents? Will they extend Dax Hill, DJ Turner and even Chase Brown? Will they re-sign offensive guard Dalton Risner?
All of those questions came up Tuesday at the Indianapolis Convention Center on the eve of the 2026 NFL Combine.
This Bengals offseason could go in a number of different directions but here are the highlights of what Duke Tobin, Bengals director of player personnel had to say when asked about a number of them:
“I’m not going to talk about how we’re going to deploy our resources and and what our intention is with the the tag. I’m not going to close any doors on any player that we’ve had or any of our free agents up here today. I’m just not going to do that. Trey’s been a great player for us. He didn’t have the year he wanted this year. We didn’t have the year we wanted this year. Those are factors and we’ll see where we go from there. But in terms of how we’re gonna deploy the tag, if we are going to, that’s not something I’m gonna talk about here.” (Deadline for tagging is Mar. 3 at 4 p.m. ET).
“We look at all areas to increase our competitiveness if we have to. Cap dollars have to be counted, so if we can accomplish what we want to accomplish without pushing things into future problems, we’ll do that. If we need that, we’ll consider that as well. Like I said, we’re open to doing anything we need to do to improve our team where we’re satisfied we’re gonna win a championship. That’s our mindset, and that’s the way we’re going into the offseason. But we have resources right now, and we’ll see what we can get done.”
“I’ve been doing this a long time. I’ve never not been all in. We are all in. We are trying to get the best team possible with the resources we have. You know, last year we went all in. We signed over $400 million worth of contracts, going all in. That’s what we do. We want to be all in. We’re trying to put the best roster together every year, and this year is no different.”
“With Dalton Risner, he came in late to the process and really fit in. I thought it ended up being a great fit for him in how we play, and he became a great fit for us and came in and filled the need for us. Did a nice job, fit in well, got a ton of respect for him, really enjoyed getting to know him. He’s really a fantastic person just to be around in the locker room on a day-to-day basis. And he’s a guy that we’ve talked to, and we’ll see if we can get something done. He’s got decisions to make, and we’ve got decisions to make, and he’s a guy that we like a lot.”
“We’re always looking if there’s an opportunity that we feel warrants it. You have to give up things, and when you take a big swing, there’s a big chance you miss. And it can stay with you for a long time and keep you in the dugout, if we’re staying with baseball. We don’t want to stay in the dugout. That’s not a place we want to be.”
“Are we going to let free agency affect our draft? If the best player available is what we’ve done, we’ll probably still do it. If there’s a sizable difference, you know, we’re not going to turn down a good player.”
“I think that it can play better. I think those guys can continue to improve. I think some of them have the talent it takes to be effective players in this league. I think the unit as a whole, you know, didn’t play well as a group as it should have, as it could, but I think that’s on those guys to take the teaching. We’re doing things differently there, and I think that they’re growing into those roles. I have a lot of regard for all of those guys, and I think they have roles going forward for us. I envision roles going forward, or they still wouldn’t be here. So I haven’t given up on any of them. I see talent in them.”
“You don’t get to take a big swing for free. Big swings take big compensation. I would probably argue that one of the best trades in the league this year was us bringing Joe Flacco to us, because it re-energized us and it gave us a chance. So when things present themselves like that, we will take advantage of it. But it’s got to be worth it.”
“You’re giving up something. You’re giving up your second-round pick or your third-round pick. And we have hopes for those players, as well. And this draft really offers guys in those areas in the way that we analyze it and the way that we look at it. It might not be a super top-heavy draft. But there’s a lot of guys that we can envision elevating our football team. You have to be willing to give those up. Do we have the conversations? Sure. We have them.”
“It’s the who, the what, the fit, how they’re playing, what they’re asked to do, all those kinds of things have to come together and fit together. And sometimes they might have had more success doing something different. I’m not going to say that anybody was the cause of our defensive fall this year. I’m not going to call out any of our players on that. The group has to play better as a whole. What we like in safeties is what everyone likes in safeties. You want guys who are instinctive, that see the big picture. They have to have speed to cover. If they can cover in man, that really opens up a lot of opportunities for you. They have to be willing to tackle in the box. They have to be a good open-field tackler. The more space you create with those guys, the tougher the tackles get. And there are no safeties in the NFL that don’t miss tackles. You just want to limit those exposures to where they have the big to gap to make up. But space causes missed tackles more than anything. So spacing is important. That plays into some of the instincts and so forth that we really want to see in that position group. But those really factor in every position on defense. Defense is reacting to what the offense does. They don’t get to dictate all the time. And they’ve gotta see it, react to it and play fast. The more comfortable they are in what they’re doing and the more time on task they have, the faster that they can play and we saw that in some of our young guys this year. The more comfortable they got with their role, they sped up and they saw it quicker. And so I’ve got hopes for a lot of guys that are on our team right now, too.”
“He’s got a lot of traits you look for in the position. And I feel like Jordan is a guy that’s developing a leadership role on our team, which you have to have in the back end there. I think he can factor in the box, and he can factor in deep zones as well. So those are things that we’re very positive about it. I think he’s feeling pretty comfortable in what we’re doing. His communication has really grown. He was a good communicator at Alabama. You don’t play DB for (Nick) Saban, and not be able to communicate and think and those are things that he’s starting to feel in the NFL, and he was a big part of what Alabama did in the communication aspect and so forth. So I see that growing in him as well. But I think he’s scratching the surface of what he can be. And think we put a good group around him. I think he can help direct it.”
The last two answers offer insight into where the Bengals would like to focus their work this offseason. They know they have to find the right fit to complement Jordan Battle, whom they are still very much vested in and believe can help them on a winning, restructured defense. Obviously, if Caleb Downs from Ohio State is there, that’s a possibility. But so too, is linebacker Sonny Styles, another Buckeye who could come in and immediately help with a multitude of skills and a versatility that could be impactful all along the first two levels of the defense. Tobin wasn’t about to let on his hand into who might be on their radar or on a short list.
