Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals won’t be in the NFL playoffs for the third consecutive season. The quarterback led the team to a Super Bowl appearance in 2021 before losing the AFC championship in 2022. They’ve, however, failed to secure a postseason berth ever since.

The defense was once again the Bengals’ major problem in the 2025 season. Despite bringing in Al Golden from Notre Dame as the new defensive coordinator, the unit is ranked the worst defense after Week 15, conceding an average of 403.8 yards and 31.2 points per game.

The Bengals have had a cheap approach to recruiting on defense, and that has had a lot of implications on the field. However, Mina Kimes believes that’s not an excuse for the failure of the front office, led by Duke Tobin, to get things right. This, she believes, had made the situation at the franchise hard for Burrow, who is on a five-year contract worth $275 million.

“The Philadelphia Eagles have the cheapest defense in football,” Kimes said on “First Take.” “And they’re great because they draft well, they make smart signings and trades, and they’re well-coached. It’s not Joe Burrow’s job to be the GM of the Cincinnati Bengals.

Looking to predict NFL playoff Scenarios? Try our NFL Playoff Predictor for real-time simulations and stay ahead of the game!

“I don’t look at this offense and say, ‘Oh, Joe Burrow gets no help.’ He chose to have those wide receivers. He wanted them, and that’s part of the plan in Cincinnati. I get that. We discussed Joe Burrow’s future at Cincinnati last week, and I said the Bengals shouldn’t trade him. I believe that.”

Mina Kimes believes Joe Burrow should call for a change in the Bengals’ front office

After three seasons of no postseason football, Mina Kimes believes there should be a change in the Bengals’ front office. The analyst believes Burrow should be leading the call for a change as the Bengals’ front office is less scrutinized in the media.

We don’t talk about this front office and criticize them the way we should, because we just write off, ‘Ah! It’s the Bengals, they do things a different way, they’re cheap,’ Kimes said.

“We should be criticizing them and holding their feet to the fire. If this was a bigger market team, people would be calling for wide-scale change in the front office. That’s where I see the biggest flaws on this team, and frankly, Joe Burrow should be calling.”

There’s been a lot of criticism of the Bengals’ director of player personnel, Duke Tobin, on a host of decisions over the years that have made the team’s defense very poor. The front office hasn’t retained talent properly on defense, while also failing to bring in proper replacements.