Duke Tobin Dives Into 'Honest' Communication Line With Joe Burrow

Cincinnati will not bring home a Super Bowl in Burrow's 20s.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) looks for hands to shake after the fourth quarter of the NFL Week 18 game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns at Paycor Stadium in Downtown Cincinnati on Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026. The Browns kicked a last second field goal to win 20-18. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

CINCINNATI — Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin touched on plenty of topics during his hour-long press conference last week, including the line of communication with Joe Burrow.

The 29-year-old has gotten more and more vocal about what he wants to see from the organization over the last 18 months. Cincinnati's quarterback stamped that pointed attention with some of his comments in Week 18.

"That's of paramount importance," Burrow said about the Bengals attacking free agency this offseason. "You have to identify where you're weak and figure out a way to be strong in that area. That's the NFL year in and year out. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't. You have to attack that period with intent to get better."

The next eight months "are as big as it gets" for Burrow, Tobin, and the Bengals. 

Tobin is going to continue to be open with his top player.

“We had failure early. The thing that I saw in our defense, though, as it went on, is that it started to find its footing," Tobin said on Friday. "We played a lot of young guys. The game slowed down, and they sped up. We finally figured out how to stop the run. We were stopping the run. We were generating turnovers. When the defense played well, then it was the offense’s turn not to play well. We have to find that complementary football. 

"I'm always open and honest with Joe, but it takes a full football team, and I don't believe that one side of the ball was not complicit in our season. All three phases were complicit in our season, and we've gotta clean that up. It’s the critical moments of games, when one side is doing well, the other side has to take advantage."

The Bengals are exiting Burrow's 20s with one Super Bowl and two AFC Championship game appearances, but the title window is far from closed for this franchise.

According to Over The Cap, Cincinnati has the eighth-most cap space in 2026 as of this writing. They also have the entire offensive core under contract, top-10 picks in each draft round, and a third-place schedule coming up this fall.

One could argue that this off-season could prime the franchise for its biggest successful explosion yet, but Tobin and the Bengals front office have to execute much better than they have in the past two dead periods.

And they need to keep Burrow healthy. Check out the top takeaways from Tobin's press conference here.

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