While the rest of the league debated the “Tush Push” at this week’s owners’ meetings, a Bengals executive dropped a bombshell that could change the NFL’s landscape.
When asked about the team’s soon-to-be expiring lease at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, Team Executive V.P. Katie Blackburn made this very revealing statement.
“We play it day by day, and like everything else, we just continue to have discussions, see where things are, and then have to make decisions at the appropriate time,” Blackburn said, via Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
But that wasn’t all Blackburn said.
“We could, I guess, go wherever we wanted after this year if we didn’t pick up the option,” Blackburn added. “So, you know, we’ll see. Like I said, all these things will be done in due course. We are having discussions, and so we’re hopeful that the county is thinking about it a lot too and wants to get it addressed in a way that would be beneficial to both of us.”
The Bengals’ lease at Paycor Stadium will expire on June 30, 2026 — unless they exercise an option to extend it by two years on or before June 30, 2025, Pro Football Talk reports.
After adding that the Bengals “love” where they are right now, Blackburn added, “Our stadium obviously needs to continue to be maintained appropriately, and you want to keep it at a certain level that’s important, just so that we’re competitive with others.”
This is about as brazen a statement as you’ll hear from an NFL executive about keeping their options open.
Obviously, there’s a public posturing battle with Hamilton County, Ohio. The Bengals have to at least appear willing to move to get the county to do what they want.
It’s perfectly plausible that the Bengals have no desire to leave and would rather stay put. However, they are certainly keeping their options open. And with Joe Burrow and the best wide receiver in the game, they would have their pick of destinations should they decide to move.
