CINCINNATI — The Bengals struggled in 2025, finishing 6-11 and missing the playoffs for a third-straight year.

Their struggles led to Bengals Director of Player Personnel meeting with the media for 63 minutes and 18 seconds on Friday afternoon. Here are three takeaways from the long, but necessary media session:

Operating in Reality

Tobin spoke for over four minutes before fielding any questions. Then he sat there and answered every question he was asked. From Joe Burrow’s happiness, to the size of the scouting department and their lack of free agent additions last offseason—Tobin answered every question.

Why?

The organization is well aware of where they are. They know the fan base is frustrated. They also know they have to fix things—this offseason.

“This season is not what we expect, certainly not what we will accept, and everybody here knows that. It was frustrating, it was challenging, it was disappointing for all of us, but more importantly, it was all those things for our fans,” Tobin said. “We feel that. That weighs on us. It hurts us because we know they have high expectations for us. We embrace those high expectations. Believe me, we have high expectations for this football team as well. We didn’t meet those expectations.”

The Bengals know they have to improve. They also know that improvement has to come this offseason in free agency.

Contract Structure

Are the Bengals willing to tweak the way they structure their contracts to add more talent and stay under the salary cap? Will they change the way their approach to guaranteed money?

“I think the organization is willing to do anything it takes to win. I’ve been here long enough to know that,” Tobin said when asked about contract structure. “If that wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t say it. The organization wants to win. Mr. Brown wants to win. Katie, Troy, Elizabeth, Caroline, Paul — they want to win. That’s what they want. They’re willing to do whatever it takes.”

So they’ll give guaranteed money to external free agents beyond the first year?

“Just depends on the player,” Tobin said. “It depends on the player, and what’s required. We’ll do what’s required if we have to secure a player that we think can help us win.”

Contract structure is the biggest thing that the Bengals need to change moving forward. If they change the way they operate, they’ll be able to land game-changing free agents. They’ll be able to add key pieces and also retain the building blocks that give them a chance to win championships.

Tobin didn’t make it clear that they would change their approach, but guaranteed money is a big reason why Jessie Bates is no longer in town. It’s kept them from landing key veterans in the past. That has to change—especially with the same front office and coaching staff returning in 2026.

No Major Changes

Tobin doesn’t plan on adding to their scouting staff. The Bengals are hoping to retain their entire coaching staff.

There was some speculation that Friday’s press conference could’ve been a sign of structural changes within the organization, but that isn’t the case.

He’s comfortable with the size of the scouting department and made it clear he thinks they just need to make better decisions. That starts with him.

“Our scouting staff is, in my opinion, the size that it is because I think the collaboration is better at that size. We have never lacked for information on a player,” Tobin said. “There’s never been a player selected that we didn’t know anything about. There’s never been a player selected that we didn’t have multiple reports and a large background on. It’s not about the volume of information we have. If we make a mistake, it’s because at the decision point, we made the wrong decision. But it wasn’t because we didn’t have information on the player. We have information, and we have plenty of opinion on the player. We’ve made a lot of good picks. I get that people don’t believe we’ve made any good picks. We’ve made a lot of good picks on our current roster, on past rosters, and there will be more on future rosters. I really believe that. In terms of our process, every year it changes some. Every year it evolves. We have different data sources, different touch points with the players. We change our meeting styles, we change our medicals. We evolve and change in how we operate; every team does. And we also will evolve and change in how we meet and when we start attacking free agency and when we start really making the plan for the offseason.”

Championship Window

The Bengals haven’t made the playoffs in three seasons. It feels like they’re wasting Burrow’s prime years. The same thing goes for Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

Does Tobin feel that way?

“Well, it’s the Bengals, and when we don’t win a championship, that’s the only thing that I’m after is a championship. It’s not any individual in this building’s championship. It’s the Cincinnati Bengals championship,” Tobin said. “And that’s really the only definition of success that I have. I don’t have a definition of success of making the playoffs or doing X, Y, or Z. It’s the team that has the positive feeling at the end of the season. That’s the only thing that I’m chasing. That’s what we want. We want it for all of our players. We want it for all of our staff. We have set our team up for Joe in a way that we feel is pretty darn good, and there are resources on the team that we’ve expended on that. So when you spend 60% or 65% or whatever it is on offense of your cap, it’s going to affect the other parts of your team. We know that we have to find solutions that fit into that that then produce on the other side of the ball. And we will, we will. We’re positive about that.”

Bottom Line: Tobin knows they need more talent, especially on defense, but the team isn’t going to make any ground sweeping changes to the staff or front office after their performance in 2025. Tobin acknowledged that he feels pressure to win, but stopped short of saying the 2026 season felt like a “make or break” year for him or head coach Zac Taylor.

“There’s no comfort zone here,” he said. “We are giving everything we have to the process. I don’t worry about regimes and all that, but I can tell you that there is a focus and urgency.”

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