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Duke: "Best I can do is Cam Sample."

My contest will happen this year.

Just me but I think all the Thursday night games should be flexed to Sunday afternoons.

Looks like another day is going to pass with nothing 😡

It’s difficult being a fan of this team at times. It’s almost as if they don’t actually give a damn. How do you have a QB like Burrow and not try to do all that you can to win a SB? Makes zero sense.

Worth noting that the Bengals have NEVER restructured a big contract to create more cap room. Why would they do that when they know if they did, people would actually expect them to spend more money on talented players? Burrow might be the only player in the NFL who pleads publicly for his team to restructure his contract, but to no avail. You gotta give the Bills and the Chiefs credit. They have to pay franchise QB contract money to their franchise QBs, but they never let this become an excuse not to go for it all. Those organizations are doing their best to win championships. Their fans can never doubt that they are truly trying to take advantage of their championship window. Must be nice.

I assumed Moss was done when they said at the combine or thereabouts that his neck injury is still an issue. At this point it'll probably come down to some sort of injury settlement and release.

You can generalize a basic rule that would save the Bengals buckets of money and probably have helped them retain more of their players. Resign the good guys as early as possible. They are getting destroyed by the market, something they’ve shown they simply can’t compete with. And Duke Tobin saying he wants to make Chase the highest paid non-QB in the league is professional malpractice and should be (yet another) firing offense, for obvious reasons. That article about the Bengals painting themselves into a corner is, in fact, dead on. Except the paint takes forever to dry…

A late second round pick for the league's leading rusher. A pro-bowler. If the Browns offered us Myles Garrett for our second round pick... How long would it take for you to cream your jeans? And Hendrickson (believe it or not) is better. Absolute malpractice from the FO. We can't even draft a Myles Murphy with a late second round pick. And knowing Katie, we'll spend that pick on a guy who had 10 sacks in his freshman year before he tore both ACL's beating his girlfriend while tripping on shrooms. This is not a serious football team. You're buying merch for a nepo baby trust fund. I bet all of the other Free Agent DE's are just salivating at the prospect of playing for the Bengals after this. A team that won't pay their stars and will trade you away if you're good enough. Gee, if only we also had the benefit of being in a small market with state income tax to pay... To recap: Sam Hubbard: Retired Sheldon Rankins: Released BJ Hill: Free Agent Trey Hendrickson: Available for a high third round pick That's last year's starting DL. Thank god we'll still have Geno Stone and Germaine Pratt to carry the defense.

At the time of signing and contributions all within the Burrow era... Hendrickson Bell Awuzie Reader Hilton Karras Cappa Brown Jr For me? Pretty high. But I know that doesn't fit the trendy Negative Nancy narrative.

After hearing he wants $30M+ per season I'm not surprised. Giving that kind of money to pass rusher in his 30s who could fall off any season is very risky, especially when the rest of the defense sucks. I don't want Trey to leave, but getting peak value for him when they need to completely rebuild a defense is smart. The Chiefs just traded an All-Pro Guard even though their offensive line was not very good and I don't think many batted an eye at that. Now will they actually take advantage of an extra 1st round pick (which I think they should get) and the additional money to spend? Who knows.

Trey bet against himself and took a 2 year extension. He wanted the safer route and an immediate smaller raise at the expense of an even bigger one later if he balled out. He has nobody to blame but himself for why he's not a free agent right now. With all the said, I would still want him back at a 2 year, 54 mill extension (27 per, fully guaranteed). But if he wants something like a 3 year, 102 mill deal (34 per) I wouldn't give him that.

