HoosierCat

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

A big thanks to Hamilton Co. taxpayers for the new FieldTurf field coming for next season. https://www.bengals.com/news/paycor-stadium-field-turf-update-2024-season

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/ranking-five-mlb-teams-that-could-make-2024-postseason-after-missing-out-on-playoffs-completely-in-2023/ getting some buzz…

Not enough film on Mims yet so he went Fuaga. https://youtu.be/b1_P4wuGtjc?si=YSiDHTR5TMxf-WdH

Yeah, Tart was another one with alleged attitude and effort issues, which is why he got cut in December. I think we can expect that most of the guys the Bengals will target will have some warts. They seem to have done pretty well sorting through them in recent years tho, more hits than misses. Hopefully the trend continues.

I remember liking Becton back in 2020. If his knee is ok, I would consider it. Certainly worth a look.

While there might not be a lot at tackle there now, chances are there will be, if the actual draft goes anything like the mocks. Take that pff post-SB mock. They have 9 tackles going in the first and 3 more in the second. That’s 12 new guys who all will either be handed a starting role or expected to challenge for one. Very likely there will be a Riley Reiff type situation if the Bengals want to just try to patch things for a year. Even if they do take a tackle early my guess is they will be looking for a cast off vet as insurance.

Seems like a good time for this with the two-week window for teams to use the tag starting tomorrow. Also, the salary cap could come in higher than expected. Was projected around 242, might be more like 250. An extra 8 million would be handy for a “tag tee, sign chase” scenario. https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/salary-cap-is-poised-to-be-as-much-as-243-million-per-team-and-maybe-higher