How the Bengals dedicated their offseason to fixing the defense

It was 108 days ago that Cincinnati Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin sat at the podium in the news conference room at Paycor Stadium and spoke of his frustration that his team wasn’t playing in the playoffs. “Incredibly frustrating … had we just won our share of those (close games), not more than our share, we’d be talking about at least having opportunities in the playoffs, which is where we feel we should be,” Tobin said on Jan. 9.

“I know we haven’t shown that. I’m not asking anyone else to feel that way. Within this building, we know we should be there.

”Tobin took blame, as did head coach Zac Taylor. But as the person in charge of putting Cincinnati’s roster together, he was the person Bengals fans wanted to hear from most this offseason. The Bengals have now made Tobin available to reporters three times since the season ended – a significant change from how the franchise has previously handled Tobin’s availability.

Prior to this year, Tobin was never made available in a press conference setting immediately following the season or after the NFL draft. A lot has changed since Tobin last spoke to reporters, and on April 27 after the conclusion of free agency and the draft, Cincinnati’s de facto general manager provided an update on several topics. Here are the biggest takeaways from Tobin’s post-draft news conference: Bengals felt Dexter Lawrence was a player the franchise ‘needed’ For the first time in franchise history, the Bengals traded away their first-round pick for an established veteran player.