AMPHAR

I wonder if the Colts ever got involved with Pratt? Pratt had some great moments in the stripes.

Other rookies participated in voluntaries without contracts on the wavier. He refused. Thus any reps he missed is his fault, period. Of course you aren't going to acknowledge the reason this clause could be necessary. But those are the reasons why these type of things are popping up and have been for a while. I think the Bengals are completely justified in asking/demanding those clauses be included. Any team is, IMO. If you aren't going to acknowledge players have been taken off the field by the league office for things that don't even deal with criminal charges then maybe you are biased. So that's the defense you asked for. There have been actual missed training camp time under the rookie slotted system because of wording dealing with recovery of guarantees. So I don't think teams see it as relative pocket change. I don't think its accurate to paint this as a Bengal issue and no other team attempts to do this. They have.

1st - Defense on field last week. Shemar's refusal to sign an injury wavier and not practice has nothing to do with the clause. Multiple rookies practiced without contracts. I think the agent and player were 100% wrong in that. I think it shows the agent maybe putting his business ahead of Shemar's reputation. 2nd - I don't think anything is being lost with these missed reps. If you believe this has any effect on the locker room / winning/losing. You are being trolled. I think Shemar Stewart could sit out an entire season and not be missed. I didn't really love the draft pick at the time. Had to do a bunch of research to figure out. If this goes long you really have to start to question his personal pride. Does he have it to succeed at the NFL level? How can a player with any pride get shit on so much for having 1.5 sacks, in his mind drop in the draft, and let an agent use him and miss important time? I don't think he will and he'll get plenty of reps and all this hub bub will be proven as click bait. 3rd - You are wrong about it being out of thin air. Teams have attempted these clauses over several years with rookies. Some successful, some not. Go research. The ones that accept it aren't advertised as much as the agencies that fight them. Why? My guess is that the agents wants to protect their rep for future clients. Bengals have attempted it in the past. Myles Murphy practiced on a rookie wavier then came to an agreement without the clause. The Bengals may have even gotten it in deals. You'll never know because those players prioritize getting the reps and don't fuss about it. 4th - Like it or not the Bengals will ALWAYS be 100% justified for demanding that clause under the current environment. How many times to you need to witness Goodell using the NFL office sorward to invoke punishment for things that weren't criminally involved? Justin Tucker. One of the more popular players in Baltimore. Very community involved. Accused of rub and tugs. Has denied it. No criminal charges. Team cuts him. I don't care how anyone feels over the Watson/Tucker or any other situation. The fact that these situations are not rarities anymore justify the clause. If you are against Shemar Stewart being forced to deny the clause then don't stand on your morality soap box and preach about them being cut either. I say get prevent the bad actors from entering. Then get them out fast. But you got a union that protects them. Thus you have clauses that protect the team. NFL business. Not worth consuming opinion trying to equate a contract dispute to overall winning/losing, IMO. 5th - How many of the hot take generators shit on mock drafts choosing Shemar? How many after the pick? How many are now telling you the front office is evil because he's not practicing? Just seems to me they go with whatever generates clicks.

I remain skeptical about any magic transformation of the run game. I think its important to scheme things to your players strengths of course. I think dedicating reps in practice, preseason are more important. I think the week to week game planning is most important. Not impossible to transform your identity buts its hard. Patriots under BB were great at it. IMO, Burrow AND Zac have a little Dan Marino bug in them when it comes to the running game. Two HOF coaches with Marino could never get the running game going with him. But protecting the passer will always remain the top priority so I just think they'll spend more time doing that vs. getting pad level low and removing people from LOS. It shows.

