Dexter Lawrence made a career-high nine sacks in 2024. In 2025, the then-Giants defensive tackle had career lows in sacks (0.5) and quarterback hits (eight).
His three-year streak of Pro Bowl appearances ended.
Lawrence heads into 2026 on a new team and with a chip on his shoulder.
“I’m more managing it now, because you can’t really beat up on other teams. So during the season you just let it go and you flow,” Lawrence said a week ago, via Joe Reedy of the Associated Press. “I know how I approach this game and my impact to the game, even when it doesn’t show up on the sack numbers.”
Lawrence faced the fifth-highest double-team rate among defensive tackles last season at 70.35 percent, per Pro Football Focus. The Bengals acquired Lawrence, along with adding defensive tackle Jonathan Allen and edge rushers Boye Mafe and Cashius Howell to their defensive line.
That could help Lawrence avoid as many double teams.
“We know the caliber of player he is,” Mafe said. “Having him on our side, it makes it so much easier. It makes everyone’s job around us easier. He’s a calming presence because we have him on our side.”
Lawrence got some work in with his new team during the offseason program and vows to be ready for training camp late next month.
“I’m going to be like a boxer before they’re going into a fight. You’ve got to put your head down and train,” Lawrence said.
Former NFL defensive tackle DeShawn Williams has filed a lawsuit over memorabilia that he believes was stolen from his home.
The theft wasn’t the garden-variety smash-and-grab. Via Tampa Bay 28, Williams claims that contractors hired after Hurricane Helene damaged the home in 2024 entered the premises without permission, took items belonging to Williams, and then posted them for sale on Facebook Marketplace.
DeShawn Williams and his wife, Ashlee, contend that their mortgage company hired Solid Foundation Properties LLC, which then subcontracted with Colvin Inspections to inspect and preserve the property. They claim that Colvin Inspections also removed certain property.
“They call it securing the property or winterizing the property,” their attorney, Matt Weider, told Tampa Bay 28. “But in fact, they’re just entering into a property and violating a homeowner’s security.”
The Williamses contend that DeShawn’s Denver Broncos helmet and his Bengals jersey were listed for sale on Facebook Marketplace, for $800 and $200, respectively.
DeShawn Williams, undrafted in 2015, played for the Bengals, Broncos, and Panthers. Earlier this year, he joined the Oklahoma coaching staff as a defensive analyst.
Offseason stories about the Bengals have centered on the moves they’ve made to bolster a defense that has struggled too often in recent seasons, but that’s not the only way the Bengals are trying to bring an end to their playoff drought.
Another focus has been on increasing the number of explosive plays on offense and that work has focused on how other teams have found success running plays with the quarterback under center. The top-five teams in plays under center and using play action while under center last season finished in the top quarter of the league in explosive plays.
The Bengals were 31st in under-center percentage and 30th in play action with quarterback Joe Burrow producing one explosive play in the latter category over the last three seasons. Burrow was seeing more time in those situations during the team’s OTAs and offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher said the team will continue to look for ways to make better use of those looks.
“If you are looking at, ‘How are we going to be a really explosive offense?’ the data would suggest you got to have a component of your offense that allows you to get under center and attack the defense.” Pitcher said, via Paul Dehner of TheAthletic.com. “Truthfully, yeah, I believe in what those numbers say, and we are going to have to explore that part of our offense.”
Burrow said that he is “always ready to drop back 65 times to make it work,” but said he’s excited about what the offense can do to become more explosive and said the team is “committed” to making that part of their attack for the fall.
The offseason programs around the league have largely wrapped up for 2026, with players and coaches around the league now experiencing some time off.
But training camps are just a few weeks away from opening.
The NFL announced the camp report dates for all 32 teams on Monday, with the first ones opening up in less than a month.
