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9 years ago today Harambe was assassinated at the Cincinnati Zoo. The Bengals need to honor Harambe by including him in the Ring of Honor. I would also fully be on board with a team name and logo change. The Cincinnati Harambe. (Yes, singular). Obviously the logo is a huge badass silverback gorilla. I know too much marketing, etc has gone into building the bengals brand to consider a change, and the nfl is loathe to make any changes to their money machine. But if we were in a parallel universe where Mike could look beyond the beads on his abacus and the dollar signs they represent, this move would be a huge public relations coup. We’d basically get constant media coverage for about a year. Uniform change - National story. Stadium changes - National story. Logo contest - National story. Positive feedback from animal rights groups - National story. This seems far fetched but I would support it. These NFL team names are played out and stale. The bears and lions? Who gives a fuck.

Guess what, I have eyes and ears. I can assess the bengals’ FO on my own. I’m not getting trolled or fooled by someone’s reporting. Also in this instance, they’ve just reported the facts. These aren’t opinion hit pieces. The fact is they can’t get their first round draft pick signed and it’s due to their changing of a customary term that has been in the last two first rounders contracts. No one is trolling, the facts are getting reported. The bengals are in an entertainment business. And it’s a business in which perception becomes reality, whether we like it or not. So the FO consistently not caring about the optics of their latest fucked up attempt to “win” every negotiation absolutely hurts the team. You put it very accurately when you said they like to lawyer. It’s not really a verb but it truly describes their behavior. They’re screwing up the team culture and the team dynamics. They did it last year and they’re doing it again.

6-0

You all know I enjoy preseason, but I'm sick of the Colts coming to town every year in the preseason. I typically go to watch the young Bengals players, but it would be nice to see an opposing team that is intriguing. The Colts are not that team.

July 27, 2023. A day that will live in infamy. On that date Trey signed an extension and raise he had been requesting. He wanted the extra millions, he got the extra millions. Had he not asked for that extension, he’d be a free agent right now. The bengals had a lot of nerve, giving Trey what he wanted. I’ve really had it with this dude. Playing the victim in the press when he’s completely under contract for one more year under terms he negotiated and agreed to. NFL teams are not charities that hand out millions of dollars just to be nice. There are a ton of examples of teams signing free agents then the player gets hurt or doesn’t play to the level. It’s tough shit and the teams just pay. Trey can play the choirboy all he wants, what I see is a duplicitous, greedy, entitled, little brat.

No one seems to want to step up and say it, so I will. That’s one situation for Tucker that did not have a happy ending. Tip the veal.

DUDE, don't even get me started. It was one of the first things I saw this morning, jumping on PFT for updates. There I was met with, "Now that the dust is settling on the 2025 draft, we’ve been trying to figure out why he fell all the way to pick No. 144." Really? You've been trying to figure it out? These guys must be dumber than I thought. Let's take a look at stats during his two seasons at Colorado, which is what I would guess teams would consider most. He threw for a little over 7000 yards in two seasons, with 64 TD's to 13 INT's. While being lauded as a running QB he had 8 rushing TD's, his net rushing yardage over 2 seasons was -127. MINUS His passing completion rate is damn near the only thing that was worth noting in national QB rankings. He was also 8th in the Heisman voting for 2024. Top that with leading his team to a 13-12 record in his two seasons in Colorado and going 8-10 in the PAC/BIG XII. He took his team to a bowl game once during his time there and got blasted by BYU 36-14. Top that with a father that has just sang his praises at every step of the way, called out the media for not thinking his son could play at this level, telling teams there were some teams Shedeur wouldn't play for, somehow convincing the university to retire his son's jersey for what I don't know and talking about him coming to coach in the NFL if it was with his son. Top that with Shedeur being labeled as "Brash" and "Entitled" through the combine interview process and then hosting a draft party with dollar sign hats, logos and banners all over the place. Again I ask, does this sound like a QB you want your team to draft and lead your team? Let me help PFT figure out why he fell. Are you listening PFT? THE KID ISN'T THAT GOOD. So glad he went to the Browns.