I don't think the front office is wrong. I won't think they are right either IF it moves into July. I think they are justified in asking for the clause given what I've read. What were your thoughts on Jackson Carmen's sex assault charges? I bet you'd think he should have a clause after you found out about it. What have been your thoughts on Watson and Tucker? None of those involved any criminal charges but could have effected their ability to play in the NFL because Goodell loves to play investigator. Whole bunch of Bengal fans wanted Burton cut. The team is automatically in the wrong because Shemar's team says so? Every time an off the field incident happens the first response from message board fans seems to be "Get him off the team". Well this clause would help do exactly that. So are you pro player or pro front office? Then I think Shemar is 100% in the wrong for not being on the field when other rookies without contracts were prior to mandatory. I do question his willingness to compete for a job. Although I wasn't excited about the pick in the first place and also think he's in for fight for snaps the entire year even if he was on the field. Sure he doesn't like the clause holding him accountable. Fine. But other rookie players were on the field prior to mandatory. I think its fair to question the motive of the agent too. So why would you automatically point an laugh at those rebuttals? Personally I think there is enough shit heads that are good at football and you have a jackass union protecting their right to be apart of the league the Teams are well within their right to protect the money they are handing out. If the player is pissed that he individually is painted with the same brush as "bad" apple look at your union. But that's just me.

This board, lol. OMG don't let them make the playoffs. It might suggest they know what they are doing. I can't believe someone typed that to be read. WTF? Emotional. Just NFL business.

Bengals automatically get better at RT with no Watt. Yeah. Interesting situation up in Pitt. They've successfully found/replaced the edge rush LB for about 30 years. Noticeable difference when Watt is out but he is also aging. They are due for about 10 years of draft busts at that spot.

I don't even know if the OL can get it together so everyone will have a nice PFF grade. Is it possible? Given the way TC is conducted, game play calling, QB? I don't know. I know they seem to play worse than normal in the first month of the season. That goes hand in hand with the QB also struggling early. On one hand they've been top 10 offense missing a decent amount of snaps from Higgins with a bad OL. Its just been so long from a time under Alexander were you could expect a sack a game average. Now the 3 sack game people are applauding. Does Joe need to throw away more, check down more? Obviously they don't fire a OL coach and replace two starters IF everything is just great. Its been bad. I just have my doubts fans are ever going to have on paper proof the OL is fixed. Joe Burrow doesn't play that way and Zac doesn't call a game that way. IF Higgins is on the field more often, I doubt any of the play calling gets easier on the OL. Production probably goes up tho.

Maybe Lou was a Dick Lebeau. Maybe he wasn't. We'll see. I think/hope we'll see across the board improvement in yards allowed and most importantly point allowed. Sack numbers are great but not a tell all. First I think Trey plays and doesn't miss much time IF any through a hold out. I don't see that path getting him much more at all and probably costs him headaches and millions. I don't think Lou went into games with getting to the QB as the priority of his game plan. I think he wanted to avoid big plays and got stuck playing the same zone defenses even when it was clear the other OC/QB figured it out. See Russell Wilson career half throwing to an empty middle over and over again. So again we'll see.

I always assumed they are looking to trade Pratt or keep him. Pratt is holding out or a no show so he's not helping his case. I'm sure there will be some updates soon when the mandatory practices come up in a few days.

Offense - Higgins. Going back to the extension talk. He hasn't played very much at all in recent seasons. You get Higgins back up to 75% of offensive snaps or 90% (shock) that will be the biggest impact on yardage and points produced. Hands down. Perine - if his skills are the same when he left. I think he'll make an impact in short yardage and pass pro. Mims/Brown Jr. - Best chance the Bengals have had on paper to get back to Whit/Big tits tackle duo. I don't know if Myles Murphy is worth a crap. Don't really see how he gets playing time either unless he jumps up significantly. Hope he does. Dax Hill on the other hand I think has real NFL talent his small window at safety saw him drop a ton of Ints. Logan Wilson healthy is always around the ball. Could easily see him having a 6 Int year with no problem. CTB has ball hawk skills as well. I'd say the potential of those 3 having big TO years could really flip things for a defense IF it all comes together for them.

OL will be interesting. They clearly need to improve and you don't fire OL coach IF you are happy about the play, but the overall offensive production has been there with a healthy Burrow. Burrow/ZT seem to don't care about running the ball but a couple losses might have been wins with better running late. There were a couple bad Joe Burrow fumbles for scores outside the pocket as well that played big parts in losses. Then there are a bunch of impact plays of Burrow manipulating coverage with his play extending abilities and pocket movement. I just kinda wonder what a coach can do to correct some of the protection stuff without changing play selection and Burrow extending plays.

