COB

I agree. Possibly their resources, ie front office negotiators, cap evaluators, have been devoted to the Chase and Tee deals, while trying to simultaneously evaluate and sign free agents. Which would spread our limited FO resources very thin. Brandon Scherff looms.

Bears spent a 2026 4th round pick to get Thuney, and a 2025 6th round pick to get Jackson.

The bears had a similar problem regarding guards. As in, their guards struggled. Their IOL struggled as a whole. so what did they do? I’ll paste a paragraph description from the Athletic article detailing what they did: “Trades for Jonah Jackson and Joe Thuney, a back-to-back first-team All-Pro with the Chiefs, immediately solidified the two guard spots. A big-money deal for former Falcons center Drew Dalman rounded out the interior, suddenly turning one of the league's worst position groups into a strength.”

I hear you. I wasn’t that interested in Zeitler so seeing him get signed is not a big deal. If the Lions get Scherff I’m getting outraged.

Ross Tucker is a straight up Hater. Dude has had it in for bengals since day 1.

From their agent, no doubt.

I’m completely irate now. Just read that the Lions are pursuing Brandon Scherff. Mike can’t compete with that F-150 money. Odd bengal connections: 1. The lions want Scherff to replace none other than Kevin Zeitler. 2. Scherff was drafted by the redskins and went to 5 pro bowls there. His o-line coach at Washington? Bill Callahan.

Brandon Scherff is an Outland Trophy winner who graduated from Iowa in three and a half years. Has a genius level intellect, but majored in Leisure Studies probably to show he’s just a regular guy.

I’m on a hunger strike until they sign Scherff. (Drinking coffee is ok though)

Stockholm Syndrome. Get outraged. Duke said they weren’t paying more money for the same team. We’re probably underestimating the Perine signing. Burrow is likely thrilled to have him back. Everyone else is like, “meh,” but Burrow loves that pass blocking and throwing to him on tough 3rd downs. Perine really knows where the sticks are and got us a lot of important first downs.

I can’t tell if they’re targeting Scherff, and the negotiations are just taking a long time, or if they’re using the time-honored Bengal tactic of waiting until most of the FA money is spent league wide, then taking their pick of the remaining players when they’re bidding against only themselves. If they're doing that, our FA linebacker will likely show up in a neck brace with a note from his doctor. Our guard will retire a week into camp. And our camp arm will make the practice squad, then end up starting a playoff game for us after Burrow succumbs to multiple instances of trampling after o-line neglect forces us to pull Ghiaciuc off the couch and start him.

Sample tore his Achilles and missed all or almost all of ‘24. Kind of a prove it deal to see if he can play after that injury. The Brown family seems to have suffered the football management version of a torn Achilles as well. They certainly can’t find free agents to fill these holes in our roster.

I found that quote from new o line coach Scott Peters that I thought indicated Volson has an inside track to starting: "I was impressed with him when I was with the Browns," said Peters. "I thought we should love to draft this guy, because he had all the intangible things, too. He’s a tough kid. Really loves the game. Just kind of helping him along in his career, take his next step is the goal. I really liked the kid coming out of college. He’s a tough guy. He’s physical. He’s got length. I think just helping him find ways to utilize his tools better is one of the areas of (improvement). You can do that through drilling and kind of emphasis on certain things where we think we can help him, but I think there were some things where hand placement was something that was difficult. Some of the set angles and just having the ability to capture cloth with his hands. It’s something that we put a big premium on. I'm optimistic about all the guys we have. I think that sometimes it's a good change of pace. I know when you get a new coach in, sometimes it's a new, fresh start. Definitely optimistic. I look at it like, I see the issues, but are these things we can address and correct? Yeah, in many ways you probably can walk in with a clean slate, and I'm optimistic for sure." After reading that again, I think Peters kind of leaves himself an out on Volson. He says Volson’s issues are fixable through drills, etc. It’s a lot more than hand placement, dude was one of the most ineffective pass blocking guards in the league. We’ll see.

Almost, he’s 33. Not optimal, but he’s far from a rent a wreck. Zeitler’s 35.

Damn, Zeitler out of the picture. Bring on Brandon Scherff! He’s way younger than Zeitler anyway. Also his strength is pass blocking per some podcast I listened to.

Man, even by Bengals’ standards, their free agency period is slow and uneventful.

They need two FA guards, in my opinion, but I believe you are correct in that they’ll only get one. I base this on a quote I read from the new o-line coach wherein he blabbed on about how great Volson was. Pretty clear he has the inside track to starting again.

This is Mike’s dream. Trade away every good vet that wants paid and field a team that’s full of guys on their price controlled first contract. He’d probably get to the minimum spend by just giving it to burrow.

The colts? But wait, there’s no place Trey would rather be than right here in Cincinnati! Gosh! Shucks!

The Chiefs restructure two contracts, Mahomes and Chris Jones. They get 50 million in cap space. The Bengals? Burrow literally offers his contract up for a restructure, trying to improve the team. The Brown family’s response? Just silence.

I saw a rumor online that the bengals are pursuing Jenkins. I’m sure they are not the only team interested. The Brown family in a competitive situation when it concerns a player does not inspire confidence.

I’ve only been to Cheesecake Factory once. Arby’s gang rise up.

I’m going through the dumpster behind Jeff Ruby’s right now. It’s kind of creepy. Not the dumpster, it’s awesome. But Baker Mayfield is sitting back here in an SUV muttering to himself.

JFC are the Browns actually going to start Kenny Pickett next year? Worst owner in sports.

With the cap flying up every year, a team like the bengals might be smart to radically rethink their strategy in regards to big contracts. Three years of watching JaMarr Chase play, and it is very apparent he’s a top 3 or 4 receiver in the nfl. Maybe even two years. Just extend him then. You get to do the extension within the context of the existing cap. Yes, you lose 2 or 3 years of a price controlled rookie deal. But you can offset that with the savings in the later years of the deal. The advantages- You have a major piece (like TJ’s Granny) to build your offense around. You bring stability to your offense. You avoid the circus of distractions these situations bring. You free up what in our case are very limited front office resources, negotiating resources, and allow those resources to focus on making other positions better. the Disadvantages: There is risk. Bad injury or the player takes his foot off the gas. Also, the guaranteed money and the escrow rules could cause Smithsonian level sock garter collection to have to be auctioned off.