COB

Also - Most teams will go find a good deal that fits their needs when trading a guy. Classic bengals front office, “Go find our trade for us.” I know it’s not unprecedented. If they had a normal number of personnel and scout employees, they’d do it themselves. Just so typical of them to do the least.

In my opinion Trey did not want to be here. His statements - he always seemed to qualify his desire to play in Cincinnati. His body language - I know this is subjective, but he didn’t act like he even liked playing for us. He’d happily and exuberantly celebrate; his own good plays. As far as reality goes, if I just had a couple huge seasons as a 30 year old edge rusher and I was looking to leverage those years into one last large deal, honestly Cinci is the last team I’d be interested in negotiating with. So, I think they gave him “permission” to seek a trade because he and his agent asked for permission. He wants out and the last thing he wants is to play this last year of his deal out.

Yep. Every TE we bring in here careers himself and gets paid somewhere. Burrow is a fucking giant. If they decide 70 million a year in two receivers isn’t doable, just have an auction, get Tee’s agent involved. And I’d want a top 30 pick. First rounders bust all the time. If Higgins is that wanted, prove it. The Steelers gave up a first for Minkah, and I’d say that was a pretty smart move on their part. If you’re getting 5-7 years of all-pro level play, and that’s how Higgins is talked about, it’s worth a first.

Great on Gesicki. The FO is going to fumble this whole thing. It’s obvious. Duke saying “we’re not trying to insult our top players,” the FO just stonewalling Tee as evidenced by the “they’re far apart” reports and Tee’s cap emoji. Sure Meirov can say Joe’s pressure is getting to the front office, but where’s the evidence? Right now, this is straight Brown family behavior. Drag things out, stonewall, offer an under market deal then just sit and let the calendar do their work. Also, signing a mid level FA like Gesicki is right in their wheelhouse.

WTF! Unbelievable.

They’re going to need a linebacker and even though that position seems de-emphasized in the modern game it really shows up when you suck. Stopping running backs for a 3 yard gain instead of a 5 yard gain hardly gets noticed. Until you see a guy get old, ie Pratt, and suddenly it’s all five yard runs. I think they’ll go linebacker 2nd round, typically they won’t be able to resist db in the first. I think ND and Michigan both have DBs , some mocks have us taking the Michigan safety and I can definitely see that. on the other hand, wait until the second, and let Golden take one of his DBs from Notre dame.

Bye Hubbard. Free agent starting guard must be incoming. No way do they roll the dice on a draft pick to replace Cappa.

If Burton had balled out instead of being a case study of “Is It Just a Personality Disorder or Is It Real Mental Illness” we wouldn’t be in this fix with Tee.

Duke publicly stated they want to get Tee wrapped up first before they start signing/extending their other guys. 1. I get it, he’s the one player who could walk or completely screw up the team culture and mojo if he gets tagged but isn’t compliant. 2. I don’t get it, I think they committed themselves to an order that was really unnecessary. His agent can use it. 3. By saying he’s first, they have forfeited what is probably their favorite negotiating tactic - stonewalling. Their history of not communicating and ignoring guys is well known. From their perspective it works. Can’t do it now that signing Tee is a prerequisite to assembling your squad for next year.

Thanks TJ I’ll check it out.

Egbuka woukd be an amazing pick in the 2nd round. I don’t know where he is projected, but he’d be a good pick. Tough to justify when we brought Burton in with a 3rd, just have to not fall victim to the sunken cost fallacy. Tag and trade Tee, get a second rounder for him. Pick Egbuka in the second. Make Burton return kicks in camp until he quits. If he even shows up for camp.

Who’s place of employment provides a chef and free meals? It’s a holdover from college where they were housed and fed.