The reboot of the defense is now the most critical team segment in regards to the Burrow era, IMO.

I think the amount of Trey's big pay day is questionable. There were plenty of leaks trade shaming the Bengals. Very few specifics on $$$. Everyone assumes he walks into Myles/Crosby money and they judge it based on AAV. Misleading. Myles realistic money is 3 years $100m. Well below the often sighted $40m. $33.3m Crosby realistic money is $94m over 3. $31.3m With a rumored offer of $28m on the table he's an idiot (no matter the structure/incentives) for any attempt at carrying a hold out into the season after what transpired with Haason Reddick. Bengals might have his top offer out there on the table.

Bengals have a tag and nobody but Trey to use it on next year. A holdout does shit for him. Eventually something gets done. Not even worth worrying about. Same with Stewart. Pissing match over language. He wasn't jumping to the top of the depth chart the day he steps on the field. Every guy above him has money on the line this season as they are entering final years. Bend the knee, cash your check and get your career started.

If I remember correctly early 2022 there was bunch of talk about Cover 2 issues. Then about the Ravens game on the road he started tossing it underneath they had to punt a couple times but then Hurst, Perine and company started converting. The offense started ramping up from there. Last year aside from the fumbles. Joe not taking easy dump offs for maybe conversions or more swung that game into a game flow situation the Pats needed to pull the upset. He could probably benefit from live reps not controlled by practice even if against Colt back ups and throwing to back ups.

Most of the "hot take" generators survive off agent leaks. Thus they are going to protect that critical piece of their business. Its never been clearer than this Bengals offseason. 1. Bengal place franchise tag on Higgins - a smart predictable move. Keeps Tee on the roster at a min. They were franchise tag shamed by every "hot take" factory. Everyone. It destroys lockeroom, they'll never get extension blah, blah, blah. 2. J'mar Chase - the more crazy "hot takes". Bengals were actually proactive. Entering discussions a year earlier when compared to JJ and Lamb. Almost got it done. Then did get it done months before JJ/Lamb in the same year. All it was; "this is going to cost them $40m." Blown cap because they stalled. Can't get a FA guard because deal isn't done. Horrible takes. 3. Trey Hendrickson - OMG. Bengals asked for a lot of draft capital for the NFL's sack leader and their best defender. Trade shamed. This ALL plays right into the negative nelly fan. Being trolled. Fits right in their POV. As it relates to Trey. At some point it would be interesting for one of these "hot take" factories to ask WTF is wrong with you Trey? Don't like money? Don't like winning? There's a track record of the leagues best getting things done with the Bengals. You've got rumored $28m-$32m on the table. Oh, it has to be 100% a win for you? You'll gamble your best chance at Superbowl over terms and conditions? Fans are unlikely to get that because as soon as they do there goes the leaked info and interview access for their pod cast etc.

I don't know IF the Bengals need to play every starter in preseason. IF you look at the slow starts. Fans can find anything to justify why they start slow. If they want to grind an axe about the front office well of course it was J'mar and so on and so on. I think the 1 clear pattern is Joe Burrow and the line. There is always a game or more that is a complete stat buster in the first 4 games. The line (I would NOT call them great at any point during a season) but the amount of pressures and sacks given up early is amazingly multiplied in those 4 games vs. the remainder of the season. Joe Burrow - He's had some Training Camp issues that were major. They clearly have to be factored in. However, I don't know what it is. But early in the year Joe Burrow doesn't take check downs at all. How many times has the local media gotten on Zac about Cover 2 beaters. Well, those have been there all the time. The QB has to be boring and check it down against coverages designed to slow him down. He kinda wants to play hero ball early, IMO. So 1st you can play that starting OL with back up skill guys. Get them a few more live reps. Plus they are on the road in preseason so that's a perfect time. 2nd, I think you could roll Burrow out with back up skill guys (starting O-line) and have him check it down a bunch in the 3rd preseason game which would be against Colt back ups and right before the season. You go back and review these early season games. Joe refuses to check it down and the amount of pressure he gets in multiplied over a normal poor rest of regular season. I don't think you necessarily have to expose Chase, Higgins etc. Defense they are all young so its natural they should play more for reps.