I believe that some of us realize/believe that with the major pieces that this team has, there is a chance to go on an historic years-long run as top dog in the NFL. THE TOP DOG. This would require the team to take the necessary steps to sufficiently fill in the “other” spots on the roster (currently mostly OL and DL are most glaring needs). The actions of this front office over the past few years does not indicate to many of us that they understand this. Thus, the angst/“whining”. Instead of being happy with an occasional Superb Owl appearance, I would much prefer to be at the top of the mountain. 🦗

I think they assumed they'd be doing that every year from then on because Joe Burrow. Through neglect and mismanagement their game beyond throwing TDs suffered. They seem to recognize that now but I'm not convinced that they know how to fix it. I wish they were more willing to imitate how other teams do things where their own special way isn't working out for them. One thing I like about Pumpkin is I don't get the impression she's trying to be so nice. She may be happy to manage the team like a trust fund but I don't think she's interested in running a group home or some kind of charity organization. There's only one major holdover from the old man's hires and Duke's bound to retire soon. I expect we'll see a real meritocracy take hold after that happens. I think she wants to wring every cent out of the NFL franchise vault & that requires winning football. I think we are still expected to pretend they haven't gone 9-8 and missed the playoffs after a disappointing start two years in a row. Yes, Joe was injured, but that happened in week 11 after dropping to 5-4 against the Texans at home. Not exactly setting the world on fire before he went down & Browning performed well enough in his absence. I'd like to see Trey inked so maybe the focus is on football in camp this year.

I did the mock draft for the Clowns - one of these guys has to pan out!

It is pretty hard to jump when you are flat on your ass. The dude needs to satnd up, dust himslef off and start working. I have low expectations for this guy.. he does not need a 'small' adjustment to his behaviour. He needs a menatl overhaul and that is a monumental task.

So easy to love these guys. I'm a big fan of both but honestly after the press conference I'm an even bigger fan of Tee now...so genuine, humble, and excited...Tee being a lifelong Bengals fan doesn't hurt the narrative either of course. Happy for both of them and a good day to be a Bengals fan. Now let's get a couple more players in FA and move onto the draft with some momentum.

Ben Baby@Ben_Baby If the Bengals put guaranteed money in Year 2 of a non-QB deal, that should be listed among Joe Burrow's accomplishments during his Hall of Fame process.

It's pretty clear that Burrow is already the most impactful player in the history of this team. If they get Trey H back, I think we can look back on Joe's lobbying, hell, his presence, as just another example of how he IS the one. Which is to say, the one who exposed and changed the matrix, the one who changed the culture, the one who finally brought light to the darkness. The only, last piece to fall into place is for him to force ownership to approach the player development side of things more professionally, up to and including a GM regime change, and an understanding that ownership stay out of football decisions.

The rest of the league will regret this dynamic duo staying together 🐯 🐯

GmNnr5gbQAA63TF.mp4 "Who's cheap now bitches !!!" 💰

Lol

Posted in Big 4 pinned thread, will do so here as well ... 0ZGeg_YaldzQUQjQ.mp4

We are in a ggreat spot as we are doing an OL upgrade in a completely stealth manner. A curse on the other teams who are not as smart our team is. To the average person it 'looks' like our starting guards right now are Empty Space and Volksstrum but others will soon learn about the master plan.

Bengals hire new OG on day to day contract. Jorge DiSalvo was picked op on a 2 day $80 contract to replace Guard Alex Cappa today. The deal could be worth as much as $85 dollars with incentives and 20 dollars is guaranteed over the first four hours. "Jorge is a natural knee-bender who can really get low in the run game." Said HC Zac Taylor. "He's been putting in the work during the pre-season. We're excited to see him produce."

"It's not the three first round picks that bother us" said the anonymous GM, "but a night with Pete Davidson? 50 pounds of only red M&M's? Canada has to become the 51st state? This is an NFL trade, not Frank Zappa's tour rider."

And the paradox is - even if you create more cap space to sign more/better players, it does not actually cost you any more in the long run becuase ALL paymnets have to go through the cap eventually. Someone mentioned the other day this team likes to front load so they have future flexibitlity yet year after year we hve little flexibility? We front load so the team can throw their hands up and say 'we are out of cap room, you can only divide the pie so much'. Meanwhile, the smart teams notice that there is a different pie for each year and you can use future years pies this year!

Oline...Dline .. We have a lot of young CBs that show promise. Build the trenches...

jesus man.. cash and cap are different things.. why do yall live like this? literally WAITING... ITCHING... to complain...over EVERYTHING...

