CINCINNATI — Zac Taylor, who led the Cincinnati Bengals to the Super Bowl in his third season as coach, was signed to a five-year contract extension, the team announced Wednesday.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Taylor was 6-25-1 in his first two seasons leading the Bengals, his first head coaching job. They improved to 10-7 in 2021 and went on an improbable run through playoffs before losing 23-20 to the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl on Sunday night.
The 38-year-old Taylor is now signed through the 2026 season. He had one year left on his previous contract.
“The fruits of Zac’s efforts were seen this year, and Zac is well-regarded by our players and coaches,” Bengals owner Mike Brown said. “I know the effort and passion Zac brings to the building and to our team, and I am pleased by his approach. And I think the city of Cincinnati sees him the way the players and I do. He’s brought excitement to the town and deserves credit and recognition for that.”
Taylor said Wednesday he was “very appreciative.”
“Of course, this isn’t all about me,” he said. “This is about all the people in the building who are working toward a really solid future for all of us. And so I’m excited for everybody, you know, because I certainly feel like the future is bright. There’s a lot to build on.”
Taylor said the deal got done Tuesday.
“It didn’t take long,” he said of the contract process. “We were on the same page. I’m happy here. My family is happy here. I love coming into the building every day.”
GIANTS: Three-time Pro Bowler Bryan Cox and Kevin Wilkins have been added to the New York Giants’ coaching staff.
Cox will be the assistant defensive line coach, working with line coach Andre Patterson. Wilkins will be a defensive assistant, the same job he held last season with the Ravens.
Recently hired defensive coordinator Don Martindale was the Ravens’ defensive coordinator last season.
VIKINGS: The Minnesota Vikings finalized their hiring of Coach Kevin O’Connell, completing a sharp offseason shift in direction by turning over the team to the 36-year-old offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.
Three days after the Rams beat Cincinnati for the title, O’Connell formally assumed his branch of the Sean McVay tree. He’s now the fourth former assistant under the head coach of the Rams to become an NFL head coach himself.
O’Connell replaces Mike Zimmer, fired last month after eight seasons and only two playoff-game wins, and will be introduced on Thursday at team headquarters as the 10th head coach in Vikings history.
Drafted in 2008 by the New England Patriots to be Tom Brady’s backup – Brady was already eight years into his seven-time Super Bowl-winning and three-time NFL MVP career – O’Connell remarkably became a head coach in the same offseason that Brady finally retired.
O’Connell attempted only six passes for the Patriots as a rookie, the only regular-season attempts of his career, and he was released the following year. Claimed by the Detroit Lions, he lasted five days there before a trade to the New York Jets.
After a torn labrum sidelined him for the 2010 season, O’Connell bounced from the Jets to the Miami Dolphins and then back to the Jets in 2011. He had a preseason stint with the Chargers in his native San Diego in 2012, but that was the end of his time as a player.
LAWSUIT: NFL has hired a law firm that includes former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to defend it and its teams in Brian Flores’ race discrimination lawsuit.
Lynch, the attorney general in the latter part of the Obama administration, will work with Brad Karp, chairman at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison. Karp previously has worked for the league in concussion cases.
Flores, who is Black, was fired as Miami’s coach last month despite back-to-back winning seasons. He named the league and three teams – the Dolphins, Denver Broncos and New York Giants – in a class-action lawsuit earlier this month, alleging unfair hiring practices in the NFL.
After the lawsuit was filed, the league said it would defend itself against claims it called “without merit.” The Dolphins, Broncos and Giants also denied Flores’ allegations.
FALCONS: The Falcons released outside linebacker Dante Fowler.
Fowler signed with the Falcons in March 2020 after recording 11.5 sacks for the Rams in the 2019 season. He was an underachiever with the Falcons, completing two seasons in which he registered 7.5 sacks. He played in 28 of 33 games, including 19 starts.
Fowler was to become an unrestricted free agent when free agency begins March 16.
CHIEFS: Cornerback Chris Lammons reportedly is wanted by Las Vegas police in connection with a beating involving Saints running back Alvin Kamara that left a man unconscious and with a fracture to his face.
According to News3LV, Lammons is “a wanted suspect” in the beating that took place Feb. 5 in a hotel on the Las Vegas strip. That was the day before the Pro Bowl at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Kamara was arrested shortly after the Pro Bowl, which was played on Feb. 6.
News3lv.com said arrest warrants were issued for three men, including Lammons, and Las Vegas police announced the other two men had turned themselves in.
The Chiefs are aware of the situation and have no comment at this time, a team spokesman said.
Lammons, 26, completed his second season with the Chiefs in 2021, appearing in 12 games, mostly on special teams. An exclusive-rights free agent this offseason, he hurt an ankle in Week 13 and finished the regular season on injured reserve.
COWBOYS: The Dallas Cowboys paid $2.4 million to four members of the team’s cheerleading squad who accused a team vice president of watching them undress in a locker room during a 2015 event at AT&T Stadium, ESPN reported.
Each of the women received $399,523, the network reported, citing documents and unidentified people as sources.
One of the cheerleaders said she saw Rich Dalrymple, the Cowboys’ longtime senior vice president for public relations and communications, standing behind a partial wall in the locker room with his iPhone extended toward them while they were changing, ESPN reported. He later told team officials he did not know the women were there and left immediately.
Dalrymple, who retired earlier this month after more than three decades of work with team owner Jerry Jones, issued a statement to ESPN denying the allegations.
“People who know me, co-workers, the media and colleagues, know who I am and what I’m about,” Dalrymple said. “I understand the very serious nature of these claims and do not take them lightly. The accusations are, however, false.”
Jim Wilkinson, a communications consultant for the team, said the Cowboys investigated and found no wrongdoing by Dalrymple and no evidence that he took photos or video of the women.
“The organization took these allegations extremely seriously and moved immediately to thoroughly investigate this matter,” Wilkinson said. “The investigation was handled consistent with best legal and HR practices and the investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing.”
According to ESPN, a signed copy of the May 2016 settlement agreement includes a nondisclosure agreement in which the four women, three of their spouses and Cowboys officials agreed to never speak publicly about the allegations.
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