Welcome. Unfortunately, I think until KC is eliminated, they are the deserving favorite. They've beaten ALL 3 obvious contenders multiple times reg and post. Then I think Bills, Ravens, and Bengals are certainly deserving of being labeled lead challengers. I would probably lean towards Baltimore simply because the Bengals defense can't slow Lamar down but they've been in several close one score games. Hopefully the Bengals can flip one this year. Bills are going to be tough. They should be no worse than 2nd seed, IF not 1st seed because that division appears to come up weak this year. I'm hoping Pitt and Clev stumble big time for once but we'll see. Both those teams see competent enough on defense to win a couple division games. So you have to realistically think 2 division losses for the Bengals would be the best to hope for. I do think IF the Bengals get positive returns on some of the young defenders they are then sitting on the leagues best talented team. They've had that in the past under Lewis and never got it done. No way to tell at this point how the young defenders will turn out under new coaching. If they flop it could nose dive the Burrow era just like ending the Boomer days. I am looking forward to that opening Sunday Night Game Bills vs. Ravens.

He's a long armed dragon. Bengals have drafted plenty of Great Highschool lineman 4/5 star, power 5 starters under Tobin. They always sign Free Agents or draft over them about year 3 or 4. Nothing much to say until one hits the starting line up and plays well enough for a 2nd contract.

Eh, its not hard to find bad football or injuries to blame for those losses either. If you want to blame J'mar Chase hold in. Go ahead. Sounds like a bunch of mental gymnastics from people that are being trolled.

Negative NFL fans are easily trolled by click bait NFL coverage. Do an honest assessment of ALL the hot takes concerning J'mar and Tee. All the hot takes off how bad the Bengals would be harmed by not instantly signing the contracts. None of those were true. Bengals aren't paying $40m more in contract value to J'mar or $8m more annually because of the market and all that other bullshit. Your irritated over NFL business because you allow yourself to be irritated and trolled. If you are formulating a defense or attack over the Shemar situation. Stop. Its not worth your time in May, June or July. Bengals operate slow. They like lawyering. That doesn't necessarily conflict with winning. They've proved it. Fans are actually saying they are irritated with an off season that MIGHT prove to be the biggest key to the organization winning a Superbowl. They got to prove it on the field and none of us know if it will happen. Shemar stepping on the field tomorrow or in October will not move Vegas line. That's the most objective source until the football is snapped. Then it becomes the scoreboard and win/loss record. Bengals like to lawyer. Agents like to leak info to media to protect their business in the public realm. Its the same song and dance that says Higgins will get $35m a year etc. Myles Garrett getting $40m a year. Its a lot of bullshit.

I think the Bengals move slow. I believe they were proven correct in some of those 31-1 votes as well. Pod Cast need content. That's it. Rookies have held out of ACTUAL TRAINING camp practices under the rookie slot system. They don't happen often and don't last long. Thus aren't very memorable. As a whole TC isn't as important as it was either contributing to that. There's been plenty of rookies miss May practices due to a graduation rule. Its just something not to worry about until July but you aren't going to get clicks, views stating that.

Could be. BJ Hill has logged over 700 snaps the past 3 seasons. One season was over 800. There wasn't much a rotation under Lou. So eventually those amount of snap counts could catch up to him AND I think you get the best out of Hill with him playing under 500/600 snaps. That's kinda the issue with Trey. Sure any of these guys can pull a Whitworth. They also could decline fast like Geno or Hubbard. It would be wise to get Trey off the field slightly more to try to limit his run defense snaps. There's some comments from Al about wanting to do a better job defending the run with 6 man boxes. Is that 4 run focused DL 2 LBs? or 3 run stuff DL, 3 LBs?

I'd go with Lap but would do his a special induction by himself. Then go with 2 other players. But if limited to 2, Parrish has always been identified as the better CB by Bengal historians and then I'd go with Lap.