Sounds good to me. Sitting out the postseason sucks. I expect Buffalo to continue dog-walking their division.

welcome to the forum, Allentown

This is possible, I just think it's just about not losing vs the bad teams early more than whatever extra reps are actually helping in the preseason. Starting 4-2 vs 2-4 is everything with only 17 games. I don't think the Bengals will be screwing around early tho. I think they're going to come out swinging

Maybe, just maybe, Harambe suffered from anxiety and depression. Maybe he viewed that dumb shit kid with dumb shit parents as his way out. Maybe he didn't accept captivity like a champ and was a miserable fucking gorilla who hated life. He grabbed that dumb shit kid and waved him around like, "Go ahead and shoot me fuckers. I DARE YOU" !!! Next thing you know, BAM. Harambe escapes his hellish existence and dies with a smile on his face. Fuck him for taking the easy way out...

Ring of Honor game will be against the Jets on October 26th.

I’m not irritated about what someone else thinks about the Stewart situation. I’m irritated by the fact the Bengals could have totally avoided a situation that is currently going on and gotten their first round pick they themselves noted needs to find a way to close things out when rushing the passer and get home. Cant do that watching the other players on the field. At least not in the same way. Will that move have impact on wins or losses? Maybe, maybe not. As a fan you can’t look at the current situation and think it’s a positive. The odds that it has a negative impact on both player and team swing to the negative with every day he’s not learning the pro game with the team on the field. Hope we can look back and it not be an issue.

Yes Bengals, it’s you… Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the Bengals want to include a phrase that causes a default in the current year to trigger a default in all remaining years. The problem is that the contract signed by last year’s first-round pick, tackle Amarius Mims, does not not include the language that the Bengals are now attempting to insert into Stewart’s deal. And Mims was taken one spot lower in 2024 (No. 18) than Stewart was picked in 2025 (No. 17).

Switching gears for a minute. I was thinking about the 2nd year guys and really hoping to see how an offseason in a pro weight room and their approach to the game impacts the team this year. Many in that draft class got snaps during their rookie year, which should go a long way in their development. Amarius Mims opens the season as the RT starter and I am still excited about him as he was inexperienced coming in. Both Kris Jenkins and McKinnley Jackson should be good in the DT rotation with Hill and Slayton starting, which I like. Burton luckily finds himself in a position to make an impact this season, but he's such a dumbass that it's hard to say. It's a shame that Erick All will miss this season because he looked solid when getting snaps last season. From all accounts it sounds like Josh Newton is going to get first crack at the slot CB position vacated by Hilton leaving. I'm hoping to see Tanner McLachlan get more opportunities at the TE spot with All going down for the season. I think Cedric Johnson is just lost in the DE mix and will be lucky to see many snaps unless Trey holds out. Daijahn Johnson is the back up to battle at the strong safety position and will get snaps for sure. Matt Lee might have some competition at the backup center spot with the UDFA addition of Seth McLaughlin. By and large, the 2024 draft class looks at least solid with many looking to get a good share of snaps in 2025. Here's to hoping they got some good guidance and took advantage of the NFL strength training program.

My sources say they will be using it here.

That about sums it up. Mike also enjoys being an iconoclast.

Yep, here we are. Hey Bengals... don't do that.

I'd rather not hear anything about contracts to be honest. To start, I have no idea one way or another how an NFL contract is structured. Next, if there was a team to fuck up something simple like a first round contract, I would believe it would be us. These things should almost be copy and paste, with a percentage higher, from last year. Maybe they never heard the saying, "Work smarter, not harder". Fucking UGH !! Get this done Bengals.