The #Bengals are bringing back OL Cody Ford on a two-year deal, source says. After playing in 16 games with nine starts last season, Ford returns to Cincy to help protect QB Joe Burrow.

Because at the end of the year, we look at an Excel spreadsheet of who paid out the most reasonable contracts and award them a trophy, right?? Isn't that how it works? Whomever saved the most money while still being able to show their face in public wins, right? Ha ha! Jokes on you Philly! We're the real winners! Keep your stupid trophy, we're getting almost 3% interest from our savings account. Boo-yah!

Sam "m-fing" Hubbard couldn't be replaced by our last 2 draft picks at the position - Myles Murphy (1st) and Joseph Ossai (3rd). Good luck with that.

I mean I somewhat understand it, but there is no real good reason not to guarantee it for at least 2 years of the contract. If a guy gets hurt they arent going to cut him unless its career ending, and while they do happen career-ending injuries are rare. If you give him money and he ends up not playing to the level he did before he got the money, your still not going to cut him in one year, you're likely going to give him at least one more year to show it was just a down year. (Perfect example of this is McPherson) I think they might find some good will with their current guys if they would move off this one year guarantee and move to two years. That extra year is not going to screw them over that much.

Unfortunately, the data doesn't care about your opinion.

Burrow probably continues to draw big FA's, though our ability to be legit contenders surely helps. He took us to the SB his 1st year, AFC championship 2nd, but since then...whether he gets hurt or has the league passing title, it's clear the rest of the team is regressing and so complicates the decision. I think the thing that's frustrating is that they haven't proven especially great with their FA signings. For every Reader there is a Rankins. I can think of 3 or 4 big name FAs who signed big deals here and then basically didn't even play. And what makes THAT so much more painful is that we let our own proven guys walk. You can only do this when you assume that you are going to replace that value with value elsewhere. And this is particularly a dangerous approach if you have to have the replacement work out, because you haven't developed the back up plan in-house. But our miss rate in FA and the draft is VERY HIGH, and the last couple of seasons, in particular, are in abject lesson in their plan simply not working as planned. The only thing worse than that plan is being faced with the evidence, and continuing to think you can follow the plan and have it work out. In other words, this is a team that's hoping for the best (luck) as their solution. But the motive behind that solution seems driven by financial notions of value and savings...and at least to my eye, the value we would have given up by paying a little extra to keep our guys who are proving themselves (especially when the returns are early, and we can get them cheaper by having faith in our eyes and pulling the trigger) easily outweighs the cost of losing those guys and having their FA or draft pick replacements fail to measure up.

Tee said publicly last year that he would have taken the deal Michael Pittman got, 3 years for 70 mil total. The Bengals wouldn't offer that so they tagged him for 21.8 and now 26.2. Just dumb.

I only wish that he could have won a championship at the NFL level to go with his high school and college championships. Best of luck to him.

Classy move by a classy guy. I hope he is a part of the Bengals family for years to come. So glad that he retired a Bengal.

Caught some of Daniel Jeremiah/Bucky Brooks podcast yesterday. They were talking about Malachi Starks, who I like a lot. He was great in 2023 - solid last year, but not as good. Heard him interviewed at SEC media day last fall- really impressive. A real leader on that UGA team. Very smart, instinctive player. Has played some nickel, and safety - so he's versatile, and he makes plays. Anyway, to his credit, he worked out at the Combine. And his testing was meh - 4.5 40, 7.2 ish on the 3 cone, I forget the short shuttle - but again, not great. Other guys (Emmanwori, etc.) at the same position tested much better. But, I guess Startks' field workout - where the players are doing actual football drills that more closely mimic what they'll be doing in games - was tremendous. Of all the safeties there, he was the fastest guy (GPS) on 5 different drills. So, just a reminder that the underwear olympics and associated testing definitely is a data point, but at the end of the day, teams are looking for football players - and Starks is definitely that.

... I would gladly trade void years for Lombardi trophies.

