COB

Back to the fainting couch.

Running Backs’ Union- “Listen up NFL, get rid of this exciting passing game you’ve developed, and bring back what people really want to see - 3 yards and a cloud of dust. Mano a Mano. The battle in the trenches. That way we running backs can earn more. Bring back the Wing T, the Single Wing, and dig up Bronco Nagurski, revive him with some zombie serum from Area 51, and let’s get this shit going again!” NFL - /sitting on a small mountain of money/ “No.”

This deal embodies the new Bengals. Just a complete departure from the practice of signing a player for X per year, then pay X per year, and refuse to do anything else. They’re managing the cap, dealing with reality - ie forcing Mixon to realign his salary to reflect what he actually is, and now the other side of the coin ; redoing Hendrickson with a nice increase to reflect what what he actually is. And both moves were used to manage the cap as well. Pretty fucking great, I think.

Ok just now was able to arise from my fainting couch.

Get Burrow one of those military robocop exoskeletons, super glue him into it, then encase the whole apparatus in bubble wrap. Then and only then can he participate in camp.

That would be awesome.

That “Cappa reacts” makes me wonder if joe stepped on his foot. Or, he heard something. But torn Achilles are extremely painful and guys generally react pretty dramatically. Did Joe act that way? I can’t actually watch any of the vids.

Better not be his Achilles. Hopefully just sprained his ankle.

Fuck. Hopefully just brought out the Precaution Cart.

Incredibly inartful phrasing by Mike there. If possible, it would be helpful if Mike were to somehow take an even further step back from day to day operations. And take about ten steps back from the next microphone he sees.

$60 million dollar fine on the way out the door. Those owners can’t stand Snyder, and this “fine,” implemented after the sale terms were finalized and everything was signed, is basically them just extracting money from this leech.

They telegraphed this about 5 different ways so I doubt anyone in here is surprised. What I think is very surprising is that it was done before Burrow’s extension. They kind of also telegraphed the message that it was Burrow first then everything else gets done. Not in Mixon’s case!

Back then - “this place sucks I’ll do anything to leave. I’d rather flip burgers than play here.” Now - “love me, honor me, I did so much for Cinci.” Fuck it. Sometimes we get put in unfair circumstances. Once you run your mouth to a certain degree, you can’t undo it. There’s a price.

We can still joke about Mike being cheap, reference the Lumina, use a random Shula as our avatar, etc.

What a great memory to put forth, loved reading it.

I think he’ll take a pay cut. There are options out there.

Journalism is an absolutely brutal business. it’s downright sad. And even worse is the way journalism has been bought and sold, commodified, and ultimately downsized for not producing enough money for the capital interests that owned the publications, broadcast outlets, etc. Journalism safeguards the nation. It is an institution, not just a business. Other institutions that safeguard the nation like the 3 branches of government, education, the military, medicine, etc, all have institutional underpinnings that (mostly) protect them from capital. At the very least they can’t be shut down or massively downsized, they aren’t measured by one metric (profitability) then treated accordingly. All those other institutions have built in societal structures that protect them. Journalism was operated on the honor system for decades. Professors or mentors taught it, instilled journalistic ethics and deified impartiality, and the industry just did its job. Once the entities grew into attractive targets for acquisition by capital interests, forget it. They imprinted a business model on newspapers, etc, that really had no business being the driving force behind decisions in journalism. Newspapers weren’t making orange juice or building widgets, they were performing an incredibly important role in a free society - keeping the people honestly informed as to what it’s government and society were doing. Well, journalism is pretty well screwed now. It has failed, destroyed by capital, and replaced by very effective misinformation campaigns and straight up liars on social media. Jay Morrison will find a new job. Sports journalism is kind of the one area that has seen expansion and growth. There are likely a lot of talented people in sports journalism that would be doing hard news if the opportunities existed.

I believe a major scandal is coming here in the next year or two. I don’t know what sport will be involved, hopefully not the NFL. Players, coaches, or officials. Someone is going to take the $$, or straight up bet on games then manipulate the outcome. Tennis is suspect.

It is being reported that a Colts player placed “hundreds” of bets on the nfl last year. He probably knew various things about injuries and old teammates on other teams, and probably took his own team to lose on the money line. Lifetime ban incoming! Question - You are journeyman X on the last year of your second deal. It’s over and you know it. What stops you from going on an nfl betting binge using all your inside knowledge? A lifetime ban is meaningless because you’re done after this year anyway.

Ha ha! Right. He’ll open the season with a few inexplicable drops, then he’ll get hurt.

Tyler Boyd is respectfully implying this next contract will be his last so will be taking the highest offer. And there is a great chance it won’t be here. Still a great attitude and work ethic.

“These come on top of the phase one portion of the offseason relegated strictly to meetings, conditioning and rehab. Phase two involves on-field work, but limited to individual and group instruction. No helmets or team-versus-team drills, strictly working on air. Any plays must be at walkthrough pace and with no live contact or working against an opposing side of the ball. OTAs include helmets, and while there’s no live contact, the intensity ratchets up significantly with 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11 the centerpiece for a longer practice time. Nobody has utilized these less than the Bengals.”

Dehner has a piece in the Athletic that says Zac Taylor is utilizing off season practice and drills less than any other coach. A sample: “The praise reflects a staff leaning into sports science research with an emphasis on what type of work must be done and what makes the most sense over the long haul of the season. It also reflects a willingness to risk being an NFL outlier. The collective bargaining agreement allows 16 true practice opportunities over the course of the spring. A team can max out with 10 organized team activities, three days of mandatory minicamp and a three-day rookie minicamp.”

I don’t understand how some of these guys are able to heal so fast.

I just read the following, don’t know if I believe it: Chase is still the youngest WR on our roster, even after we signed the rookies we drafted.