Could be. BJ Hill has logged over 700 snaps the past 3 seasons. One season was over 800. There wasn't much a rotation under Lou. So eventually those amount of snap counts could catch up to him AND I think you get the best out of Hill with him playing under 500/600 snaps. That's kinda the issue with Trey. Sure any of these guys can pull a Whitworth. They also could decline fast like Geno or Hubbard. It would be wise to get Trey off the field slightly more to try to limit his run defense snaps. There's some comments from Al about wanting to do a better job defending the run with 6 man boxes. Is that 4 run focused DL 2 LBs? or 3 run stuff DL, 3 LBs?

Can they please get Lapham in there before he dies? That dude has meant a shit ton to this team as both a player and advocate. Agree it’s tough to pick. Parrish belongs in the hall of fame so I’m going with him as well.

Let's see... L W1 at CLE This certainly shouldn't be a loss, but I am not picking a week one win against any opponent until Zac Taylor proves he can prepare a winning game plan for the opener. He did win once (2021 vs. MIN), but only in overtime. He has never won in week one in regulation as a head coach. W W2 vs JAX Now I'm just being a fool. No 0-2 start??? Jacksonville shouldn't be treated as pushovers, but I think this matchup will be just what the doctor ordered. Burrow will elevate against his premier collegiate QB and #1 overall pick competition. L W3 at MIN JJ McCarthy is basically a rookie QB, and this will be his opportunity to look like he has been in the league for a decade. Al Golden has never demonstrated he has the rookie QB illness that so many Bengals DCs before him have suffered, but I am just going to take it for granted that the illness continues. W W4 at DEN MNF The fans are down on the team with another weak start underway and fully expect this road loss. The Bengals show up and win handily under the lights, reminding everyone that even when things look shitty they can win any week with Burrow at QB. L W5 vs DET The defense gets its ass handed to them in a really bad matchup. The Lions offensive line does whatever it wants. This ends up being the Bengals' worst loss of the season. W W6 at GB The Bengals continue to ride the see-saw and also hold true to an old meme: seeming more competent on the road than at home. Jordan Love can't keep up with Burrow and throws a couple picks. W W7 vs PIT TNF Finally, we get consecutive wins. The Steelers should never be underestimated, but the Bengals handle business at home under the lights in an ugly, low-scoring win. W W8 vs NYJ One cannot help hearing the ghostly whispers of Mike White here even if he is no longer a Jet. Still, the Bengals are able to mount enough offense that the Jets cannot keep pace. W W9 vs CHI Four in a row. Things are looking up heading into the bye. However, this game also introduces as many concerns as it answers questions. It's a wild shootout like the Bengals lost so many of in 2024, but this time the Bears out-Bear the Bengals and lose. W10 BYE L W11 at PIT I don't think I can pick a sweep over Pittsburgh. Strangely, I would feel better about that if they do get Aaron Rodgers. The Mason Rudolph scrub QB types bring that dark magic mojo that scares me irrationally. W W12 vs NE We're not losing at home to this team in consecutive seasons. Fuck you. L W13 at BAL TNF Ugh. Enjoy your turkey. This is the schedule's biggest load of bullshit (again), and the home team tends to win in primetime AFC North games. Lamar elevates against Burrow as much as Burrow against Lamar. L W14 at BUF This feels like another bad matchup for the defense, though for different reasons than the Lions game. This time, the Bengals inconsistent or anemic pass rush really hurts them. Josh Allen feasts both on the ground and through the air and wins the shootout. W W15 vs BAL Much needed division win late in the season to feel better about this team's playoff prospects. The defense is starting to round into form at the end of the season, especially in the division matchups, and Burrow feasts. This ends up a surprisingly comfortable win. W W16 at MIA SNF I don't know if this will still be on SNF by the time we get here. If it is, I think it's fair to expect offense. Burrow, Chase, and Higgins have a little more to offer than Tua, Hill, and Waddle. W W17 vs ARI The Cardinals could be feisty and annoying. This is when Burrow teams play at their best, however, and they should have a solid advantage at home. W W18 vs CLE The Bengals help Cleveland lock up a top three overall draft pick. Looks like that's 11-6, which feels okay to me. I'm showing 3-3 in division games, splitting with everyone. That's probably a wild card berth. I'm sure this was a pointless exercise. I'd like to say "I'll see how this looks when the season ends", but I won't remember that.

