The Cincinnati Bengals didn’t surprise many with the release of Vontaze Burfict on Monday.
New head coach Zac Taylor offered a statement on the matter.
“As we continue to build our roster for the 2019 season, we felt it best to give both the team and Vontaze a fresh start,” Taylor said, according to Bengals.com. “Vontaze has been a good player here — the team appreciates that, and I know a lot of fans appreciate that — but our focus is on the future. Our goal is to build a successful team for the upcoming season, and we felt that making this change now was best for everyone.”
This was an image move as much as a money one. It saves the Bengals some cap space but also signals to the team and everyone that this isn’t the old Bengals. The team reportedly shopped Burfict in trades before making the move.
Burfict was always the biggest point onlookers would watch when the Taylor era started. Burfict’s declining play, inability to get on the field and struggles on it were overlooked by the team in the past, if not rewarded with extensions recently.
Taylor and his staff saw the value in starting over though and made the move, ending a tumultuous era for the Bengals defense.
