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Someone on twitter called that a “Cleveland handshake”.

While understanding that everyone needs support and to have talented people around them regardless of the line of business, there’s one thing that always intrigued me and I think applies to Burrow. Coming into a situation that has proven to work and maintaining that makes you capable. However, coming into a situation that has not had success and turning it around makes you god-like. Burrow winning even a single playoff game, let alone a Super Bowl, would vault him into the top 3 of most beloved people in the history of Cincinnati.

Remember that time Carson Palmer got a home playoff game against a terrible rookie Mark Sanchez with the support of a top ten defense and a running back who ran for nearly 170 yards? Remember when Carson Palmer played like trash in that playoff game? Mike Brown's fault.

Maybe the whole 2020 draft class should be awarded to the Patriots so these oh so very special young people will all have a chance to play for a “winner.” Will that make Carson Palmer happy? Because, above all else, let’s make sure that victim/saint/transcendent talent Carson Palmer is kept satisfied.

I'm all good with them dumping money into the o-line at this point. They've spent so many years letting people walk away, that it's just time. If they are going to take Burrow (which appears to be the case) you have to protect him. Get a RT worth a shit and go from there. What I still am unsure of is if they intend on going after LB in free agency, who are they targeting ?? There doesn't appear to be much out there that would fall into the impact category. A bunch of filler types, older guys, or guys that don't fit a 4-3 scheme. It's the reason LB is my choice for the top pick in the 2nd round depending on who's still there. I remember last year being on board with bringing Darron Lee over from the Jets, but he went to KC. That being said, he played mostly special teams for them. Not sure there is much more than that out there.

It's what media has become today. You have to say outrageous things to get noticed. The Bengals currently suck. They historically suck. So there is some natural concern about whether or not they will be able to successfully rebuild under Zac and a secondary question of If they have some success what amount and level it will be. Fair enough. However, 30 super bowls have been won by 5 franchises. The league is a parity league TO A POINT! Teams can and do go up and down in regards to playoff contention and participation but the Championships is much more exclusive. So having post season success is not guaranteed for any college all-star and for the majority of franchises. All that's relevant today is what the Bengals did for Palmer/Dalton and however they achieved that success can they recreate and move the bar even higher than what Marvin was able to do.

Again, there are plenty of QB's that were thought to be the "next coming" only to not have Super Bowl championships in their resume. The list of 1st round QB's over the last ten years includes 30 players. Exactly ONE of them has won a Super Bowl. Mahomes this year. What about teams like the Vikings, Jags, Titans, Redskins, Bills, Browns, and Cardinals that have each taken multiple 1st round QB's in the last 10 years ?? The fucking Browns have taken 3 for God's sake and all have failed. Yet, the Bengals should not take a QB first overall because they have a history of suck.

Crazy talk indeed. Y’know, I’m not normally one to go in for media conspiracy theories. I’ve worked in the media for decades, I get how it works and I expected a certain level of ginning up controversy for clicks, and making mountains out of molehills because news is slow and the Content Monster demands to be fed 24/7. And yes, I also realize that some of this is just trolling because some people get off on poking other people with sticks. But this...this has a really ugly undercurrent I didn’t expect. To paraphrase Sally Field’s famous awards speech, “They hate us. They really, really hate us.” To suggest Burrow should hold out because he’d have a better chance with a more historically successful franchise is one thing. But to suggest, as one actual newspaper columnist did yesterday, that he should hold out because “the Bengals don’t deserve him” is just angry, spiteful stuff. And to me at least it suggests that their real concern isn’t for Burrow. They aren’t really worried that the Bengals will ruin Burrow. They’re worried that Burrow will win a championship for Mike Brown. And it’s that thought that’s driving them over the edge.

Using the Browns as an example is low hanging fruit. They've destroyed more QBs than anyone can remember. However, the Colts as recently as 2012 drafted a QB that everyone suspected would be a Franchise QB. Failed to build a line in decent amount of time. Lost a number of starts due to that AND then this guy retires because of his injuries. But it's OK if they would trade up for 1 of the future franchise QBs, because they had Peyton Manning, I guess. Despite the horrible luck they had prior to Peyton Manning. Just crazy talk.

It was predictable. QB talk drives NFL offseason talk. This is a loaded year in the draft and Free Agency. Hot takes will be plentiful. X-Bengals are in a position to take advantage because of their status of being "X-Bengals". Last year it was Kyler Murray and baseball then two months of leadership questions because of an awkward Dan Patrick interview that Dan Patrick made awkward. Surprise. Joe Burrow goes on Dan Patrick this year and guess what? Every few media personalities are going to defend the Bengals especially coming off 2-14. They are not going to point out that Dalton has never been respected nationally and yet he went to the playoffs 5 straight years. He did that on the backs of a great o-line, skill positions, and defense. With a number of assistant coaches getting promoted upward including multiple head coaches. Very few want to acknowledge the run of success this franchise. Really all that's relevant is that and the speculation of can they repeat a similar run.