Finished up my Mock offseason. It's a doozy. I feel the least strongly about LB and S. I want a veteran at every position. This is the one place where I can see us legitimately being called cheap. You only pay the top 51 players in your cap and there are offsets for veterans. We still pay the player the amount, but they don’t count that amount against the cap. https://www.behindthesteelcurtain.com/2023/6/3/23747605/explaining-how-the-nfl-works-part-9-veteran-salary-benefit-contracts-four-year-player-qualifying I have done absolutely nothing to look at the draft other than to note that it’s a deep RB-TE and DT draft and throw that logic into my outlook. Quarterback Need: 1 veteran and 1 UDFA for a camp arm/upside. Logan Woodside might be back. Rocky Lombardi is in the UFL after being in camp here last year. My choice: Taylor recruited Desmond Ridder-Ridder at UC when Taylor was the UC OC. He’s bounced around the league but the Raiders have indicated they won’t be tendering him making him a UFA. He’s just 26. He has 18 starts over his pro career so he may want to go somewhere with a less stable starter/backup situation. I believe that Cincinnati is ideal because he’s close to home in Louisville, has familiarity with the city, will get great coaching, and be in a great QB room, it’s a near-perfect one-year career reset situation. The Situation: For Cincinnati, you get a vet in camp for insurance but also Browning likely wants to try to start somewhere and his clock is ticking. He will be 29 in April and 30 in his RFA year. The RFA tenders this year were (First-round tender: $7,458,000; Second-round tender: $5,346,000; Right of first refusal tender: $3,263,000). I could see us going to around that 2nd round level all but eliminating anyone signs him or just letting him test the market as a sign of goodwill. If he finds a place to compete for a starting role he moves on, if he doesn’t he stays. Several teams a year seem to want a guy like Browning to pair with a Rookie or another veteran in a training camp battle. He’s probably in that 28-35 best QBs in the NFL range…think Minshew and Winston. https://www.nfl.com/prospects/desmond-ridder/32005249-4408-0474-6bc7-b6ac95881989 QB Burrow 29 Browning 26 Ridder 26 UDFA Running Back Need: Clarity around the depth. Williams, Evans, Herbert, and Moss filled out the roster last year. All have unknown futures at the position. Releasing Moss saves 3.3M. Herbert was traded for a 7th-rounder. It’s reportedly an exceptionally deep draft with 30-40 draftable RBs. The Bengals need someone who can start if Brown should be out. This class is weak in those types of guys. Moss (17 starts, 2300+ career yards) and Herbert (13 starts, 1900+ yards) are two of the guys who fit the backup role the best. External free agents who fit the mold are Cam Akers (17 starts, 2000+ yards), Raheem Mostert (39 starts 3700+ yards), Jeff Wilson (16 starts 2300+ yards), and Alexander Mattison (26 starts, 2700+ yards). JK Dobbins and Javonte Williams are two guys who, while injury-prone, could also be added to the list if they don’t return to start at their 2024 homes or find a bigger role elsewhere. Without an obvious external upgrade, despite the 3.3M, I’d bring back Moss for at least camp. He wasn’t having a great year before his neck injury but he averaged 4.3, 4.9, and 4.2 in 3 of his 4 seasons prior. I’d bring Herbert back as well. Before last year he averaged 4.6, 5.7, and 4.2 yards per carry. Both are 27. My Choice: Ameer Abdullah would be my replacement for Trevyon Williams. At 32 he’s nearing the end of an interesting career; I am sure he’d love to find a contender to go out on. He’s coming off a year where he received his most starts (3), ran for the most yards (311-4.7 avg-2tds) since 2017, and had the most productive pass-catching year of his career (40-261-6.5-3). This while he still had 4 tackles (he had 12 in 2023) on 192 snaps on special teams. For comparison, T-Will had 2 tackles on 253 snaps. Abdullah also returned punts and kicks in 2024. Abdullah is also a Nebraska alum, something that I am sure isn’t lost on Taylor. Our new OL