Below are the camp locations and report dates:
Arizona Cardinals: State Farm Stadium | Rookies: 7/22 | Veterans 7/22
Atlanta Falcons: Atlanta Falcons Training Facility | Rookies: 7/24 | Veterans: 7/28
Baltimore Ravens: Under Armour Performance Center | Rookies: 7/24 | Veterans: 7/28
Buffalo Bills: St. John Fisher University | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/28
Carolina Panthers: Bank of America Stadium | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/22
Chicago Bears: Halas Hall | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Cincinnati Bengals: Paycor Stadium | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Cleveland Browns: CrossCountry Mortgage Campus | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
Dallas Cowboys: Marriott Residence Inn Oxnard | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
Denver Broncos: Broncos Park Powered by CommonSpirit | Rookies: 7/22 | Veterans: 7/28
Detroit Lions: Meijer Performance Center | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Green Bay Packers: Lambeau Field | Rookies: 7/27 | Veterans: 7/28
Houston Texans: Houston Methodist Training Center | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/28
Indianapolis Colts: Grand Park | Rookies: 7/27 | Veterans: 7/28
Jacksonville Jaguars: Miller Electric Center | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Kansas City Chiefs: Missouri Western State University | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
Las Vegas Raiders: Intermountain Health Performance Center | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
Los Angeles Chargers: The Bolt | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
Los Angeles Rams: Loyola Marymount University | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/25
Miami Dolphins: Baptist Health Training Complex | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/28
Minnesota Vikings: TCO Performance Center | Rookies: 7/26 | Veterans: 7/28
New England Patriots: New Balance Athletics Center | Rookies: 7/21 | Veterans: 7/24
New Orleans Saints: Ochsner Sports Performance Center | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
New York Giants: Quest Diagnostics Training Center/The Greenbrier | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
New York Jets: Athletic Health Jets Training Center | Rookies: 7/25 | Veterans: 7/28
Philadelphia Eagles: Jefferson Health Training Complex | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
Pittsburgh Steelers: Saint Vincent College | Rookies: 7/28 | Veterans: 7/28
San Francisco 49ers: SAP Performance Facility | Rookies: 7/18 | Veterans: 7/25
Seattle Seahawks: Virginia Mason Athletic Center | Rookies: 7/17 | Veterans: 7/24
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: AdventHealth Training Center | Rookies: 7/27 | Veterans: 7/28
Tennessee Titans: Vanderbilt Health Football Center | Rookies: 7/23 | Veterans: 7/28
Washington Commanders: Commanders Park | Rookies: 7/24 | Veterans: 7/28
The NFL has announced the full list of joint practices that will take place during training camps this summer.
The first set of them will take place on August 11 in four different locations. The Cowboys and Rams will practice in Los Angeles, the Colts will visit the Patriots, the Bucs will work out at the Jets’ facility and the Titans will go to Santa Clara to practice with the 49ers.
All in all, there will be 28 teams working in joint sessions in August. The Lions, Steelers, Chiefs and Broncos are the teams that will not hold joint practices.
The full list of joint practices is below with the host team listed second. If there are multiple practices scheduled, the date of the first practice is listed.
August 11 — Cowboys-Rams; Colts-Patriots; Buccaneers-Jets; Titans-49ers.
August 12 — Dolphins-Commanders.
August 13 — Jaguars-Saints.
August 18 — 49ers-Chargers; Raiders-Texans; Saints-Cowboys.
August 19 — Falcons-Colts; Ravens-Vikings; Panthers-Jaguars; Eagles-Patriots.
August 20 — Bills-Browns; Bears-Bengals; Saints-Rams; Giants-Dolphins.
August 21 — Seahawks-Titans.
August 25 — Buccaneers-Jaguars.
August 26 — Cardinals-Packers; Texans-Panthers; Commanders-Ravens.
August 27 — Bears-Titans.
The infusion of talent to the Bengals defense has been a major talking point of the offseason in Cincinnati, but the impact of the team’s moves isn’t only being felt on the field.
Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said at a press conference this week that the leadership on the defensive side “has really expanded” over the last few months. The Bengals signed players like Jonathan Allen, Bryan Cook and Boye Mafe before trading for Dexter Lawrence in a move that Taylor believes fits right into that trend.
“I think just to lead by example, you know, instead of saying things and not being around,” Taylor said. “He’s been here front and center. I don’t know if he’s really left since the day he showed up in the trade. It’s just really good to have veteran leadership like that — that’s been in the building, been around, has experienced a lot of things over the seven years he’s been in the league.”
Missing the playoffs for three straight years has led to much grumbling about the Bengals’ direction, so the off-field leadership will need to translate to on-field improvement in order for Taylor and others to feel secure about where they’ll be in 2027 and beyond.
In April, ESPN reported that free-agent defensive lineman Mike Pennel is a “person of interest” in connection with the death of a woman whose body was found on property Pennel previously owned in the Dominican Republic. Pennel called the report “fake news,” and his lawyer said Pennel didn’t know the woman.
ESPN now reports that Pennel did indeed know the woman.
Citing “interviews with people close to the victim and police records reviewed by ESPN,” ESPN reports that Pennel “frequently spent time” with Carli Franchesca Guzmán Roche when Pennel was in the Dominican Republic.
She was reported missing on September 11, 2021. Her body was discovered in January 2026, when the new owner of the property was doing excavation work.
Pennel and his lawyer did not respond to “several messages” from ESPN seeking comment.
