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Zac Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals spending huge money in free agency has been a long time coming.
Just ask Taylor.
According to the Bengals head coach himself, the topic of spending in free agency came up during his initial interview with the team before he even got the job.
The Athletic’s Jay Morrison explained:
“On the topic of free agency, where the Bengals spent more than $130 million on eight players, one of the most interesting things Taylor said was that this year’s unprecedented, aggressive approach was something he discussed with Bengals ownership back in January 2019 when he was interviewing for the job.”
That story sure meshes well with what the Bengals have said in the past. Particularly, members of the organization have noted they were much further ahead in the offseason process this year as opposed to last year.
That would explain the difference. Last year, Taylor was late getting to the Bengals and didn’t fully assemble his staff until later than expected. The Bengals then ended up relying on lowly, familiar signings like John Jerry and B.W. Webb.
This offseason? An eruption of $100-plus million on D.J. Reader, Trae Waynes and others.
If nothing else, it’s nice to have this context into the background workings of the team. Taylor has indeed spurred some change, though it took longer than some might’ve expected to see.
When thinking about the uncharacteristic big spending on the open market, be sure to accredit it to Taylor.
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