assistant coached Abdullah in Detroit in 2017. He made 1 year 1.85M last season. On top of Abdullah, I’d add a couple of rookies, preferably post-draft because of the depth at the position but possibly with a 4-6th pick. Then I’d add them to Milton and Brightwell. Brightwell has some upside as a special teamer with 8 tackles as a rookie on 195 snaps. Historically the team has liked to draft a RB every two years. It wouldn’t be a surprise if they target one in the draft and just re-sign T-Will. RB Brown 27 Moss 26 Herbert 25 Abdullah 26 Milton 26 Brightwell UDFA UDFA Wide Receiver Need: WR 2 and depth at WR. Higgins Higgins Higgins. I have vacillated back and forth and have concluded that you tag him and then pay him. I get the logic in not doing it. He’s oft-injured, you have a top 5 QB who should be able to win without 2 stud WRs, and you already have a stud WR. The other argument is clear. Higgins is a stud WR on a team where we have few stars. We have a history of giving up stars and regretting it (Whitworth, Bates, Reader). We don’t have a ton of other positions to pay. I pay him whatever he wants and bring him back. If Chase gets injured you are still fine and can win a Super Bowl. That’s important. My Choices: Noah Brown: Brown is on a 1-year 1.2M deal in Washington, he caught 35-453-12.9-1 on that deal. He plays mostly outside with great size (6’2 225). In 2023 he went for 8-172 on us. He’s 29. He started 9 games last year so he might have a higher ceiling in a bad WR draft and free agency. Simi Fehoko: Each year I have a guy or 2 that I want despite a potential lack of fit. Evan Brown and Morgan Fox were 2 guys I just wanted on the roster and we could figure it out later. Fehoko is that guy for me this year. He’s just 25, great size (6’4 222). He has just 10 career catches for 106 yards. He saw his most snaps last year with 244 on offense. He has played some special teams, (81 snaps in 2024). I’d pay a bit just to get him on the roster. https://www.nfl.com/prospects/simi-fehoko/32004645-4855-6867-28d1-9272a231323b On top of these two, you are returning Burton-Jones-Isaiah Williams-Burgess-Pryor and the newly added Tinsley. Burton is on a short leash. Add a UDFA as we always do at the position. Fehoko is a luxury signing and I get not bringing him in but I’d love to just see what he can do and buy low on a guy I think could end up being very good. WR Chase 26 Brown 26 Burton 28 Tinsley WR Higgins 25 Fehoko 27 Pryor Burgess WR Iosivas 27 Williams 27 Jones 27 UDFA Tight End Need: Stability. The team has had success at TE for most of the Taylor tenure but very few guys have had great back-to-back seasons. CJ and Hurst both took their Bengals seasons to nice paydays. Gesicki could be the next but there is talk that he might be the first of the big 4 back. Still, the team would rather have a multi-faceted TE who doesn’t tip his role. Gesicki is much more of a pass catcher than a blocker and played in the slot 68% of the time last year. Gesicki would be brought back under my plan and then you are looking at finding a multifaceted guy. You essentially would have two outside TEs in Gesicki and McClachlan and two inline TEs in Sample and Cam Grandy. Grandy probably is the best guy on the roster at doing both. https://www.nfl.com/prospects/tanner-mclachlan/32004d43-4c01-0607-d7e7-bb284fe4b839 The TE market has some interesting guys: Tyler Conklin, Juwan Johnson, Austin Hooper, Moe-Alie Cox, Hunter Long, and Tommy Tremble. But who is the guy who can give you what All gave you last year? Johnson is more like Gesicki. Conklin can do both but hasn’t blocked well. Hooper and Alie-Cox are both good blockers but came in known for their pass-catching. Long and Tremble have unrealized potential. This is a position I’d re-sign Gesicki and then partner him with Sample, Grandy, and McClachlan and hope that we can find a day 2 or 3 multi-faceted TE in what is known as a very deep draft Tanner Hudson is a bit of a predicament here. He would likely return on a league-minimum deal, he caught 19 balls and played 231 snaps on special teams. It seems like a no-brainer to