HoosierCat

Dehner's first mock, from the Athletic. Big fan of 247! Round 1 (18): Taliese Fuaga, OT, Oregon Round 2 (49): Roman Wilson, WR, Michigan Round 3A (80): Mike Hall Jr., DT Ohio State Round 3B (97): Max Melton, CB, Rutgers Round 4 (115): Khristian Boyd, DT, Northern Iowa Round 5 (149): Tip Reiman, TE, Illinois Round 6A (194): Drake Nugent, C, Michigan Round 6B (214): Isaac Guerendo, RB, Louisville Round 7A (224): Nathaniel Watson, LB, Mississippi State Round 7B (247): Tory Taylor, P, Iowa

Boyd update. Why hasn’t he signed in Pitt yet? Completely unsurprising answer: his market has dried up and now the Steelers don’t want to pay the asking price. https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/nfl-free-agency-2024-heres-whats-delaying-a-possible-deal-between-tyler-boyd-and-the-steelers/

A couple day 3 guys the Bengals have shown interest in: Dallin Holker, TE, Colorado State Evan Anderson, DT, Florida Athletic https://www.cincyjungle.com/2024/3/21/24106729/bengals-dallin-holker-evan-anderson-nfl-draft-visits-2024

Eh, he played fine with New England when they were good, too. Also did well with the 9ers and Raiders. I wouldn't worry much. Brown is a one-year rental that, assuming he can stay upright (a sizeable assumption), means they don't have to rush a rookie in as the starting RT.

Browns keep browning, give Jeudy a three-year $58 million extension with $41 million guaranteeed. https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/39766129/browns-sign-wr-jerry-jeudy-3-year-58m-extension

Yup it’s ugly. Like I said a couple months back, whatever it is they do in scouting and grading OL, they need to throw it in the wood chipper and go do the exact opposite.

If Trent can stay healthy, Brown & Brown will arguably be the best tackle duo the Bengals have fielded since the heyday of Big Willie and Levi circa 2005.

So is Karras, and Cappa has a 10 million cap hit in 2025. And Volson is, well, Volson. OL will be a priority this draft and next.

If he does his job right you’ll never hear his name!

Sweet!

I think that if you are the Bengals right now, you absolutely have to protect yourself against the possibility that you don't get get one of the stud RT prospects at 18. And it's not impossible that 5-6 tackles could come off the board before they pick. So you either commit to moving up at least, oh, four spots (which is going to cost you at minimum your third rounder) to ensure you get a guy, or you sign one of the proven if flawed starters available in FA.

Well, the word put of Pitt now is that, one, there is a “mutual interest” between the Steelers and Wilson to extend him beyond the one year he is signed for. Which raises the immediate question, if that’s true, why did they sign him to a one year deal in the first place? And two, the Steelers are not expected to pick up Fields’ option. However, they may try to extend his contract as well. Which raises the immediate question of why Fields would do this if Wilson is gonna be the long term guy? https://en.meming.world/wiki/File:Cat_Standing_in_the_Snow.jpg/

Brown visiting tomorrow per shefty.

Neither Becton nor Tart would take OT/DT off my board at 18 and I doubt they would have for the Bengals. As for Becton getting paid $15 million to start? Sure. I just structure the deal with hefty per game bonuses, like $500k per game, with minimal salary and guarantees. Given his injury history I would bet any team would be looking to do the same. Trent Brown’s name is now starting to bubble up in the rumor mill. Not counting on anything there but we’ll see.

Rapien is a moron. Always has been.

The thing that makes the Fields trade weird is the Russell Wilson trade. They make no sense together. If there's no Wilson, then Fields is your starter this fall and you are 100% picking up his option. He's costing you $1.6 million this year then $25.6 next year, for a two-year cost of about $13.5 million a year. Peanuts for an NFL QB, and you should know by the end of 2025 whether he's the answer or not. Hell, if somehow you want to see one more year you can spend $50 million or thereabouts on a QB franchise tag and your three-year costs are still cheap for a QB. But if Wilson is your starter in 2024, which the Steelers said he is, then yeah, what do you do? You can still pick up the option, but what if Wilson is great? You just let him walk. And if he sucks and you end up in the range of a top QB in next year's draft, do you take one with the commitment to Fields? This feels like a left hand and right hand doing two different things, which is weird in Pitt, but who knows.

And on cue, this popped up today from the Pitt Athletic writer: https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/news/steelers-reportedly-split-on-potential-tyler-boyd-signing

Yeah, that’s what I meant when I said I think he only returns on a team friendly deal, meaning he has no other choices. He would definitely be fighting for a spot. I suspect the coaches want to get the young guys on the field more this season, to see if they have a Boyd replacement as well as a Higgins replacement on the roster. But they might suck or get hurt so Boyd might be back if he comes as cheap insurance.

I think that’s the only way he ends up back in Cincy.

Steelers hosting Mike Williams for visit. A bit interesting to me that for all the talk of interest between Pitt and Boyd there’s been no discernible movement there, and no mention of anyone else being interested in him. He looked kind of washed to me last season, maybe other teams saw the same thing?

I could see doing that deal, then trading back down in the first to pick up another 2024 pick.

I watched plenty of Fields. He isn’t bad. This sucks.

Well, one place Becton isn’t going is back to New York. Jets are signing Tyron Smith. So as far as RT goes, I’d say the Bengals have three choices left: pony up for Becton or Trent Brown; start Ford or Smith or, gawd help us, Jackson; or it’s (begin Bob Barker voice) pick 18, come on down, you’re next on “The Tackle is Right.”

True but it’s Pickett and pick 120. So basically they traded him to move up 22 slots.

Yeah Rudolph went to the Titans. I guess the plan is “suck for (Shedeur) Sanders” in April 2025.