HoosierCat

I’m telling ya, ya put that into it and nobody but nobody is gonna have a Lumina looking that sharp.

I save up nickles for the 5 cent slots.

Well, if they aren’t going to extend Burrow before the start of the season, and for all the chatter I see no sign that the two sides have gone beyond polite conversation, there’s no reason to dump Mixon. The draft could change calculations, extension talks could heat up, nothing is set in stone. But at this point, all cutting Mixon does is blow a hole in the roster to no purpose.

Prisco 2.0: LaPorta. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/pete-prisco-2023-nfl-mock-draft-2-0-colts-dont-take-any-chances-and-trade-up-a-spot-for-qb-4-go-in-top-10/ I like the kid but can’t get behind him at 28.

Caesar’s has set the Bengals O/U for season wins at 11.5. Brinson is going with the OVER. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2023-nfl-win-totals-picks-bets-for-afc-north-division-hinges-on-lamar-jackson-trade-rumors-bengals-new-king/ All right. I’ll go OVER too.

Hobs teases 6 prime time games. https://www.bengals.com/news/bengals-appear-to-be-primed-again-as-nfl-closes-in-on-next-month-s-schedule-rele

McShay again. This time he goes with CB Deonte Banks. https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2023/insider/story/_/id/36047541/2023-nfl-mock-draft-todd-mcshay-predictions-rounds-1-2-including-63-pick-projections-five-quarterback-landing-spots-two-trades Next three picks are DE, DE and DE, so this would probably send Shula into screaming fits. I think I might prefer one, say Will McDonald, here too. Second round he goes OT with Matthew Bergeron. Certainly good value there.

Yeah, they were just outside the bottom 10 in terms of how often they blitzed last year. Funny thing is they rank much higher than that in the pressures, hurries and QB knockdowns they get, but in the bottom 5 in actual sacks. I’d guess that’s because Lou sends enough guys to get to the QB but not enough to hem him in and bring him down. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/years/2022/opp.htm

The thing about DE or DT at 28 is, whenever I go that route in mocks, I seem to end up regretting it. I get to the second, third, fourth and there are always good dline prospects and I end up reaching for OL and TE. Same happens, though not quite as much, when I go TE and DB. The mocks I’m happiest with go OL at 28.

Sidney Jones deal: 1 year, $1.08 million. https://bengalswire.usatoday.com/2023/03/31/bengals-sidney-jones-contract-details/

Camp body. If he’s anything more its a plus.

Bobcats always welcome!

Ladies & gentleman, may I present the dumbest mofo alive, Diante Lee: https://www.cincyjungle.com/2023/3/31/23662165/the-athletic-2020-redraft-bengals-joe-burrow-tee-higgins

Smith deal details: $1.75 million base, $250k in incentives, max value $2 million. https://tdalabamamag.com/2023/03/31/irv-smith-cincinnati-bengals-contract-details-revealed/

Oh, something will happen with Mixon, I just don't think it will be this year. Right now the Bengals have $17.7 million in cap space, per spotrac. That doesn't yet include Jones or Smith, who will shave off a couple million, but does include Orlando Brown. They have 66 guys under contract and seven draftees incoming, so there's no gaping holes they need to throw money at. And they have plenty of space and money to sign the rooks. So while they could save $7.5 million in cap space and about $10 million in actual cash money by cutting Mixon, they don't need either unless they extend Burrow. That doesn't appear to be imminent. Plenty of time for that to change but at the moment it feels like both Burrow's extension and Mixon's fate are subjects for the next offseason (and in Burrow's case maybe even the offseason after that).

Picking up right where they left off, I see. At least they're consistent..

So with pff's simulator going mostly behind the paywall, let's try profootballnetwork's. Boy this thing just loves to propose trades. Results: 44. Dawand Jones 60. DJ Turner, CB, Michigan 75. Sam Laporta 98. Jaquelin Roy, DT, LSU 140. Jammie Robinson, S, Florida State 163. Roschon Johnson, RB, Texas 246. Malik Cunningham, QB, Louisville Also got the Raiders 2nd next year.

At the end of the day, I think Perine being gone is the most significant change we are going to see. The idea of moving on from Mixon was premised on needing/using his money and cap space to extend Burrow. That doesn’t appear anywhere close to happening, so Mixon at $12.7 million it is. I prefer Fournette to Elliot in the debate (such as it is) over a veteran signing, but there’s never much of a market for used starting RBs, and if anything there’s less of one this year (waves at Austin Eckler). So I expect the Bengals will wait and see how things fall in the draft. If the opportunity presents itself to get a talented rookie runner, then they probably just roll with the current lineup plus the new guy. If not they’ll probably pick up a vet sometime later.

Shakey’s sausage pizza was the best pizza I ever had. I don’t know what that sausage was made of. Maybe people who didn’t clean COB’s gutters thoroughly enough, I dunno. But it was awesome. Also the hats. The hats were awesome too.

They’re all afraid to sign here now because they think Mike will sneak the Royal Lives Clause into their contract and they’ll never be free agents again!

Yeah, they're doing fine. Before FA if you'd asked me if I'd swap Hurst, Bell AND Pratt for Brown, I would have said yes in less than a heartbeat. As it is we got Orlando and kept Germaine, and the other losses have been made up with guys who have the talent to be difference makers if they can stay on the field. And there's still the draft to go. Offseason grades are meaningless but for me this is an A so far.

The biggest problem with Dawand in Reid's draft is that there's an embarrassment of riches still on the table at 28, including Mayer (and Kincaid and Washington), Bresee, Adebawore, Brian Branch, Cam Smith, Gibbs, and OTs Bergeron and Freeland. It just screams "trade down."

The butthurt keeps on coming. From Kelsey Conway last night: "A source close to the situation." LOL. Just say Jonah's agent, Kelsey. As for being blindsided, from all reports so were the Bengals. They weren't actually pursuing Brown, he called them. Look, I understand, it's tough when they sign someone to do your job. But it's been two weeks. Time to get over it. Suck it up and deal. Like Army keeps saying, play well at RT and you'll be worth even more next March.

Another thing to consider is Hendrickson. He is in the final two years of his deal and as such the numbers have gotten a bit...lopsided. He counts $15 million against the cap this year (versus $5 million in dead money) and $17.5 million against the cap (versus $2.5 million in dead money) in 2024. He was fantastic in 2021 but not so much last season (though you can argue he got screwed regularly by the refs) and with all the giant deals on the horizon for Joe, Tee, and Chase, he could be a casualty. So DE is sort of a sneaky need, at least from a cap point of view.

Only if we also go back and give Chris Perry "2" then retire that...