bring him back. But I think we should move on at the same time. TE Gesicki 25 Sample 27 Draft Pick Grandy 26 McClachlan 28 Hudson 25 UDFA All 28 Offensive Line Needs: 2 New starting Guards, a Swing tackle, and hope. Brown, Karras, and Mims are back as starters. Lee is back as an interior depth piece that may or may not be able to play G but looked good at C in the preseason. They want Cody Ford back and I expect that. He’s just 28 and played every position but C last year for them. Kirkland is an ERFA that I think could start at some point and should be back. Then we have Coker, Steuber, Cochran, and Manning as younger vets and future guys. I thought Cochran looked good last year in moments. Manning’s profile is interesting as an upside G at RG. My Choices: LG Evan Brown is a guy I have wanted for a while. He might not be the flashiest name here but that might help us get him at a lower rate allowing us to spend elsewhere. While he played LG in 24, he’s started at both C and RG and might be a solid alternative at C should Karras walk after this year and Matt Lee not be ready. He’s 28 with 57 career starts. Last year he played on a 1 year 2.35M deal RG Brandon Scherff is a guy everyone has wanted for a while. He’s bound to want to close out what could be a hall-of-fame career with a winner. He’s got 140 career starts…all at RG. His last contract was 3 years 49.5M. Would 1-2 years around 10M a piece do it? He will be 33 next season. Tackle Kendall Lamm is also 33. He played for Peters in 2020. Last year he started 7 games in Miami. He’s got 44 over his career. He played on a 1 year 2.52M deal last year. He has over 1000 snaps at LT and 1700 at RT. Other options: LG: Jenkins, Risner, Tomlinson, Mekari, Jones (Mia), Bredeson RG: Daniels, Fries, Zietler, Becton, Colon, Pryor, Hernandez, Van Roten, Corbett, Radunz Tackle: Lucas, Moses, Hudson Last year there seemed to be momentum around all the names we signed. This year I keep hearing Mekari. He is probably a better option than Brown. Pryor and Hernandez are interesting because they are probably cheaper. In this scenario, Cappa would be gone and Scherff would start at RG. Ford-Volson and Kirkland would all be seen as potential next men up at that RG spot. Volson played predominately RT in college. Kirkland started his first 25 games at RG, then 18 at LT and 9 at LG. LT Brown 27 Lamm 26 Cochran 26 LG Brown 28 Kirkland 25 C Karras 26 Lee 28 UDFA RG Scherff 26 Volson 26 Steuber 26 Manning RT Mims 29 Ford 25 Coker Special Teams Needs: Stability at Kicker Everyone is back but York is still up in the air. I believe he is an ERFA and I’d bring him back. York was a former 4th rounder. He went 24-42 as a Rookie and was dropped. Last year he went 9 for 11 for us. McPherson was 16 of 22 last year. After a very solid first 3 seasons. Having York in camp gives us insurance if McPherson is still struggling. K McPherson 28 York 25 P Rehkow 27 LS Adomitis 26 Defensive Tackle Need: New DT or 2 to pair with last year's two picks. Both showed well but weren’t obvious starters. I’d bring Hill back. He’s effective and a good part of the locker room. At 30 it shouldn’t cost a ton. Then, like TE, I’d take advantage of a deep draft and snag a nice 3T in one of the first 2 days. I’d bring Tufele back on a 1 year Min. My Choice: TJ Slaton of the Packers played for our DL coach for 3 seasons. He’s just 27 and 6’5 330. PFF never scored him well but ESPN has him as the #1 run-stop Win rate of 46%. He’s had at least 30 tackles each of the last 3 years starting all 17 games in 23 and 24. Other options: Poona Ford, Calais Campbell, Milton Williams, Jarran Reed, Sebastian Joseph-Day, Mario Edwards, Adam Butler, Wharton, Kinlaw, Jenkins. Defensive End Need-More juice. Whether or not they can pay Hendrickson they need more pass rush juice. Murphy has upside still, Ced Johnson showed well in late snaps. Isaiah Thomas and Raymond Johnson are good camp guys. Outside of Hendrickson, there are big questions about whether they bring Ossai and/or Sample back. Ossai played pretty well at the end of the year. I think they’d like him back but the market