Director of player personnel Duke Tobin met the media Friday at Payor Stadium for 63 minutes and left no doubt the Bengals are hunting for defense and people to lead it this offseason.
He also praised defensive coordinator Al Golden for reviving the defense in the last eight games of the season, when his unit allowed fewer than 18 points per game.
"We need an increase in talent on that side of the ball, and there's no question about it," Tobin said. "We'll take a look and see how much we can get done.
"When you're that way, you're going one of two directions. We went the right direction, and that's a direct reflection on Al's coaching and his positivity, and that's what gives me hope that we'll get this thing figured out."
With one captain sidelined for the final eight games and another traded just before the Nov. 4 trade deadline, Tobin says they also want a special kind of player on that side of the ball.
"We need more leadership. We have tons of leadership on the offensive side of the ball. We need somebody, multiple people, to step up and lead that group from within our team," Tobin said. "And it could come from the outside and it could come from the inside."
Tobin touched on a variety of topics that included:
_The Bengals have no qualms this offseason about trying to repeat the free agent bonanza of the 2021 offseason now that Joe Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins are in the fold with mega deals completed in the previous two offseasons.
"It can definitely work that way. These are conversations we have," Tobin said. "How it works out, there's not 25 guys you could sign. There are 31 teams all looking at the same guys."
_The Bengals have been traditionally wary of guaranteed money in any year but the first one. But Tobin indicated they could be flexible there.
"We'll do what's required if we have to secure a player that we think can help us win," Tobin said. "I think the organization is willing to do anything it takes to win. I've been here long enough to know that. If that wasn't the case, I wouldn't say it."
_Tobin is sticking with the same staff that scouted those super Bowl free agents and drafted a 2023 class that has players they want to sign to extensions that include second-round cornerback DJ Turner II and fifth-round running back Chase Brown.
Tobin also said they want to extend their other starting cornerback, Dax Hill, one of the first-rounders from this decade that includes Burrow, Chase, and right tackle Amarius Mims.
"I think the collaboration is better at that size," said Tobin of why they haven't added scouts to his staff. "We have never lacked for information on a player. There's never been a player selected that we didn't know anything about. There's never been a player selected that we didn't have multiple reports and large background on. It's not about the volume of information we have. If we make a mistake, it's because at the decision point we made the wrong decision. But it wasn't because we didn't have information on the player."
_Tobin said everyone at Paycor _ scouts, players, coaches _ have to attack what he sees as the major reason why they haven't been to the playoffs in the last three years: The last-minute losses.
Add closers to the wish list on defense. He says the Bengals need to put finishing in their DNA.
A year after losing six one-score games, the Bengals lost five in the last ten games this season that included last Sunday's s 20-18 loss to Cleveland in the finale in which the defense allowed two field goals.
"It irritates me. It really irritates me. You have to find ways to close games, and that has been our number one problem," Tobin said. "When it comes time to close the game, we haven't closed it. How do you get over that hump? When we take the field against any team in this league, we can win, and that team we're playing knows it.
"We don't go out there and get pummeled. We are in it and a lot of times (we) should win it and then don't. I think that last game against Cleveland is just a microcosm of what we've had."
