The Bengals will not have one of their key young offensive players for the entirety of next season.
According to Paul Dehner Jr. of TheAthletic.com, tight end Erick All Jr. is expected to miss all of 2025 with a knee injury.
All tore his ACL in early November and it turns out there are complications from a previous knee surgery he underwent in college. All needs two surgeries instead of one in order to fix every issue.
All has a history of health concerns, including a back injury in 2022 and an ACL tear in 2023. With two surgeries to correct his latest knee issue, he should be able to play in 2026.
A fourth-round pick in 2024, All appeared in nine games with six starts as a rookie. He caught 20 passes for 158 yards.
The Bengals hired Al Golden as their new defensive coordinator late last week and they’ve started to fill out the rest of their defensive staff.
The team announced the hiring of defensive line coach/run game coordinator Jerry Montgomery and linebackers coach Mike Hodges on Monday.
Montgomery coached the defensive line in New England during the 2024 season and he spent the previous nine seasons on the Packers’ coaching staff. He was the defensive line coach for most of that tenure and added the run game coordinator title in his last two years with the team.
Hodges spent the last eight seasons with the Saints. He was their linebackers coach for the last five years.
One day at a time, the expiration of the Bengals’ lease at Paycor Stadium is getting closer and closer. It runs out next year, and landlord and tenant haven’t been getting along.
As explained by Chris Wetterich of the Cincinnati Business Courier, “tumult” exists between the two sides, which (as Wetterich puts it) “raises the obvious question about whether the Bengals have a decades-long future in Cincinnati.”
In July 2024, the Bengals pulled all extension offers and stopped negotiations. Earlier this month, the process resumed, “but tensions remain.”
Primary sticking points include the duration of a new deal and the contribution to be made by Hamilton County.
The Bengals believe that nearly $500 million in improvements identified in April 2022 should have already begun.
In September, the county submitted a framework for talks, which omitted key factors like length of extension and dollars. Generally, the money would come from a local sales tax, Ohio, the NFL, and the team.
As the saying goes, deadlines spur action. For now, a pretty important deadline is coming, and the Bengals don’t have any real alternatives that don’t involve packing up and leaving town.
The Bengals have made it official with their new defensive coordinator.
Cincinnati announced that the club has hired Al Golden for the role.
“Al is a very highly regarded coach, and we are excited to welcome him back to the Bengals as defensive coordinator,” head coach Zac Taylor said in a statement released by the team. “He understands football at every level and has had great success as a coordinator, position coach, and head coach. Al has a great football mind and will bring a smart, physical, aggressive approach to our defense.”
Reports emerged that Golden, who spent the last three seasons as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator, was the frontrunner to replace former coordinator Lou Anarumo. Golden then interviewed the Bengals after Notre Dame lost the CFP National Championship Game earlier this week and subsequently informed the program he was departing.
Golden was previously the Bengals’ linebackers coach under Taylor from 2020-2021.
The Associated Press has announced the finalists for the eight awards that will be given out as part of the NFL Honors show on February 6.
The marquee award is the Most Valuable Player prize and the consensus has been for some time that the award will go to either Bills quarterback Josh Allen or Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Jackson’s bid got a boost when he was voted a first-team All-Pro, but we’ll have to wait a little longer before finding out if voters also put him ahead of Allen on their MVP ballots.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley, and Lions quarterback Jared Goff are the other finalists.
Barkley, Burrow, and Jackson are also finalists for the offensive player of the year award. Ravens running back Derrick Henry and Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase round out the contenders for that prize.
Burrow is a three-time finalist as he’s also up for comeback player of the year. Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold, Patriots cornerback Christian Gonzalez, Bills safety Damar Hamlin, and Chargers running back J.K. Dobbins join him in that category.
The other award finalists are:
Coach of the Year
Dan Campbell, Lions; Kevin O’Connell, Vikings; Sean Payton, Broncos; Dan Quinn, Commanders; and Andy Reid, Chiefs.
Assistant Coach of the Year
Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady; Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio; Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores; Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn; and Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Defensive Player of the Year
Eagles linebacker Zack Baun; Browns defensive end Myles Garrett; Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson; Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II; and Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt.
Offensive Rookie of the Year
Raiders tight end Brock Bowers, Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, and Jaguars wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr.
Defensive Rookie of the Year
Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, Rams defensive lineman Braden Fiske, Eagles cornerback Quinyon Mitchell, Dolphins linebacker Chop Robinson, and Rams linebacker Jared Verse.
