AMPHAR

I think fans get the August extensions and when February/March come around they forget or somehow don't count them on their scorecard when wanting to find fault with the front office. They approached Chase a year earlier than JJ and CD. There was strong indication that Chase had the highest WR deal on the table and didn't like the way it was structured. Money Mac isn't a free agent now. Wilson isn't a free agent now. Like they were supposed to be. Trey isn't a free agent because in 2023 they extended him through 2025 before they had too. Now he wants and deserves a raise. There a substantial list of players they dealt with early and took off the market. Fans forget those and only focus on the issue at hand and form a bad opinion. Bengals are in a pretty good spot because they got the QB deal done early which hasn't been 100% across the league. Lamar Jackson had to be tagged. Dak saga drew out over and over. IMO, the deserve way more credit that what's been given. Bengals can once again set the path of a decent offseason by simply applying the tag to Higgins. If they choose to do so. Then that doesn't even screw them because they ample cap room and marginal FAs to resign or replace.

CeeDee and Justin Jefferson didn't get their deal until after year 4 and it took all the way up to Summer to do it. Chase was not signing before then. There was deal offered and almost agreed to by Chase that would have made him the highest paid WR. That's why he ended his shut in and then started it again. Speculation is that the structure was the issue. Higgins fired his agent which has a big reputation of moving clients. How anyone can find complete fault with the front office these two not being signed right now is beyond me. Running a front office is easy IF players just take what fans think is fair and at the time they think it.

Getting played for suckers is my guess. Like Watson it will probably never rise to criminal charges. If its true, its some stuff he probably doesn't want out. If its assault then were are the criminal charges? Goodell's behavior policies has opened up these players as targets. Its fun to poke fun a Ravens fans considering all the shit was thrown at the Bengals back in the day. But at the end of the day, if its not criminal then I don't care. I don't think teams should be making roster decisions based on public opinion of behavior because there's a certain percentage of dirt ball that plays in the league. The league is not pro active about preventing the entry of dirt balls OR removing them once in the league. Kareem Hunt is working an 8 year career and nearly 8K all purpose yards. Chiefs cut him because of women abuse video. Good for them, I guess. Except he's back and it doesn't appear ever missed a season. If you want to win a Superbowl its possible to do it with a clean roster but you reduce your chances if you start making your roster decisions through a moral litmus test. Eventually every team will deal with some sort of issue or multiple.

Tucker had an off year. Probably wasn't getting all the soreness out of his penis.

Oh your paying attention without even knowing it. The NFL pregame coverage is like an odorless gas. Yeah, you think you aren't paying attention but somehow at kick off you'll be up to speed. I've quit watching the Sunday NFL pregame shows sometimes in favor of Premier League games. But somehow, I know who's active and who isn't by 1 and all the story lines by 1. I swear I've paid little attention to the Superbowl coverage. But I have watched a good amount of College Basketball and Senior Bowl coverage. I guarantee you Superbowl has been mixed up in all of that.

I would take the Pittman contract and a market increase ALL DAY long for Tee Higgins. Because it has an out for the Colts after year 2. Maybe Higgins would settle for what amounts to a two year deal at less than annual values vs. the franchise tag? That's the issue. Higgins probably wants a bigger contract than Pittman. Probably wants an annual value equal or greater than franchise tag. Probably wants guarantees that dictate a 4/5 year deal. That's were it gets difficult and as a fan I start questioning the value of that for the Bengals. If you look teams that have done the headline grabbing deals for WRs start looking for outs after year 2 or 3, not always but there's several examples. Any deal for Higgins, I would love for the Bengals to be dead cap minimal after year 2. But that means Higgins isn't getting as much guarantee up front and has to shoulder risk as more of the contract value is put into annual salary.

WRs are the most "in season" traded position. A lot of it is teams have buyers remorse after the big contract. Tee is a fan favorite. I have always wanted the Bengals to keep the trio together. So I wouldn't be mad, but looking at Tee's availability his actual numbers produced and even his projected numbers thinking he can once get 17 games isn't elite. He's in a good situation playing with one of the best QB and the best WR taking coverage away from him. Tee with a top of market deal scream buyers remorse by the 3rd year of his contract and fans living on his name from his hey day. OBJ is probably the best example. He made a living off that catch, the last 8 years he put up JAG or worse numbers. Higgins has put up JAG for his whole career if you look at it without fandom glasses on. I would say tag him with the intent to trade or lift the tag. Take advantage of your cap situation. They'll have enough cap room to do whatever they want even with a chunk taken up with a tag. These projected annual numbers of $28m for Tee while at the same time Chase is going to be $30m+ don't make a whole lot of sense unless its for a year or 2. I doubt Higgins would be willing to do a 2 year deal. I doubt Trey will want just a 2 year either. I would seriously consider trading him IF he want 4/5 years and the amount cap that takes. He's been incredible. He's played a bunch of snaps. Sometimes you get Whitworth other time you get Geno.

