Peters, the New England Patriots offensive line coach in 2024, was hired for the same role with the Cincinnati Bengals. It was not reported whether Peters would be retained by newly named Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel, so Cincinnati’s announcement confirmed his departure. Peters also will bring offensive assistant Michael McCarthy from New England to Cincinnati.

Why would the Bengals hire Peters, who coached arguably the league’s worst offensive line in 2024? Didn’t Cincinnati do some research on Peters’ group, which struggled in both pass protection and run blocking?

Of course, they did. The hiring indicates how the Bengals felt about a popular 2024 storyline: Was coaching or personnel to blame?

Scooping Peters up as quickly as they did confirmed the Bengals believed the Patriots lacked talent up front. Cincinnati clearly thought the players — not coaching — were at the root of the problem. It’s the right outlook, too.

Peters entered New England as a well-respected disciple of offensive line guru Bill Callahan. Peters spent four seasons under Callahan with the Cleveland Browns. That experience made think Peters was an impactful hire for the Patriots last offseason. The Bengals didn’t let one season in New England overshadow Peters’ previous experience.

This isn’t to say all Patriots coaches fall into the same bucket, of course. Coaches of other position groups were well-deserving of blame, which is why five other offensive assistants reportedly won’t return under Vrabel.

But New England’s offensive line was largely made up of waiver wire additions and players who failed to make other 53-man rosters after training camp. It was a constant shuffle because players weren’t good enough, couldn’t stay healthy or some combination of the two.

Peters was dealt a tough hand in his first season with the Patriots. The Bengals acknowledged that and jumped at the opportunity to hire him.