As the Cincinnati Bengals' fanbase knows all too well, owner Mike Brown is notoriously patient when it comes to head coaches. David Shula got 4 unwatchable seasons, Marvin Lewis got 16 years despite never winning a playoff game, and it looks like Zac Taylor will keep manning his post despite a brutal 2025 season.
Taylor's seat is as hot as it has ever been, as a Bengals team that has generally hovered at around .500 in the last few years now finds itself condemned to a season with a losing record after stumbling to a 4-9 start, beset by numerous defensive meltdowns.
While most organizations would take this as a sign that Taylor's message is starting to grow stale and new blood is needed, the Bengals aren't most organizations. According to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN, Cincinnati may end up choosing to honor Taylor's contract and give him one more chance to turn it around.
"Bengals owner Mike Brown operates a little differently," said Fowler when asked if he believes the Cincinnati job will become available to top coaching candidates in the offseason, "perhaps he lets Taylor coach out his contract that runs through 2026. It feels as if anything is possible there."
Bengals may keep Zac Taylor for 2026 due to contract
Taylor supporters are on some firm ground for complain here. Losing Joe Burrow to injury in Week 2 was utterly devastating, and it's hard to win many games at all when Al Golden's defense is sinking the team with a lethal combination of a lack of talent and coaching that is not on par with what the NFL requires.
However, Taylor, who is now 50-61-1 as a coach, is heading towards his third straight season without making the playoffs and his first losing season since Burrow's rookie year. It was Taylor who brought Golden in and chose to make Jake Browning the backup quarterback after Burrow' injury, after all.
What Brown may not realize is the fact that Cincinnati would be a premier job if Taylor were let go. Burrow is installed under center, and the division is wide open. All it would take for the new coach to get this thing turned around is bringing in a defensive coordinator who can get things under control.
The Bengals are taking a big risk here, as they are betting on Taylor and Burrow replicating 2021 despite how distant that year now seems.