Doesn't take a football guru to know that the Cincinnati Bengals are a borderline joke at talent evaluation. Their drafting over the last half-decade or so is among the worst in the NFL.
Rather than fixing the problem by investing far more in the scouting department, or firing too-longstanding pseudo-GM Duke Tobin, Mike Brown and family are content to roll out an unacceptable product despite being gifted Joe Burrow as a franchise quarterback.
One of the recent top-flight draft picks the Bengals made is due to be a free agent, and unfortunately, the situation around him just got a whole lot more complicated after Week 11.
Cam Taylor-Britt's season-ending injury complicates Bengals' outlook for thin position group
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor announced, per NFL Media's Mike Garafolo, that embattled cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt will likely need surgery on his Lisfranc foot injury.
That will end Taylor-Britt's 2025 campaign and, in all likelihood, his time in Cincinnati. Quite an unceremonious way to go out for the 2022 second-round pick, who looked like a legitimate hit as a rookie as part of that team that ran to the AFC Championship Game, only to regress horribly thereafter.
What makes CTB's situation more complicated was his most recent trajectory, though. He's been benched multiple times over the last two seasons, yet it looked like the light bulb came on for him to some degree once he reentered the starting lineup.
The problem here is that the Bengals tend to love their guys, especially those they draft. They will stick with them beyond any reasonable timeline.
Just look at the defensive end group featuring 2023 first-rounder Myles Murphy, 2021 third-rounder Joseph Ossai, and Ossai's fourth-round classmate Cam Sample. None of them are good enough. Cincinnati refuses to let any of them go. Just look at the Bengals' draft history sometime. It's awful.
We could see the same hold true for Taylor-Britt. Talking from a pure business standpoint, the foot injury will diminish CTB's value in free agency. The Bengals will be strongly inclined to offer him a short-term, cost-effective deal to have him start again in 2026.
Sure, they could shell out for another pending free agent who's superior like Kansas City's Jaylen Watson, or Seattle's Riq Woolen to name just a couple. Chances are, knowing Cincinnati's history, Taylor-Britt may not be finished in the orange and black stripes just yet.
The Bengals ran it back with Ossai this season to the tune of $6.5 million. He's a nothing-burger starter. I know I just talked about Taylor-Britt's better trajectory of late, but don't be shocked when that exact same thing happens to the cornerback room in 2026. DJ Turner is the clear CB1, but like Trey Hendrickson at defensive end, he won't have a quality starter opposite him if CTB stays put.
That is, unless Cincinnati acquires a new nickelback and moves Dax Hill back to the boundary. Wouldn't hold my breath on that, though, because that'd make too much sense!