Let me give this a try Hoosier. Mine is predicated on Trey being here and Golden getting the defense into the teens, if even #19. W1 at CLE: Win because Cleveland is a wreck W2 vs JAX: Win because Jacksonville is a wreck W3 at MIN: Loss W4 at DEN MNF: Loss on the road to a good team W5 vs DET: Loss to what I believe is one of the best teams in the league W6 at GB: Loss W7 vs PIT TNF: Win against the Steelers at home in primetime W8 vs NYJ: Win because the Jets suck W9 vs CHI: Win because Chicago cannot seem to build a roster to save their lives W10 BYE: W11 at PIT: Win because I really don't care who their QB is, they won't win much W12 vs NE: Win because I don't believe in Drake Maye or that team very much W13 at BAL TNF: Loss, it's Baltimore on the road in primetime W14 at BUF: Loss, they are going to dominate again W15 vs BAL: Win because we always seem to split W16 at MIA SNF: Win W17 vs ARI: Win W18 vs CLE: Win So I'm at 11-7 as well, but a different way to get there. It will be close between us and the Ravens yet again, but I see us getting back to playoffs. If Golden doesn't get the defense on track and Trey goes rogue or is traded, this gets ugly.

Holy shit, we play the cardinals, the bears, the jags, the jets, and the patriots. I’ll take it.

Weeks 13-15 are brutal and will probably make or break the season. Two divisional TNF games is hot bullshit.

W1 at CLE W2 vs JAX W3 at MIN W4 at DEN MNF W5 vs DET W6 at GB W7 vs PIT TNF W8 vs NYJ W9 vs CHI W10 BYE W11 at PIT W12 vs NE W13 at BAL TNF W14 at BUF W15 vs BAL W16 at MIA SNF W17 vs ARI W18 vs CLE

The league trying to help us get over our 0-2 starts.

Now there are "leaks" saying it could be at Buffalo...or at Minny, Miami or Cleveland. Happy schedule release day!

Not worried about Trey until game week 1. Its just posturing. He knows he's got the current contract in his pocket. He knows what the Bengals are offering. Knows what teams were willing to pay in a trade. These are just games you play to move the Bengals offer closer to the potential trading teams. That's my take. I think he showed his hand mentioning incentives. Unless Bengals threaten to pull an offer. There's not much incentive right now for Trey to move. Probably won't be all summer.

Regardless, Pete was the hit king before all his nonsense with gambling. Not honoring his baseball achievements as a player while living is a disgrace.

Yeah, he showed up so he could spend 25 minutes bitching to the media about sh*t we already know. F*ck him.

Apparently you guys don’t know how expensive it is to “Take care of my family” these days. $81 million?? Whatever, that’s a drop in the bucket. Im telling you, it’s just a warped sense of reality when you can buy and do whatever the hell you want in life. I love the Hampton Inn (aka the Hamster Inn). Clean enough, cheap enough, fill your belly with a breakfast good enough. It’s enough. When I made that comment to my Dentist who makes millions a year, he couldn’t fathom the thought of staying in such a “Dump”. Like seriously couldn’t fathom. I fucking hate people.

Possibly worth noting: the absolute “worst” case for Trey is that he plays out his deal, earning a paltry $16 million in 2025 and bringing his total cash earned in Cincinnati to a measly, embarrassing, barely noticeable total of (checks notes) $81 million. Hang on a second, I have to go check the backyard…ok, I’m back, and as I thought, my garden of f*cks is just undisturbed dirt. I have none to give you, Trey, sorry.

