AMPHAR

Burrow is set to get $5m this year while costing $11m against the cap. The 5th year option is projected at $19.6. I would guess the structure is going to get Joe a helluva lot more than $24m the next two years while the cap hits won't differ drastically than this year and the option year. Kyler Murray's deal got him $30m 2022 while counting $12.6m against the cap. Gets him $39m 2023 while counting $16.0, then another $39m while count $51.2m against the cap.

Its going to seem like forever until free agency starts. I don't think Bengals are going to dive into the FA market for OL. I expect RT to be the big ? entering TC. Hopefully they have a decent draft pick out there competing with Carman, Adeniji. I think Collins will be a black hole so I expect Collins to be moving on.

For those interested in Right Tackles: Dawand Jones - OSU. Started RT the past two years. Got some snaps at LT the two years prior. He is mentioned by a few as making a positive impression on Day 1 of Senior Bowl practices. The only bad news is Tomlin was front and center for the reps and they rumored to be interested.

Big fan of Tom Brady. Otherwise the Ravens and Steelers would have had more Superbowls.

Payton to Denver hopefully makes the AFC West tougher. The Chiefs have run up a 27-3 record vs AFC West opponents since 2015. That's been their key to hosting AFC Champ every year. In the AFC North it seems like most years the champ of the division has at least 1 division loss and maybe 2.

I agree. I would rather a RT too. I think 2024 is a tough extension for Jonah. So there is room, IMO, to take the best available tackle irrespective of Left or Right. Adeniji to me is not a high quality starter. Carman while surprising in the playoffs, I still wouldn't trust him without seeing more snaps but I think he'll factor in somewhere for a TC competition. Collins is a big question mark, I wouldn't count on him at all. Going into 2024, I think they have to nail a tackle pick this year 2023. Then maybe/hopefully continue to get a surprise from Carman. But you can't go into 2024 with starting LT entering FA and question marks at RT. That's a tough off season.

I think the Bengals spend FA dollars on retaining/replacing defense. Hopefully some summer time extensions too. I really don't see them shopping for starters in FA until they lose a FA. Hurst enters FA but there is also a good TE class waiting to be drafted as well. I could see a good deal for Hurst. I think the line comes back in full except maybe a change at RT. I always thought Carman was drafted to be groomed as a tackle. Whether or not that was true it seems to have ended up at that spot. Also Jonah Williams is in his last year. Collins wasn't great at being available to practice at Training Camp this year. Cowboys got irritated at him for similar stuff and found his replacement. I could see a draft pick coming for tackle. Not sure Bengals would want to once again shop for aging RT vet with suffering key injuries two years in a row.

CBS has Anton Harrison as the pick too.

Losing Lou is my biggest concern. I think its a foregone conclusion that Callahan will eventually get a HC job. He's got a top 10 offense with a MVP finalist QB; he also has a Manning reference, and all sorts of NFL family connections; eventually someone will tap into that. Given Taylor's connections and his brothers Connections, I think offensive coaching pieces will be easier to find replacements.

The light training camp led to 30 sacks in the first 8 games. They allowed 15 the back 8. Injuries clearly cloud the playoff performance the Williams, Volson, Karras, Cappa, Collins squad allowed 1 sack vs. Chiefs week 13. They have to find a younger durable solution to RT this year. Williams with his option year picked up will be back playing (hopefully better.) I think you try to insert Carman at the RT spot with insurance from Collins I guess,

They see a lot of Cover 2. The receiving skills are important in that regard. Hasn't been durable, but I think his rushing totals have been hampered by the o-line. They save $7m with a cut, but before I got on board with that I'd want to see the replacement plan. Not sure I want them kicking the salary cap hit down the road either.

Bengals are projected $44.5m under the cap with 41 signed. Other teams of interest: 1. Baltimore $28.8m with 49 signed but a looming QB contract situation 2. Kansas City $12m with only 35 signed - they will have a lot cap juggling to do 3. Pittsburgh - $4m OVER - 4. Cleveland - $14m OVER 5. Buffalo - $20.5m OVER So the direct competition to another Division title defense and path to another AFC Championship have interesting cap situations.

