The Cincinnati Bengals got their guy with free agent quarterback Trevor Siemian, establishing a solid veteran as the primary backup behind Joe Burrow after not using one of their eight picks in the 2023 NFL draft on the position.
Sure, the Bengals probably would have liked to have Brandon Allen back behind Burrow all the same, but the Siemian-Bengals connections run deep.
Siemian, after all, learned the pro game alongside current Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan in Denver back in 2015 as Peyton Manning steered the Broncos to a Super Bowl triumph.
Callahan went on to a quarterbacks coach gig in Detroit and then Oakland before joining Zac Taylor’s staff while Siemian stayed put, but Callahan says there was always the idea of a reunion.
“There’s been a couple of times in free agency at various points where I always expressed an interest and it never worked out for a myriad of reasons,” Callahan said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “Timing has a lot to do with it.”
As for Siemian, his main objective is to be the best he can be for the other quarterbacks in the room: “I want to help the team any way I can. I want to help Joe, I want to help Jake, I want to help the staff anyway I can. My main priority is being the best teammate I can be.”
If the Bengals weren’t going to get Allen back or take a developmental rookie, Siemian always felt like the only real other option.
And the connection with Callahan and the experience Siemian brings to the table is quite the fallback plan for a Super Bowl contender to have, if it was ever truly even a “fallback” option.
