NFL Insider Praises Bengals Head Coach Zac Taylor for Delaying Start of Offseason Program

Cincinnati won't start practice until May 2.

CINCINNATI — The Bengals' offseason program won't start until May 2. That's at least two weeks later than the other 31 NFL teams. 

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer praised Zac Taylor for delaying the start of offseason work at Paul Brown Stadium. 

"Overall, I think it’s a really solid idea by Taylor going into his fourth season, and, just logically, it’s not like getting a little less time with the players last spring did a ton of damage to his team in 2021," Breer wrote on Monday. "Credit to the Bengals staff on this, it’s an acknowledgment of what the team just fought through. Cincinnati (along with the Rams) just finished a 21-game season (including playoffs), which is a longer season than any team in NFL history has played. In fact, even a 20-game season was relatively rare in past years. So Taylor made the decision to take his foot off the pedal with his players—allowing them to do their work on their own through the month of April, in an effort to make sure they’re locked in and ready to go when they report next month—which also serves affirmation of his trust in the culture those players have built in the locker room. And Taylor also wanted to give his coaches a chance to be laser-focused on the draft the next three weeks. As we wrote back in February, the Bengals’ coaches are always involved this time of year with the team’s lean scouting staff setting up for the draft. This should allow for their work to be even more thorough in building what should be an important draft class for the team, when you consider how the big contracts that’ll come down the pike for the young core soon will make younger (and cheaper) talent on the roster more important."

Breer's right about the Bengals' 2022 draft class. They need to continue to add young talent in key areas with Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins, Logan Wilson and others set to become extension eligible next offseason. 

The culture part of it is important too. If Taylor didn't trust the team to get the required work in on their own, then he probably wouldn't be willing to give them another few weeks away from the stadium. 

This bodes well for morale coming off of their run to Super Bowl LVI. 

Read Breer's entire column here. For more on the Bengals, watch the video below and subscribe on YouTube. 

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