NFLPA Team Report Card: Category 14: Arby’s accessibility and quality: Cincinnati Bengals - 27th. Unlike some teams that provide Arby’s (Chiefs - unlimited Arby’s any time of day or night. Chargers - Arby’s free at lunch during season), the Bengals have only a coupon system to get Arby’s into the hands of hungry players. Several players complained about a certain zit-faced teenage drive through worker on loan to the Montgomery Road location from an Arby’s in Heath, Ohio. “This youngster argued with me about my coupon, but worst of all, he was very rude to several late middle-age customers who just weren’t familiar with Arby’s’s current menu,” said one player. Another Bengal player added, “If I hit on some of my incentive bonuses this year I’m going to hire a hitman to kill this pimply-faced teenager from the Montgomery road drive through. That’ll teach him to respect his elders. And to accept the coupon Mike gave me even though it says ‘Expires 9/2018”.

They’re tagging Trey Smith? That is almost unbelievable. I guess leave it to Andy Reid to tag a guard. Smith is ok but he’s benefiting from the shortage of decent interior linemen. In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.

2/24/25. A day to celebrate. I’ll be heading over to the Arby’s on state route 79 in Heath and ordering these bad boys from that ill -tempered teenager in the drive through who mocked me for trying to order them a year after they were removed from the menu. Who’s the idiot now, Tristan? I’m not the one wearing a visor backwards in February in Ohio.

I bet Mike loves reading about how the union thinks he should provide entertainment and babysit the players’ families on game days.

Tee is obviously worried he’ll have to play on the tag again. The tag gives the bengals something they don’t have without it - leverage. Tee wants a long term deal here or elsewhere. Until we tag him and show him that stick, he has very little incentive to compromise on anything. The prospect of playing on another one year deal will force compromise, and he apparently doesn’t like it. Ok, refuse to sign it then go complain to the union members who approved it. But beware that 99% of them never have to worry about ever having the tag used coercively against them. I applaud the bengals for being so open, for once, about their plans regarding players and contracts. But it is apparent some of the players don’t feel the rhetoric is matched by corresponding action. It probably gets back to the size of the organization. Guys are spread super thin, have to be at the combine, have to interview or be interviewed. Not much time right now for contract negotiations, I guess.

I just watched the press conference, and Duke comes off way better in person than he does when you read the transcript. He seems sincere. Just my opinion, but if they can’t get a very reasonable deal out of Trey, just say goodbye. If he was the key to a good defense, we would have had a good defense. He’s getting up there in years, Sign Tee first, which Tobin straight up said would be the priority. Then sign Chase. I actually agree with Tobin. Hendrickson’s under contract. I sincerely hope he doesn’t hear about this post from his dad.

He was saying all the right stuff about how he wants to keep him. Then he just slips in there, “He’s under contract right now,”. Everyone knows he’s under contract right now. You don’t have to throw down your strongest negotiating point while you’re talking about how much you want the negotiations to succeed. It’s akin to the “there’s only one pie and everyone wants a piece” statements they occasionally make. These dudes start making excuses about why they can’t or won’t pay guys before the negotiations even start.

Duke Tobin is not a poker player. Dude tries to say nothing, but gives himself away. Like he can’t help it.

Shakir played 3 years on his rookie deal then got an extension and a big raise, exactly what we should have done with Chase.

Ross Tucker seriously does not like the Bengals FO. He’s been that way for years. I can’t recall if he had an unpleasant interaction when he was a free agent or what.

Dehner in the Athletic, meandering about re Bengals FA and draft picks: He talked about how we need two guards, and said we suck at developing mid round linemen. Interesting quote about why: “Partially, that’s been for lack of attempts. They have selected fewer offensive linemen in the second and third rounds of the draft than any other franchise over the last 15 years. They took Jake Fisher in 2015 and Jackson Carman in 2021. Both picks busted.”

Some of those hits were alarming.

Rankins was one of the most disappointing free agent signings we’ve ever had. I think he was sick all season, he just didn’t play even close to his capabilities then suddenly mystery illness and we never see him again. Bad luck for him and us. I hate the way the Hendrickson situation is lining up. If he doesn’t get a new deal or get traded into an arranged new deal, he’s acting like there will be trouble. We just don’t need another holdout of the mojo destroying/let’s all pile on the bengals FO variety. The national media will be all too happy to oblige. We need focus and no distractions this year.