To expound: I've genuinely never seen this kind of media driven agenda before to drive a player away from a team in the draft process. Washington is a dumpster fire inside a dumpster fire. Chase Young is supposed to be a generational talent. Can someone direct me to the articles that say that he should refuse to play for Dan Snyder? Detroit has a history of awful that is far worse than the Bengals. They wasted Barry Sanders for godssake. They are perennial disappointments. Where are the articles saying that Okudah should refuse to play for them? Miami as we all know has two decades of bad under their belt and their share of scandals and embarrassments in the interim. They literally tried to tank their way to #1 pick last year by selling off everything of value, where are the articles saying that Tua and Burrow should refuse to go there?If someone can explain to me those discrepancies with regard to the constant efforts to get Burrow to say he is holding out and refuses to play for Cincinnati, I would be grateful.

Hoosier - agreed, I have never seen anything like it. I’m gonna have to sit out a few rounds or I may lose my mind on Twitter, but I am positive there’s never been such a coordinated effort to keep a player from a team before.

Well it seems that they have good agents there. But David Johnson was just released.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2876125-matt-millers-scouting-notebook-bengals-set-on-joe-burrow-so-whats-next

Most recent Ross Tucker pod is well worth a listen - he had Greg Cosell on and entire pod was discussion of Burrow, Tua and Herbert with some dalton talk as a bonus. Let’s just say after listening to that I am even more reticent about idea of trading back. Listen to it - but upshot is that even if Tua were healthy he says Burrow is qb1 easily, the comp is peak Brady, and the flags he raises over Herbert make me itchy if god forbid we traded back and took him.

<considers giving right pinky finger for that to come to pass>

Just simulated one and got a Never in a Million Years result: 1 - Joe Burrow QB 33 - Mekhi Becton OT 65 - Malik Harrison LB 97 - Ben Bartch OT 129 - Alton Robinson DE 160 - JR Reed S 192 - Antonio Gandy-Golden WR

First of all, fuck the Steelers. As their aging garbage barge of a quarterback descends into irrelevance in the next couple years, our bright, shiny, new QB will be ascending to elite status. Second, the derision and contempt that the Astros are having heaped upon them by their league and competitors, that’s what I want for the Steelers.

The more abstract the stat, the less objective the measurement, the more Joe Burrow shines. The tangible skills/strengths they assess at the combine? Whatever. That gets you Andy Dalton. If you’ve watched enough football, you know it when you see it. They’re getting better and better at measuring “it,” what they used to call the intangibles. Joe Burrow is a walking intangible.

The publisher of Good Housekeeping (print edition) is putting together a package to persuade Mike Brown to trade the Burrow pick. GH (publishing industry jargon) wants Burrow to write a monthly column on using regular household products to clean. Hint - vinegar and lemon juice will be mentioned frequently. Anyhoo, the Brown Family is LISTENING. - signed, NFL media.

Just spend on one RT in free agency. Jack Conklin and then draft the needed LB’s this team DESPERATELY needs. If you have to have more o-line, go after a guard later on.

Hopefully it all works out for everyone, Bengals get something good, and Andy goes somewhere he wants/ or can possibly get the chance to start.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - if we make the investment at pick 1 ya'all want, we gotta protect that investment - literally - with quality OLs What I havent said is that this will improve our defense. Huh? How jackhole, how? I'll tell you how. We get a better OLine, we control the line of scrimmage longer, ergo our drives last longer, ergo their offense stays off the field longer. Thats good D, my dudes, so feel free to pick up all the damn linebackers you want in rounds 4 and beyond oh and Joisey, I could never hate you. Do you need a hug? :-)

regarding: "I can see them going CB at 33. " You take that back Joisey, you take it back NOW :-) I can barely stomach the prospect of taking a linebacker at r2 or r3, much less a db

Wraith - the CB depth is MUCH better than was initially advertised - I suspect post-combine you will see a number of CBs shoot up the big boards. They can get one at 33 or, if I have my way, trade back a bit in the second and get one while picking up an extra 3rd round pick.

The issue is that after the first 3-4 guys which are VERY likely to go in Rd. 1 there just isn't the talent at CB. We need to beef up our secondary but this should be done in the later rounds because that is where the talent is slotted. IMHO much better Safety class with high end talent than CB.

And more on this front:

They have so many different types of Cheesecakes and huge menu. It would not surprise me if the "Cleveland Handshake" is offered at that Cheesecake factory. I'm going to order next time I go there.

The parking lot behind the Cheesecake Factory, huh?