Feb. 7, 2026, 5:31 a.m. ET
The Cincinnati Bengals and Zac Taylor escaped without losing any major names of the coaching staff during the hiring cycle this offseason.
There’s an outside chance director of player personnel Duke Tobin won’t be as lucky.
Right now, the Minnesota Vikings look like the most serious threat to Tobin’s staff after the organization moved on from Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
Alec Lewis of The Athletic recently wrote that Bengals assistant general manager Trey Brown should be on the short-list of candidates in Minnesota:
“As Flores’ star began to rise, Brown left for a similar role in Philadelphia, then rose to become the Eagles’ director of college scouting from 2016 to 2018. The Cincinnati Bengals hired him as a scout in 2021. His role in Cincinnati has increased, and he has become one of the central voices for Bengals lead executive Mike Brown.”
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Before what the blurb outlines above, Brown played a key role in some New England dynasties and had experience with current Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, too.
A year ago, Brown was a finalist for the general manager job with the New York Jets. The year before that, he turned down a request for an interview with the New England Patriots.
Even if the Vikings don’t look Brown’s way right now, it feels like a matter of time before an opportunity he can’t pass up comes along.
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