The Jets have found their head coach, now they need to find their General Manager.
Aaron Glenn has agreed to a deal to coach the team and their search for a G.M. to work with him will expand to include at least two more interviews. According to multiple reports, the team will have second interviews with Broncos assistant G.M. Darren Mougey and Bengals senior personnel executive Trey Brown.
The Jets had Commanders assistant G.M. Lance Newmark in for a second interview this week and his prior work with the Lions while Glenn was in Detroit suggested that they might come in as a package.
That’s not the case at this point and the Jets may be headed in a different direction when all is said and done.
Al Golden is headed back to Cincinnati.
After three seasons as Notre Dame’s defensive coordinator, multiple reports indicate Golden is finalizing a deal to return to the Bengals as defensive coordinator. Pete Thamel of ESPN noted Golden has informed Notre Dame officials of his decision.
Golden was Cincinnati’s linebackers coach under head coach Zac Taylor from 2020-2021, helping the club reach Super Bowl LVI in the latter season.
After stints as a college head coach at Temple and Miami from 2006-2015, Golden was Detroit’s tight ends coach from 2016-2017 and linebackers coach from 2018-2019.
The Bengals fired Lou Anarumo as defensive coordinator after the end of the regular season.
The alleged burglars at Joe Burrow’s have been brought to justice.
Via Karin Johnson of WLWT.com, four Chilean nationals have been arrested for burglarizing a home that, based on police report, strongly suggests that the home belongs to Burrow.
Per the report, Alexander Chavez, Bastian Morales, Jordan Sanchez, and Sergio Cabello have been charged with participating in a criminal gang, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, obstructing official business, and possession of criminal tools.
The official documents don’t specifically name Burrow, explaining generally that the quartet was arrested as part of “an ongoing investigation involving burglaries of multi-million dollar-homes in multiple states” — and that a search of the suspects’ SUV resulted in the retrieval “an old LSU shirt and Bengals hat believed to be stolen from the December 9, 2024 burglary in Hamilton County.”
That’s the day Burrow’s home was robbed, and his home was the only multi-million-dollar home in Hamilton County that was burglarized on that day.
When apprehended on January 10, the suspects provided false names. From the documents: “After the four male Chileans’ true identifications were learned all four males were identified as being illegally in the country or overstayed their permissions.”
In an interview with police, the men said they came to Ohio for a vacation, in order to see snow.
The Colts made their hire of Lou Anarumo as their new defensive coordinator official on Tuesday.
Anarumo joins the Colts after serving as the Bengals’ defensive coordinator the past six seasons. He brings 36 years of coaching experience to Indianapolis and has an extensive background coaching defensive backs.
“I’m thrilled to add Lou Anarumo as our defensive coordinator,” Colts head coach Shane Steichen said in a statement. “With many years of coaching experience, Lou is a proven leader who will demand the best out of our players. His strategic mindset and unique scheme will be invaluable as we build a fast and disciplined defensive unit.”
Anarumo spent seven seasons as a defensive backs coach for the Dolphins (2012-2017) and Giants (2018) before landing in Cincinnati. He also served as the Dolphins’ interim defensive coordinator in 2015 under interim head coach Dan Campbell.
Before making the jump to the NFL in 2012, Anarumo coached at the college level for 23 years.
Anaumo coached defensive backs for Purdue from 2004-11 and was Marshall’s defensive backs coach from 2001-03. He doubled as the Thundering Herd’s special teams coordinator in 2003.
From 1995-2000, Anarumo was Harvard’s assistant head coach, defensive backs coach and special teams coordinator, and it was at Harvard where he met Joe Philbin, then the Crimson’s offensive line coach. Philbin hired Anarumo as the Dolphins’ defensive backs coach upon being hired as Miami’s head coach in 2012.
The Bengals took care of a little roster housekeeping on Tuesday.
They announced that they have signed tight end Cam Grandy for the 2025 season. Grandy was set to be an exclusive rights free agent this offseason, so the Bengals would have retained his rights by tendering him a contract.
Grandy signed with the Bengals last year after going undrafted out of Illinois State. He opened the year on the practice squad and was signed to the active roster in November.
Grandy had five catches for 28 yards in eight overall appearances during the regular season.
Drew Sample, Erick All, and Tanner McLachlan are the other tight ends under contract in Cincinnati. Mike Gesicki and Tanner Hudson are both set for free agency in March.