Bates, Bell, Apple, Flowers, Pratt - a lot of snaps they'll need to retain or replace.

Would love Witherspoon. I guess McShay already knows his stock has risen to round 1. Back in the fall he was 2nd/3rd round. He's a legit run defending corner.

The Chiefs won so they get the last laugh for now. But, I kinda chuckle about the Chiefs being offended or acting offended. I think both teams manufactured motivation prior to the game. Bengals have to travel to KC next year so that should be a fun week.

They should enter next year as one of the AFC favorites. I still think they give up too much pressure and the running game is hot and cold. Defensively they'll have to replace some key roles and still try to build depth.

lol, at the Cincinnati mayor getting roasted by Kelce. Aftab? What a dope.

Yeah, the refs swallowed their whistle on the holding. Not sure what the deal is. In the Wild Card win vs. Ravens on the last play Hendrickson was held so bad, no flag and thankfully that ball fell to the turf. Last night, critical play and blatant holding not called on the scramble. The officiating is getting national attention this morning so it clearly goes beyond bitter fan viewpoints. Sucks the Bengals didn't play very good all game, but this game just slips away from them.

Yep in the end the OL was tough to overcome.

Bengals could also front load. That was the path they took with Dalton. Although Dalton will never reach the stature of Burrow at the time his 6 year $115m extension was a major deal. I know there were some incentives involved, but he got like 20% of that contract in the first 6 months of signing. Dalton's cap hit was about 15% of their cap room at the time. I don't think it ever got over 20% mostly because of the front loading. That paved away for the Bengals do things like retain Atkins, Dunlap then catch MJ on the rebound from Tampa. Something people thought they'd never be able to do. As I have said many times the National Media or rival fan bases have failed to recognized the fact the Bengals front office built best in league rosters (2012-2015) prior to Burrow. They instead elect to view the Bengals as the 90s bengals using Marvin/Dalton's lack of post season success at an excuses. So here they are after a majority of the football world projected failure for Burrow/Bengals; Bengals have a top of league roster again and now are getting post season success.

L'Jarius Sneed now making his rounds on the bulletin board train. Chiefs secondary is going to "handle them". I think its time for the players/fans to agree the bulletin board train is full and its time to put up or shut up. Both teams are good. Both teams can find something to be pissed about. Vegas thinks its a close one. Great players are going to make plays and hopefully there isn't some bad injury or bad call the tints the final outcome.

Carman will have to prove over a series of games. The LT for the Rams that filled in for Whitworth during the playoffs performed awesome. Then he kinda sucked this year when having stack games week after week. Not sure how his season went but he was struggling. The plus side is both Carman and Adeniji played last year in Arrowhead. So this isn't brand new to them at least.

I don't really think there is anything as a "bulletin board" edge with these two teams. The Chiefs have had all the motivation in the world to beat the Bengals in the past 3. Since coming out of the bye; the Bengals have had a chip on their shoulder almost every week. If this game does get the point of the last week's game vs. Buffalo. I would love for the Bengals to pull out the "Merry Go Round" huddle. That's been my favorite thing so far Reading/Listening Chief fans claim how cocky the Bengals are but a couple weeks ago they are doing Merry Go Round huddle vs. the Raiders.

By the way KC fans on their message boards are great at the "ifs" and "buts" and some are legit. The last 3 have been close games. If anyone was honest they could have swung a different way if you change a couple plays. However, can they at least admit Boyd dropped an easy TD? There was a couple other not normal things happened that went against Bengals too. Honestly, I thought the last game was closer than it should have been. Like last year Tenn may have been the best team in the AFC up until they lost to Bengals. They did have wins over Buffalo and KC. The KC/Buffalo game was awesome (this year and last Division round). This year Buffalo may have been the best team but didn't have to play Bengals regular season and then got whooped.