HoosierCat

I got 99 problems with the offense and Joe Mixon ain’t one of them. I get the arguments, and if you want to hear them all, pro and anti, Goodberry and Zim Whodey went at it hammer and tongs yesterday here, as well as Tee’s tag. But at the end of the day, we have holes at RT, slot receiver, TE and the backup RB spots, and question marks on the interior OL, AND we are operating on the assumption that Tee’s injury-filled 2023 was a fluke and not a sign of bad thing ahead. So my interest level in cutting Mixon is less than zero. I agree that if we get into this spring and all the other spots have been addressed and there’s a clear opportunity to upgrade, eat the roster bonus and move on. But right now? No.

The locker room is being gutted and redone so that D+ should be better. https://www.bengals.com/news/upgrades-paycor-stadium-locker-room-field-2024-season The daycare and food stuff seems like a private sector partnership opportunity if someone down in marketing pulled their head out of their butt.

In other fully expected news, exclusive rights free agents Browning and Adomitis have both been tendered. https://www.bengals.com/news/jake-browning-cal-adomitis-exclusive-rights-tenders-2024-season League minimum this year is $915k. Of course it goes up a bit with experience and I’m not sure how much each has accrued. But for the moment scratch about another $2 million in cap space. Edit: looks like 915 for Jake and 985 for Cal.

In case anyone was wondering, Mel has us taking Fuaga in his latest mock. But he also has Latham going ahead of Alt so he may be on serious drugs regarding tackles.

Couple early meetings reported, Chop Robinson and Michigan DE Jaylen Harrell. Chop had some first round buzz early but seems to have slipped into the second now. Harrell is a day 3 guy.

Yeah, still too many unknowns. But it’s not hard to conjure a scenario where Bowers, Newton and the top 3-4 OTs are all gone by 18. And in that case Powers-Johnson has to be in the mix. Plus the Bengals do not currently have a Johnson on the roster. That might be a rules violation…

I’d take him.

Full list of attendees: https://www.bengals.com/news/2024-nfl-combine-prospect-list

Picked up a couple more assistants but it looks like the 24 coaching staff has been finalized. HEAD COACH: Zac Taylor ASSISTANT COACHES: Lou Anarumo (defensive coordinator) James Bettcher (linebackers) Joey Boese (director of player performance/head strength and conditioning) Charles Burks (secondary/cornerbacks) James Casey (tight ends) Louie Cioffi (defensive quality control) Mark Duffner (senior defensive assistant) Derek Frazier (assistant offensive line) Justin Hill (running backs) Marion Hobby (defensive line) Todd Hunt (assistant strength and conditioning) Ben Jacobs (special teams assistant) Fredi Knighten (assistant quarterbacks) Jordan Kovacs (secondary/safeties) Brad Kragthorpe (quarterbacks) Dan Pitcher (offensive coordinator) Frank Pollack (offensive line/run game coordinator) Justin Rascati (pass game coordinator) Ronnie Regula (defensive assistant) Jordan Salkin (offensive assistant) Darrin Simmons (assistant head coach/special teams coordinator) Garrett Swanson (assistant strength and conditioning) Troy Walters (wide receivers) STAFF: Doug Rosfeld (chief of coaching staff) https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/news/bengals-hire-three-assistant-coaches-finalize-2024-coaching-staff

And last season was a terrible one for him. Now he gets a do-over to put up big numbers and really break the FA bank.

Higgins tag is official. https://www.bengals.com/news/tee-higgins-franchise-tag-2024-season

Guys, guys, GUYS, I know the big numbers have us all excited, but remember, those numbers have yet to be Hobsonized. I mean, we’re already down to 54 after the tag. And they have to fill out the roster — all those scrubs won’t replace themselves! — and extend RFA offers and all that. Of course Rookie Pool is gonna show up looking for his piece, and his buddy Injury Pad won’t be far behind. And we really need to push some space into the future for that big Myles Murphy extension in 2026. When you work it all out, the Bengals are hard up against the cap. Might need to cut Joe Mixon just to get some breathing room. No way they can chase a top tier FA, or even a B or C level player. Might sign a guy or two in late May, but might still be looking for starters after camp cuts. Sucks to be in cap hell like this but here we are.

Apparently he started his career at Mount St. Joe, so he’s got a Cincy connection. Just joined NW State in December so clearly a surprise move. Was coaching teams and TEs at ND but was supposed to be moving to QB coach and passing game coordinator in New Mexico. Wonder where he will go here, but between this and Rascati it feels like they are trying to overhaul the offensive game plan, which imo is a good idea.

https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/allbengals-insiders-plus/report-cincinnati-hires-new-mexico-state-assistant-ronnie-regula-as-quality-control-coach

Yup, tag him and move on. If they can get a long term deal, great, but in any event he’s here next season.

Yeah. There was spike of online chatter earlier today about a possible long term deal for Tee, and the cap coming in at this number I think explains it. Still a longshot but imo substantially less long than it was.

Mims. Lot of good discussion after too.

Bengals now 7th league-wide in cap space. EDIT 6th, apparently the NO number was screwed up. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cap/ Ravens at 24 with 12. Steelers at 25 with 8, don’t know if that counts the center they cut today, that was worth 5. EDIT Now at 12 after cutting the center. Cleveland at 7.7 OVER the cap. El oh el. NOTE even figuring in Tee’s franchise tag hit, the Bengals still have about the 11th-most cap space.

Also franchise tag amounts for 2024 are out. WR tag is $21.816 million. So they can tag Tee and still have $52 million + in space.

Bengals cap is 266. So they now have $74 million in cap space. https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cincinnati-bengals/cap/

All I know is that the cries of the cut Joe Mixon chorus appear to be growing louder by the day. I continue to hope they will be disappointed.

It should be better for the players. Paycor had the last slit film turf field, which was associated with a higher incidence of injuries.

KC signs punt god. https://www.nfl.com/news/free-agent-punter-matt-araiza-signing-with-super-bowl-champion-kansas-city-chiefs