Why Bengals brass didn’t speak at NFL meetings like 30 other teams
The Bengals provide a reason for why they didn't do what most NFL teams do.
The Cincinnati Bengals (mildly) surprised onlookers last week at league meetings when they didn’t make Executive Vice President Katie Blackburn available to the media. Annually, that’s usually when fans get to hear from Blackburn, who can provide insights on the direction of the team, why ownership voted certain ways on topics and other items. Instead, Blackburn wasn’t available, leaving Bengals head coach Zac Taylor to fend for himself.
According to The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr, this is part of a supposed plan by the team to change its offseason media schedule: “The Bengals say the move was part of a broader decision to recalibrate their schedule of media availability for front-office employees and the team’s ownership group. Blackburn is expected to speak to the group of Bengals media who made the trip to Phoenix in June, when the team feels she will be in a better position to address the full offseason, following free agency, the draft and schedule release. ” But, as Dehner goes on to note, the Bengals were just one of two teams not to make a front office member or general manager available.
The other team was the Arizona Cardinals, so not exactly shining company. Good intentions or not, the Bengals’ decision to make this change just so happens to fall during a year when the offseason process is under fire and there is more pressure than ever to support Joe Burrow. This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Why Bengals brass didn’t speak at NFL meetings like 30 other teams