CINCINNATI -- The end of the Cincinnati Bengals’ recent era effectively ended last July when A.J. Green was carted off the field during the season’s first day of training camp.
What ended up becoming a season-ending ankle injury was a harbinger of things to come as Cincinnati cratered. Green’s longtime teammate, quarterback Andy Dalton, also suffered a rocky season. He was benched for three games in November and the Bengals finished 2019 with the league’s worst record.
It was Cincinnati’s low point since the Bengals drafted Green and Dalton in 2011. So, as the Bengals approach a monumental 2020 NFL draft, the franchise is on the verge of ending one key era and starting another.
Barring any transactions, Dalton and Green will be on the roster when the Bengals make the first overall pick on Thursday night. But the long-term status in Cincinnati remains murky for a pair that led the Bengals to one of their most successful runs in franchise history.
Cincinnati used a franchise tag to keep Green through at least the 2020 season. Dalton’s contract is up at the end of this year, but with his $17.7 million cap hit and the presumed arrival of former LSU quarterback Joe Burrow, his days as the team’s starter is likely coming to a close.
“I have a hard time looking at it as a new era,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said this week. “It’s what we’ve gone through for the last 12 months since we’ve been here. We have to continue to adapt and improve and learn from all of the things that we’ve done over the last 12 months, good and bad.”
Last season, Green and Dalton never played together. And because of the team’s woeful on-field performance, Cincinnati is in a position to effectively replace both of them in this year’s draft.
Take a look at highlights from Joe Burrow's senior season at LSU, during which he won the Heisman Trophy and led the Tigers to a No. 1 ranking.
This time, the Bengals will likely get the quarterback (Burrow) at the top of the first round. Cincinnati could also opt to select a wideout in one of the early rounds and take advantage of one of the deepest groups of available wide receivers in recent memory.
“I see a lot of areas of our team that could use a young player that’s got a bright future,” Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin said in a teleconference on April 16. “And that would be one of the positions, for sure."
In 2011, the Bengals drafted Green with the fourth overall pick and selected Dalton early in the second round. They played together for eight seasons, including a run of five consecutive postseason appearances from 2011 to 2015.
Tobin points out the similarities between the 2011 offseason and the current atmosphere surrounding the draft. When Dalton and Green were drafted, the NFL was in the midst of a league-wide lockout that forced players to work out with each other on their own. This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has postponed in-person team workouts.
“Maybe it’s kind of a similar situation this year with a different style offseason,” Tobin said. “Those two guys came in and they embraced the challenge that offseason gave us and took leadership and ownership of our team and drove us to a lot of success.”
If Burrow comes to Cincinnati, he and the rest of the draft class would face their own set of obstacles as they prepare for their transition to life in the NFL. But according to LSU coach Ed Orgeron, that will be something Burrow will embrace.
“He’s willing to build a team, and willing to go through adversity if he has to,” Orgeron told ESPN on Tuesday. “Nothing was promised to him here. He came here with faith and built a championship team. And I don’t see why not -- he couldn’t do it in Cincinnati.”
The transition from old to new could be a smooth one. Green is expected to be one of Burrow’s top targets and Dalton has floated the idea of remaining in Cincinnati, which will require a restructured contract and new place on the depth chart.
If the Bengals take Burrow and another wide receiver, they won’t only be asked to replicate Green and Dalton’s early success -- it must be topped as the franchise enters the next phase that starts on Thursday.
“It’s part of our process of establishing our culture and making sure we get the most out of our coaches and players and being prepared to be successful when September rolls around,” Taylor said.