Hendrickson at it again… Saying that there has been zero contact from the FO since the draft and that he was “promised” a particular deal if he “continued to play well”. All sounds very nebulous but typical at the same time. https://x.com/AdamSchefter/status/1921963995193356795

There is no way this dude deserves that label. We’ve had our share, for sure. The tackle from Clemson we just unloaded comes to mind. But Shemar is known for his strong work ethic. He also openly talks about about his belief that hard work and dedication are what get you places in life. He does not take plays off, and plays hard all the time. I’m thrilled with this pick and the closest comparison I can think of is Higgins. Tons of potential, a game that really transfers to the NFL. I’m sending a couple gallons of kool aid to your place TJ, if I don’t drink it all first.

I love how everyone (podcasts, analysts, so on) blasted the Bengals for their draft and now things are moving forward. Now we are seeing how Stewart, while lacking sacks, is exactly the kind of guy every defensive line coach wants. Fairchild is now the steal of the draft and the linebackers are going to really solidify that unit. Basically, we are at the stage of this is what we have so lets look to what could be if things work out. I've probably softened my stance on the draft results myself. It's more about they really didn't need to do "too" much to improve this team overall. I would have liked another DT, but not concerned either. Thought safety was in play, but apparently not. Maybe Dax comes back to that role since he's apparently now Golden's "Secret Weapon". They really need to work something out with Trey however. If he does hold out (I don't think so) that's going to be an issue for the defense. The drama alone is an irritant I'd rather the team not have to deal with. Anyway around, go Bengals jerseys !!!

Might as well get this started now: Hopefully the biggest TC watch will only be Right Guard and Secondary. Hopefully no surprise stories. With that said: Lucas Patrick opened up as the starter for RG at voluntaries.

In looking closer, I now agree with the concept of them looking strictly at a LG prospect, as opposed to RG. It's debatable on whether or not that was the best approach, but I'm not really here for that debate. The fact is that Fairchild took over 1300 snaps at LG and Ratledge took over 2100 snaps at RG. If all else is equal (as is being said) then the Bengals clearly felt moving on from Volson was the best move. So if that is true, we should anticipate an o-line from left to right looking like this: Brown - Fairchild - Karras - Patrick - Mims Is that markedly better than last year's line? I don't know. I think part of the issue last year was the absolute fall off the cliff season by Cappa. Just complete garbage week in and week out. So if that was his new norm, Patrick should present as a fairly large upgrade to the LG spot this season. When considering Volson and his performance, Fairchild has the "ability" to present as an upgrade. If you are inclined to believe PFF is the be all end all (I'm not but look) Fairchild's overall grade from last year would put him just outside the top 10 NFL guards from last year. Granted, he wasn't in the NFL, so I am not expecting that. However, it's at least intriguing to think about what the new o-line coach, Peters, can get out of him. Here's where I think I'm comfortable landing now that we've had a week to consider our roster with our new rookies in the mix.... FACT: Of the 8 losses last season, 7 were by a TD or less and 3 of those by a FG or less. FACT: In 4 of the 8 losses, the Bengals scored at least 33 points or more. FACT: Joe Burrow was one of the most sacked QB's in the league (4th worst). FACT: Volson and Cappa were two of the worst starting guards in the league last year. I wasn't even aware Cappa was the triple crown winner being 1st in each sacks allowed, pressures allowed, and hurries allowed. When considering the above, it's hard to say if the additional of Fairchild and Patrick will be the difference, but again, it's intriguing. When considering the defensive woes, it's hard to say if Stewart and Knight will have a large impact or if this is the year for Murphy. Will Turner and Hill come back from injuries strong this season? Will the play of the safeties resemble the first or second half of last season? Again, the amount of improvement needed could probably be minimal and still have a large positive impact. Couple that with playing what appears to be a middle of the road strength of schedule and I think they get back to the playoffs. With a couple surprises, we might even be competitive in the post season. It's just as likely as not to consider them making a deep playoff run.