Tee Higgins is consistently rated a top Free Agent in the 2025 class. Tee is a fan favorite but not elite player. I could go either way on him. The further his price tag gets from $20m a year the more questionable it becomes. With a Higgins deal near Tag level or Tag ($26m), Burrow ($46m), and Chase ($22m) just on 5th year option. That's 40% of your cap for 2025. Cash for a Higgins deal and Chase in the same year using established frame works would be $55m-$60m. Anyway, Higgins leading the FA class prior to tags and extensions means its a so so FA class. Might not want to dumb long term elite money to anyone singular player but grab 2/3 decent ones.

Some Bengal fan need to realize the reason why Marvin Lewis didn't win playoff games is because of Marvin Lewis and Andy Dalton choking. Not because they didn't have talent. Bengals haven't been in the playoffs the past two seasons because Burrow wasn't healthy OR he flat out sucked. Take your pick. I think he's great and those early season numbers were the result of a calf recovery. Last year Lou couldn't get a unit to get a handful of stops, period. He's let an average to bad Pittsburgh offense dominate him 3 out of 4 games and that's been your playoff spot that's been lost.

There's no need to get yourselves worked up. They'll classify the players how they see fit. Assign a value. The player in question will get an offer in that value range. They don't want it, then its on to the next player. That's how they've operated for years. At the end of the day its a zero sum game. Assume Tee's projection is legit $25m a year. OK. If the Bengals pay him that then its several spots having to rely on a young 2nd day draft pick to contribute. If they don't pay him the $25m then its a combination of players getting that amount. Its how they build the AFC Champion squad. Lawson didn't want the money, Trey did. William Jackson III didn't want the extension so I think they got 3 players for the same total cap hit. There have been misses as well, because Bates hasn't been replaced. At the end of the day in August you'll wake up and Vegas will have them top 5 in AFC. They are already top 10 for Superbowl 60 winner. Front office deserves way more benefit of the doubt. The 2 playoff misses is completely on the field related not because they don't have talent. Quite frankly you hand Al Golden what they handed Lou last year, I'll say its a good guess they aren't going give up more points.

From the way the analyst talk you could get a high end DT in the 20s and could realistically get a solid starter in Round 4. That's not even factoring in that the DB depth seems better this year vs. last. I think this is all pointing to a Higgins coming back on Tag at min. You can dump the salary cap on him and realistically grab some key defensive pieces. Just spit balling based on what the dudes are saying

Getting carried away with all the influx of draft info. My early take is there will be a good DL prospect in the 1st and 2nd round. Which leads them to tagging/extending Tee for 2025.

One thing mentioned about him was he's so quick off the ball AND he slashes so much eventually he'll guess wrong and gets washed out of the play. So you are going to get a mix of big and not so great plays. I was very impressed with the Tenn DT at the Senior Bowl Norman-Lott. Right now he's got the development, 4th round tag on him. Nolen has a slightly higher draft prospect grade on him than last year's favorite Newton. Just searching around this appears to be a more talented and deeper selection of DTs this year. Hopefully they can land one.

OT: This guy has made a lot of "standout" lists.

CB: Kentucky CB got a lot of praise from NFL Network guys.

WR: Several outlets.

Interior DL From NFL.com and now various sources: FYI: From the coverage I watched the Tenn DT was very impressive. Darius Alexander from Toledo a mountain of a man. Had a good showing on Day 2. I'd expect to see him on "winners" list from several people.

Edge: From NFL.com

Tight Ends are impressive group. Write up from NFL.com

Hate to say it, but solid TE draft class this year. All looked like a player and it sucks his knee gave out again. The recovery/rehab of those is tiresome.

Interior O Line Nuggets: Jax State guard (Webb) was very impressive from what I watched. Overall the Interior DL was very good thus alot of interior oline guys struggled. Other odds and in from around the webb: North Dakota players impressed just about everyone.

Starting if off with Bengals.com nugget. Once again the coaches aren't scouting in depth as in former years at the Senior Bowl games.

Overall explosive Interior DL seem to be deep this year at the Senior Bowl.

Looking good at the Senior Bowl so far.

Ultimately the judge of what makes sense will be in the season results. Lou had no shortage of pointing the finger a communication issues, guys not ready etc. Went through cycles of blaming/benching bona fide starting NFL players. Also, Murphy and Battle were buried on the depth chart week 1 of TC. Defense in training camp had the world believing Burrow was washed up (right before a MVP caliber season). Defense played great in shared training camp practices by all reports. Interject game planning etc. They couldn't stop shit with any consistency during the entire season. So maybe there is something to practicing with a purpose not just having extended field trips during OTAs? The health of Burrow during TC has also been an early season factor.