The Bengals have contract issues, on the field and off.
Their 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.
Team executive V.P. Katie Blackburn was asked about the status of the lease during the recent league meetings.
“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.
If the decision is made to not exercise the extension, the Bengals will essentially become geographic free agents after the upcoming season. And they aren't bashful about saying it out loud.
“We could, I guess, go wherever we wanted after this year if we didn't pick the up option up," Blackburn said. "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.”
That's a powerful, loaded comment. It implies that the Bengals could leave Cincinnati. As soon as next year.
And while she also acknowledged that "[w]e love where we are,” she made the deeper concerns clear: "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."
Blackburn's comments come at a time against a recent history of tension between the team and Hamilton County. If the two sides don't get on the same page soon, things could get very interesting for the Bengals. And for Cincinnati. And for the NFL.
And for any city out there that might be interested in luring a franchise that features franchise quarterback Joe Burrow to town.