The only thing I'll say about draft grades nationally. For example Chad Reuter from NFL.com. Gave Bengals a B day 1. OK. However in his mock he had them picking an Edge (Mykel Williams) who was gone at 17 in the real draft. Then had the Shemar Stewart going 19 in his mock. If those were your beliefs pre-draft then the grade of "B" sounds a little weak. By virtue of your own mock there wasn't much separation of Williams and Stewart and the Bengals hit the need you identified.

Bowls of Cap’n Crunch have basically wrecked our defense the last two years.

I think Myles Murphy has been out of shape entering TC the last 2 years. He was running with the scrubs early in TC and would have never made it back in the rotation (prior to injury) if Sample and Hubbard didn't lose time. Then he loses time to injury. Now he's cut out cereal and dropped fat. If that isn't the magic pill, I would put him on the path of being cut. I think Ossasi and Sample get first crack at Opposite DE snaps. D-line draft picks were an oddity this year. Top need but not a clear path to immediate playing time. I do hope there is more of a D-line rotation than what we've seen recently.

Will be the IPP player for the Bengals this year. I doubt he sees the field, possibly pre season to see what they have in him. I found this on him for his pro day. The Bengals exited the 2025 draft without selecting a defensive tackle. Howard Cross III and Eric Gregory are joining the fray as fellow UDFAs along with Barnett, but there are snaps to be had at the position throughout OTAs and training camp. Barnett himself is also an exceptional athlete. During USF's pro day back in March, he was clocked running a 4.69 40-yard dash at 6-1 and 275 pounds according to Dane Brugler's "The Beast" NFL Draft guide for The Athletic. He's athletically gifted hence why the Bengals picked him up. I will be keeping my eye on this dude in camp.

Honestly I think Murphy gets the lion's share of the snaps Hubbard was getting. I think it's his spot to lose. That being said, I won't be surprised to see Golden have it be an open competition knowing how things ended last season for the defense. I'm equally curious what's going to happen with the linebackers and secondary though. Not sure how many times they ran the 4-2-5 last season and who was on the field when, but with Pratt still on the roster, we have an abundance of linebackers. I love that problem. In the secondary, with it appearing to be Newton moving into Hilton's vacated slot role, where does that leave Dax? How's Turner coming back from injury? Do we get the safety play in the first half of 2024 or the second half? Again, Golden doesn't need a top 10 unit, but getting them to middle of the road would be monstrous for this team.

Should have cut him before reworking his deal.

Him and Shedeur about to be buds wearing oversized dollar sign hats everywhere. Couldn't have happened to a better franchise. LEGENDARY

How else would the Arby's in Heath retain its only repeat customer?

I have multiple pot holes I'd liked fixed on the road close to my house. I'm pretty sure I saw a Wal Mart semi truck fall in there, along with a family of 5 in a Chrysler mini van. Then again, a man was driving the mini van, so that might have been intentional. Disregard. Poor Wal Mart truck.

Clearly the answer is to fund the new stadium with tariffs on visiting teams.

It will probably be said a million time between here and next fall, but again this defense simply needs to get to mid range to be considered wildly successful. There is no expectation of a top 5 defensive and with a potent offense, it’s not even needed. Had the defense been able to stop any of those team even once when we scored 30+ the talk wouldn’t have been about the last wild card slot but rather playing a home playoff game at minimum.

Ultimately the judge of what makes sense will be in the season results. Lou had no shortage of pointing the finger a communication issues, guys not ready etc. Went through cycles of blaming/benching bona fide starting NFL players. Also, Murphy and Battle were buried on the depth chart week 1 of TC. Defense in training camp had the world believing Burrow was washed up (right before a MVP caliber season). Defense played great in shared training camp practices by all reports. Interject game planning etc. They couldn't stop shit with any consistency during the entire season. So maybe there is something to practicing with a purpose not just having extended field trips during OTAs? The health of Burrow during TC has also been an early season factor.