Undrafted in 2014, Pennel has played for the Packers, Jets, Chiefs, Falcons, Bears, and Bengals. In 2025, he appeared in eight games with the Bengals and eight with the Chiefs.
In 12 years, he has 154 regular-season appearances and 27 starts. He won a pair of Super Bowls with the Chiefs.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow hasn’t been shy about expressing his high expectations for the 2026 season.
Burrow said this offseason that this is the most talented roster he’s been on in the NFL and that the Bengals have “everything we need” to contend for a Super Bowl. Burrow was similarly upbeat about the state of the team during a Wednesday press conference and he was asked if he thinks his comments have created added pressure for the team heading into the fall.
“I hope so, I think that’s great,” Burrow said. “Put pressure on guys. I love it, I thrive in it. We’ll find out who else does. I know that we have the kind of people that want to be in that spot. I want everybody talking about the Bengals. I want everybody talking about what I’m saying in my press conferences. You go back and watch what I’ve said before the 2019 season at LSU, I feel very similarly about this team. I’m so excited to get started and get moving. I wish we would ramp this right into training camp, so we can continue to improve because I feel like there’s so much greatness that we’re gonna be able to achieve this year.”
Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn said this week that ownership is “certainly counting on” the team having a good season this fall. She did not specify what would qualify and didn’t say what might happen if the team falls short, but the comments from both Blackburn and Burrow suggest everyone in Cincinnati should be feeling the pressure to deliver better results.
After the 2025 season, Zac Taylor became the dean of AFC North coaches by default. He was the only one who stayed in his job.
With the Bengals riding a streak of three seasons without a playoff berth, there was speculation that changes would be made, with either coach Zac Taylor or director of player personnel Duke Tobin getting the boot. Both remained in place.
“We think they deserve another opportunity to prove that we can do what we hope we can do,” executive vice president Katie Blackburn told a small group of reporters on Monday, via Paul Dehner of The Athletic.
So is it a make or break year for Taylor and/or Tobin?
“We obviously are hoping to have a successful season this year,” Blackburn said. “I know [Taylor and Tobin] want to do that as much as I want to do that. I can’t predict anything into the future, but we’re certainly counting on, right now, having a good season and going from there.”
How good does the season have to be to avoid major changes? As Dehner notes, Taylor has two years left on his contract. The Bengals typically don’t like to pay coaches to not work.
The biggest question about Taylor’s deal is whether both years are guaranteed. His predecessor, Marvin Lewis, was fired with a year left on his contract — but the final year wasn’t guaranteed.
Whatever the reason, the Bengals didn’t yield to the temptation to try a quick fix.
“Both Zac and Duke are experienced guys with proven success and really good people,” Blackburn said. “We feel good about them for a lot of reasons. I think there’s also that element of consistency that hopefully will prove out to be beneficial, too. I think those are the things that we would rather try to take advantage of and build on rather than having to regroup and figure things out a little bit from scratch.”
Katie Blackburn was joined at the session by her daughter, Elizabeth Blackburn, who recently was given a vice president title. And one of her quotes made its way to Dehner’s story.
“We are trying to take very measured steps to maximize our chances with known commodities,” Elizabeth Blackburn said. “We think we’ve made changes in certain processes, on the roster, behind the scenes, certain things that can lead to different outcomes. That’s hard sometimes to totally see. But certain change comes with big risk. And we think we’re in a good spot.”
We’ll see if that good spot leads to a fast start. They’ve traditionally struggled early in the year. This season, it’s imperative to come out of the gates with as many wins as possible.
If they miss the playoffs again, and if Taylor’s salary isn’t guaranteed for 2027, there will be at least one coaching change in the AFC North after the season ends.
The Cincinnati Enquirer recently reported that the team and the Cincinnati Regional Sports Commission were engaged in talks with the NFL about the 2029 draft. Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn confirmed the team’s interest in an interview with select local beat writers on Monday.
“We’ve expressed interest, as have many other cities,” Blackburn said, via Kelsey Conway of The Enquirer. “We are exploring it and seeing whether we can have an opportunity to do that. We would love it if we could. We would be excited about it. We’ll continue to work on it to see if it can happen.”
There is no timeline for a decision.
The 2027 NFL draft will be held in D.C., and the league recently awarded the 2028 NFL draft to Minneapolis.
The NFL left New York after the 2014 draft, and since then, Chicago (twice), Philadelphia, Arlington, Nashville, Cleveland, Las Vegas, Kansas City, Detroit, Green Bay and Pittsburgh have hosted the draft. The 2020 draft was virtual.
