COB

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.

They desperately need leadership on defense. Trey? If you watch his behavior after a sack, it’s revealing. Goes through his celebration but then basically disses any teammate who approached him. He’s not a leader. Pratt? The opposite of a leader. His outburst at Ossai at the end of the AFC championship game in KC said it all. If they can find a free agent linebacker who will take control of the whole thing, it will fix a lot.

I love to poke fun at Andy. I’m also happy for him, seems like a great guy and dude is building a huge career. Erasing his great passing years, which were a bit of a mirage, as his legacy, and replacing it with his endless career as a competent backup and mentor.

Too great.

It appears Andy is immortal.

Good to see them sign the punter. It shows they are, at a minimum, at work and talking to agents.

In one of the other YouTube thinfs, Stone Shields is the guy’s name, he said if they’re willing to pay him 26 million this year, will they just figure make it 30 and sign him, he’ll play for that? I think probably. Hopefully they get going on it. If they drag it out and turn one of the most team oriented guys we’ve had in a long time into an embittered guy who wants out, it will just be an absolute disaster.

Just had the big one, like 15 laps left. Stenhouse wouldn’t let Lagano pass, giant wreck.

Danika Patrick just turned on her tv and caused a 14 car wreck.

They had another wreck, still not the huge one.

In honor of Billy I’m watching the Daytona 500. They finally had their first wreck, but it was a fender bender. Haven’t had the big one yet. It’s mainly commercials, with the racing an afterthought in a little rectangle on the left of the screen.

The fact that if he wanted to play football or not was identified as an issue (while on an nfl roster) tells me everything. He doesn’t want to play football.

In my opinion tagging Tee once and replacing him through the draft (Burton) so he can go FA in ‘25 was always the Bengals’ plan. I honestly think it would still be the plan but for the players/agents getting together and declaring their love for each other, and publicly pressuring the FO to re-sign him. How is the Bengals’ front office taking it? Are they on board? Not on board? That’s one of the frustrating things about how the Browns run things. Pretty close to the vest, on all things.

Also,let the players fill up the trunks of their cars with Gatorade.

Keeping Tee = top four or five offense in the league. If we can just get an average defense, we’re a playoff team and maybe more. Tee has been hurt, true, and has missed games. But a side effect of that is to show how different the offense is when he’s healthy. They’re way better. Presumably there is a concerted strategy between him, his new agent, Chase, and Burrow. It seems like they’ve talked about it and have a plan. And part of that is Burrow trying to get the FO to go along with that plan. Team culture, team chemistry, whatever it is called, is hugely important. Football is a selfless game when it’s played at its highest level. Guys are putting their long term health and well-being on the line for a game. If you get it wrong, you’re the jets, you’re the 90s bengals, you’re the current Browns. The bengals have been getting it right for a while now. Picking Burton was a little slip. Chase sitting out camp and pre season was a little slip. I think they need to be careful how they deal with these negotiations. I think they need more personnel, staying in touch with the players and their agents, moving the discussions along faster.

PS - I remember laughing at Leveon Bell when the Steelers tagged him twice. I can’t remember if he played the second year or faked an injury and just rode it out.

Using the franchise tag twice on a player is a major violation. Of what? I’m not articulate enough to verbalize it, the best I can do is: it is a violation of an unspoken agreement between players and management that teams won’t put guys at long term risk twice. The first tag happens. It’s a risk. The second tag is like giving the guy the finger. I think it also sends the team the message that we straight up don’t care about you guys.

If you don’t care about the culture of this football team, what do you care about?

It felt like Pratt was going to get cut, it never occurred to me there would be a trade market for him. He looked hurt last year. Kind of like he was running in mud or something, far from the guy who played so well two and three years ago.

Dehner claims that once they’re done cutting the guys (they’ve telegraphed a lot of cuts, overpaid vets and injured guys are going) they’re going to cut, they’ll have a ton of room and can sign all those players Burrow keeps mentioning. I think they’re all doable, but I’m very pessimistic on Trey. Dude seemed bitter all year, and his comments at the SB about helping the team via the draft picks they can get for him - not encouraging. If they have to move forward without Trey, Golden has a monumental task ahead of him. Football is a team game and the culture of the team is a huge factor. Businesses have cultures too. The Brown family does business their way, and I don’t see it changing. Tee vs D line game changer: the only point I want to make is we have Tee. And we can tag or sign him to a new deal. We don’t have game changing D linemen. We’ve got players but they’re not on that level. We have a high level player at that particular receiver position. I say sign him, keep him. We know what we have. Keep looking for the defenders.

An excerpt from Dehner’s article in the Athletic: “That specifically means putting big smiles on the faces of Higgins and Chase this offseason. Don’t let it linger. Don’t let the negotiations become a distraction. Don’t go through another offseason of haggling for every last decimal point, trade requests and trying to win the negotiation at the expense of locker room culture health.”