The Cincinnati Bengals' coming-out party wasn't supposed to be until 2022 at the earliest.

Cincinnati, however, arrived a year early, thanks mostly to the insane play of second-year quarterback Joe Burrow.

That alone should be exciting for Bengals fans — the team got to the Super Bowl with a roster that wasn't considered a Super Bowl-caliber roster.

A few offseason moves here and there should have Cincinnati in an even better position to compete for a championship, right?

But what about those comments recently from former Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer? Remember when he said that Cincinnati isn't committed to winning and he was worried the franchise wouldn't build around Burrow? He even suggested that Burrow might not want to re-sign with Cincy after his rookie contract.

From USA TODAY:

“I think Joe’s gonna sit back after this game, win or lose and be like ‘man, am I gonna re-sign with this team? Are they willing to do what it takes to continuously build to get back to the next Super Bowl? Next year and the year after that and the year after that? How are they willing to structure salary cap wise to be able to afford me, but to also be able to afford Ja’Marr Chase when he comes up or Tee Higgins or maybe even re-do this offensive line?'”

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor made those comments look silly on Tuesday during an interview with NFL Network at the NFL scouting combine.

Taylor was asked specifically about free agency and whether or not he thinks Cincinnati is an attractive destination for free agents.

"I don't see why they wouldn't," said Taylor in response to whether or not free agents will want to come to Cincy to play with quarterback Joe Burrow.

"We made the run we made this year, we got a great nucleus coming back, a lot of guys that are team leaders on our team — it starts with Joe Burrow. Anything's possible when that guy is playing quarterback for you and I'm sure that will leave an impression on a lot of guys around the league."

Unlike Palmer, Taylor thinks the Bengals are going to attract some great free agents. And Taylor, of course, would know better than Palmer the front office's plans.

It feels like Palmer is just sour he didn't find the same type of success in Cincy that Burrow is already finding after just two seasons. The Bengals aren't going to blow this opportunity with Burrow. They're going to build around him as best they can. And it all starts this offseason.

Cincinnati has around $50 million in cap space to spend (for now). A lot of that will go toward re-signing key players (like safety Jessie Bates, a player that Taylor wants back in 2022). But we should also see the Bengals act as major players in the free-agent market.

Featured image via Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK