Even the presence and franchise-amplifying presence of a superstar quarterback like Joe Burrow can only mask so many shortcomings for the Cincinnati Bengals' organization.
Whenever fans hear from the Bengals' key leadership, their messaging often comes across as tone-deaf at best; gross workplace negligence at worst. The truth is probably somewhere in between.
Does that feel like a somewhat nebulous train of thought? Well, it's rooted in actual substance. Because we now have the latest NFLPA report card results, where players report on how they experience the team that they play for. Big shock: The Bengals almost bring up the league-wide rear.
Bengals rank 28th out of 32 teams in embarrassing NFLPA report card assessment
ESPN's Kalyn Kalher reported on all 32 teams' grades from the latest batch of 2026 NFLPA report cards. It's quite clear that Cincinnati owner Mike Brown, the Blackburn family, and Duke Tobin couldn't care much less about building a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
That's to say nothing about how the Bengals brass treats players and their loved ones on a personal level. Unfortunately, we're about to get into the ugly truth of it all.
Quick qualifier: Just because the Bengals rank second-best in the AFC North (lol) in NFLPA report cards over the Browns (30th) and Steelers (32nd) doesn't mean they don't have massive room to grow. The Ravens ranked 12th even as the John Harbaugh era was coming to an end.
Player experience & facilities
- Treatment of Families: F-
- Food/Dining Area: F-
- Home Game Field: D-
- Locker Room: A-
- Nutritionist/Dietician: F
- Team Travel: C-
- Training Room: A-
- Training Staff: A-
- Weight Room: A-
Quality of coaching staff & franchise leadership
- Head Coach: A-
- Offensive Coordinator: A-
- Defensive Coordinator: B+
- Special Teams Coordinator: A+
- General Manager: C
- Team Ownership: D+
- Position Coaches: B-
- Strength Coaches: A
The Bengals are literally a laughingstock when it comes to how they treat families, what their home field of Paycor Stadium is like, and even how they approach player nutrition.
last year the Bengals players gave their cafeteria an F, worst in NFL
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) February 26, 2026
this year?
Owner Mike Brown must not have cared because this year, the players gave a grade of F-
F- 💀💀 https://t.co/5EyNNayXTe
First of all, let me be very clear here. Highlighting this food/dietician issue in Cincinnati is not a reflection of the people responsible for those jobs. They're doing the best they can with the resources they're given. It's on the organization to be far, far better in these areas.
It's nice that the Bengals' newer locker room is a hit with players. It's a plus that, in terms of player safety, conditioning and fitness, the marks are pretty high across the board in those areas.
What are the other positives to take from this? One obvious inference to make about Zac Taylor and the coaching staff is that the players are bought in to what Taylor is selling. They clearly view any issues in Cincinnati as macro organization problems, not anything coaches should be scapegoated for.
Taylor does have a favorable situation in that he's coaching Joe Burrow and an awesome offense. At the same time, he is coaching with one hand tied behind his back to a large degree.
When your "general manager" Duke Tobin gets a "C" grade, and your team ownership gets a D+ grade, you might be in serious trouble as an organization. It doesn't help Tobin, either, that he has the league's smallest scouting department at his disposal.
Sorry to bury the lede, but the most appalling grade of all for the Bengals is for sure their treatment of families. That was graded as an "F-" in 2025 and didn't change this time around.
...Seriously? The Bengals treat families so poorly that the players felt they needed to go out of their way to not just give them a failing grade. It was an F-minus.
If that doesn't perfectly encapsulate the tone-deafness and antiquated nature of Cincinnati's football operation, I don't know what does. I would CAPS LOCK in outrage about how they need to get it right, but the Bengals couldn't seem less interested in taking the initiative on that front.
Guess we'll just settle for stiffing Ring of Honor members and cheaping out at every possible turn.