HoosierCat

Package for the scriptwriter…

First depth chart issued. https://www.cincyjungle.com/cincinnati-bengals-roster/173733/2025-depth-chart No big surprises. Patrick gets the nod at RG but Risner is right behind him. Stewart backing up Ossai, Murphy behind Hendrickson. Charlie Jones to return both kicks and punts. Hill is the starting nickel corner, as expected. Fant over Hudson over Grandy at the back end of the TE room

I feel pretty good about the offense. I think the changes they made to camp and preseason this year, especially forgoing joint practices with other teams in favor of focusing on what they needed to do in practice and giving the starters more reps in preseason, are going to pay off this Sunday. I feel good about teams as well. The defense? That's the big question. We've heard the "oh, we weren't really trying, don't worry, it'll all be different when we hit the magic button ahead of week one" talk before, and pretty much every time it's not any different. So I expect that they will look awful Sunday and we are going to need to score 40 to have any hope of a win. I do think the D will improve once they get a few weeks in the new system under their belts and all the position battles/question marks work themselves out. But the O is going to have to carry the load for the first month of the season.

Meanwhile in Cleveland.

Welp, it's week 1. Let the disappointment begin! Some stuff from Hobs. Dax Hill is a go for Sunday. Coaches "continue to monitor the status of" DJ Turner and BJ Hill. Taylor wasn't ready yesterday to name a starting RG, though Patrick appears to have the inside track.

Sounds like the Chiefs were hoping he would sign up with them again via the PS but they might have pissed him off… https://www.arrowheadpride.com/kansas-city-chiefs-roster/180578/mike-pennel-signs-with-the-bengals

Bengals sign DT Mike Pennel. https://www.cincyjungle.com/cincinnati-bengals-news/173684/bengals-sign-mike-pennel-to-practice-squad

Pats claim Gregory.

One last thought: if Trey plays this season like he did last season, that ~$38m franchise tag just became a bargain.

& yeah the money is nuts but that the NFL now. Teams get half a billion a year in shared revenue. This is why Trey did what he did. NFL $$ is just on another planet.

See you just dint understand this makes them better against the run! No Parsons = CHAMPIONSHIP! #JerryLogic

LMAO

Didn’t see this coming. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/46098144/sources-micah-parsons-traded-packers-gets-record-contract Pretty sure if you’d asked people in Feb who between Hendrickson and Parsons would get signed and who would get traded, the answer would have been the opposite of what happened.

New regime down in Jax, no particular loyalty to Baalke’s guys. Foster’s motivation level might go up some here versus there too.

Zierlein’s draft profile for Foster: https://www.nfl.com/prospects/javon-foster/3200464f-5342-2601-9382-68a5b7a3d54b PFF: https://www.pff.com/news/draft-2024-nfl-draft-favorite-picks-all-32-nfl-teams Also: https://www.pff.com/news/draft-2024-nfl-draft-highest-graded-offensive-tackles-in-every-category

Risner official per da site. https://www.bengals.com/news/bengals-sign-dalton-risner-roster-update-august-28-2025 Yeast also announced. Also signed OT Javon Foster. Cut Gregory and Cochran. One open PS spot.

Bengals apparently did make one waiver claim, for DT Jordan Jefferson, but SF got there first. https://www.cincyjungle.com/cincinnati-bengals-rumors/173517/jordan-jefferson-49ers-waiver-claims-jaguars-cuts-nfl So they are in the market for a DT. I believe they still have one taxi squad seat left, so the scenario sketched out in the above link, where they sign someone and then try to get Gregory or Cross through waivers to the PS, is still possible. Bleacher Report on who's available...

I don’t have a problem with Risner either but there’s a reason he was still there. He’s a 30-year-old with back problems. He might be able to give us 10 games, or he might only last 10 plays. I’d rather have him than not but he’s an OWUD and we’ve seen that movie before. If we need him I just hope he lasts.

Ravens reset the safety market, give Kyle Hamilton $100 million. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/46087820/ravens-kyle-hamilton-agree-4-year-1004m-extension

Craig Yeast. (Insert Obi-Wan pic here.) Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time… Anyhow they signed his kid to the PS. https://www.cincyjungle.com/cincinnati-bengals-news/173412/russ-yeast-son-of-craig-yeast-texans-cuts

I guess league minimum turned out to be enough. They signed Risner.

Waiver claims. If the Bengals put any in, they got jumped by some team in front of them. Didn’t lose anyone to a claim, tho. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/2025-nfl-waiver-claims-tracker-titans-claim-four-players-including-jalyn-armour-davis-from-ravens/

Taxi squad: Signed the following 13 players to the practice squad (all were with the Bengals during training camp): --HB Gary Brightwell --OT Devin Cochran --OT Andrew Coker --CB Jalen Davis --LB Joe Giles-Harris --G Jaxson Kirkland --CB Bralyn Lux --C Seth McLaughlin --HB Kendall Milton --WR Jordan Moore --LB Maema Njongmeta --DE Isaiah Thomas --WR Isaiah Williams *Also signed QB Brett Rypien to the practice squad. Rypien (6-2, 200), a sixth-year player out of Boise State University, originally was a college free agent signee of Denver in 2019. He has played in 10 career games with four starts for the Broncos (2020-22) and L.A. Rams ('23), and completed 98 of 168 passes for 950 yards and four TDs with nine INTs. He also spent time on Seattle's practice squad and the N.Y. Jets' active roster during the 2023 season, then spent the entire '24 campaign on Minnesota's practice squad. The Bengals' practice squad currently is two spots shy of the 16-player limit. In addition, the following three players, who each were waived/injured by the Bengals yesterday, cleared waivers today and reverted to the team's Reserve/Injured list: --OT Caleb Etienne --TE Tanner McLachlan --G Cordell Volson

They’ve used void years several times in recent years. Reiff was the first one, I think. There are void years in burrow’s deal too.

Another contract detail: per Field Yates there is a void year. Trey’s ~19m cap number will only rise by 3m this year. So that would mean around 8m in dead money next year. That leaves the Bengals with something like 25m in cap space at a point where there’s not much to do with it.