Cincinnati Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin turned some heads at the NFL combine Tuesday with his comments on free agency.
Now a closer look at the inner-workings of the franchise paint the team’s plans for free agency in a good light.
According to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com, the team is simply far ahead of where it was one season ago:
“The club’s internal landscape on free agency is vastly different than a year ago at this time, when new head coach Zac Taylor was still completing his defensive staff as the combine got underway. This time around his coaches arrived here with lists of free agents they’ve been studying already for a few weeks from the research organized by director of pro scouting Steven Radicevic.”
Makes sense — Zac Taylor was having problems filling out his staff last year, let alone juggling free-agency ideas while also tackling his first NFL combine.
This year? Little has changed along the coaching staff and the team is way ahead in prepping for free agency.
While this doesn’t guarantee the Bengals make a big splash or even spend more than usual, it does probably mean less of a reliance on free agents the coaching staff has prior experience with — think last year with John Jerry, B.W. Webb and Kerry Wynn.
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