sparky151

Nah, the Bengals shouldn't trade up in round 1. They'll get a good player at 18.

The Bengals are in the same position vs Hamilton County as Trey Hendrickson is vs the team. They want something from someone who's not inclined to give it. Ohio's Art Modell law would make it hard for the Bengals to leave Cincinnati. The team would have to be offered for sale to local residents first. Suppose the Brown family values it at 6 billion and the best offer is 4 billion. Does that mean they are free to move? Not necessarily. The city or county could try to take it by eminent domain with the intention of reselling it to a new buyer committed to the city. In eminent domain, if the parties can't reach an agreement it goes to a jury trial. I doubt a jury of Hamilton County citizens will give the Brown family as much as they want. This came up a few years back with the Columbus MLS team. The former owner wanted to move it to Austin. The state of Ohio sued them and they ended up selling to Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and have thrived since.

It's not unusual for a player who does well at the combine to skip testing at his pro day. Or someone to prefer to perform at his pro day and skip it at the combine. A few prospects like Marv can get away with skipping it entirely. But Latham isn't in that category. Pass blocking is more important than run blocking in the NFL and several other tackles are better pass blockers than him. Maybe Harbaugh overlooks that with the Chargers but he won't like seeing Herbert get hit either. Latham could easily fall to 20. Agreed, our 3 picks tomorrow night will have more influence on our future than the pick tonight.

Likewise. We have OBj under contract for 3 more years and Trent Brown for 1 year. Either could theoretically be extended if the team wants but they don't like signing guys who are 30 or over for multi-year deals. So any rookie taken at 18 will be with us for 4, maybe 5 years. It would be a plus if he could play not only RT but LT if needed. Mims fits that requirement better than Latham or Fuaga.

So why didn't he test at the combine or pro day if he now moves better than his tape?

The Cowboy, 49er, and Buccaneer don't look very manly or tough.

The Bengals don't have much leverage in this situation. They aren't going to privately finance and build their own stadium and can't move to another city without the Brown family losing control of the team.

This is a relatively weak draft for edge rushers. Bengals could probably get a late first round pick from a team like the Lions (if they have any cap space left after extending St Brown and Sewell). They're also looking at a Goff extension. The Commanders have cap space and a need at DE so maybe they offer their 2nd rounder or something. The problem for the Bengals is they couldn't get as good a player at that spot. So trading Trey doesn't make much sense. Trading Tee on the other hand might, depending on what is offered and who we can replace him with. This is a good WR draft so saving the 22 mil and using it for Uno's extension makes sense. The Bengals added a year to his previous deal and gave him a raise on his 2023 salary. It amounted to 21 mil in new money for an additional year. That's not ripping him off.

In two years, Browning would then be a restricted free agent rather than an exclusive rights free agent. As a RFA, the team can extend a tender to him that would require another team signing him to give up a draft pick. The Bengals would likely tender him at the 1st round level, which would be worth several million dollars to Browning. Whether another team signs him and offers up the pick (the Bengals would still have the right to match) or not will depend on his play until then and how desperate the other team is.

The team isn't going to trade him and under the CBA, he can't afford to hold out. So unless some other team wants to offer us a haul, he isn't going anywhere.

Hard to believe that's for real. The team just gave him a raise on an extension before last season.

Nobody objects to protecting Burrow, except perhaps Duke Tobin and Mike Pollack. If we get a good RT in round 1, that will be fine. But there will also be good tackles available in rounds 2 and 3. It's about getting the best combination of players.

How is Latham a safer pick than Mims? Latham is the guy who declined to do the standard athletic testing. It's hard to think of a reason for that other than the results would hurt his draft stock. He's also the latest in a long line of flops from Alabama O-linemen. Maybe this time it's different, but that's not the way to bet. Mims on the other hand has plenty of tools and his tape is good. The only complaint is that there isn't enough of it. Wah. He has no reason to stay in school for another year, he's ready for the NFL.

When negative stuff about a player, ie Brian Thomas's "medical issue" comes out, it's usually a team that wants him hoping he falls to them. It's not called "lying season" for nothing.

I think Verse and maybe Latu will go before pick 18.