could outprice them. Sample can probably be back on the minimum coming off an injury. My choices Deitrich Wise is 31, he’s coming off a year where he was coached by our DL coach and was a captain. He has 34 career sacks including 5 last year and 17 over the last 3 seasons. He’s got to want to be off that Patriots team and on to a winner to close out his career. Adding a captain is always smart. At 280 he can be an inside outside guy. Malcolm Koonce is coming off a torn ACL, after 2023 that saw him with 8sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 17hurries. He’s undersized for what we like at 6’2 250 but I think having some diversity it types of players will be what Golden wants. The red flag is that his 3rd year was the only impact year he had, and the knee injury took him out of building off that. I think he’s a buy-low candidate with potential major upside. Other Options: Khalil Mack, Derek Barnett, Josh Sweat, Chase Young, Preston Smith, Golston, Fowler, Taylor, Lawson, Nelson, Ojulari, Jones, Judon LE Murphy 27 Wise 26 Sample 25 Thomas 26 LT Slaton 27 Jenkins 28 Jackson 28 Tufele 25 RT Hill 25 Draft Pick UDFA RE Hendrickson 26 Koonce 27 Johnson 28 Johnson Linebackers Need: Upgrade over Pratt. Then an additional guy who can play more in our base 4-3. LB is the toughest position for me because we haven’t needed much talent here in so long. I’d return ADG and Bachie. They both have familiarity with Golden and I assume are back. I like the upside of Njongmeta and Heyward but we can’t count o them quite yet. My choices Denzel Perryman is 32 and his next start will be his 100th. He was a captain for the Chargers last year. He played for Golden at the University of Miami. His PFF pass rush numbers are good and that seems to be what we are looking for. He signed with the Chargers for 1yr 2.3M. He could be a nice bridge to Njongmeta. Grant Stuard started 5 games for the Colts last year after mostly playing on special teams his first 3 years (and his 4th). Stuard had 11 special teams tackles for the U of Houston when James Casey was their special teams coordinator. Other options: Zach Baun, Devin Bush, Dre Greenlaw, Sherwood, Spillane, Ernest Jones, Devin Deablo, Isaiah McDuffie, Willie Gay WLB Davis-Gaither 25 Stuard 26 Heyward 26 MLB Wilson 28 Bachie 25 Young SLB Perryman 26 Njongmeta 27 UDFA Safety Need: Battle played well enough at the end of the year that we probably only need one starter. There are rumblings that Stone is going to get a chance there. I’d hedge him with another veteran and a rookie. I think that this is Xavier Watts no matter what situation and we might over draft him in many people’s eyes. My Choice: This one I’m not too confident in but I went with Ashtyn Davis. Davis was solid last year for the Jets in limited snaps. He has 22 starts in his career but is already 29. Darrick Forrest is another guy. He’s got 17 starts and a UC background. He’s just 26. He played mostly on special teams in 2024. Other options. Qandre Diggs, Justin Blackmon, Darrick Forrest, Juan Thornhill, Jalen Mills, Holland, Bynum, Mathieu, Simmons, Cisco, Hufanga, Pinnock Key, Jules, and Anthony are all back. Anthony might be more of a nickel. I think we’d all love to see Anderson get some scrimmage snaps too. S Battle 27 Davis 26 Draft Pick Key S Stone 26 Anderson 26 Anthony 28 Jules Cornerback Needs: I doubt this is a heavy investment although I’ve seen a lot of people high on adding a CB1. Some mix of Hill-Turner-CTB-Newton and Ivey will be at the core of the position. I do expect them to add a veteran to the room. My Choice: Artie Burns played for both Golden and Desai. He’s 30 and coming off a 1-year 1.2M deal in Seattle. He was on IR last year with a toe injury. Abraham, Davis, Brooks, and Robinson are all interesting. Wilson is probably back on a vet min deal. He didn’t play much last year. For the last 2 years he mostly in the slot but has over 2400 snaps outside. CB Hill 27 Ivey 27 Wilson 25 Abraham CB Taylor-Britt 26 Turner 27 Brooks NB Newton 28 Burns 26 Davis Robinson 28

In four years, he’s missed 10 FG under 50 yards, half of which happened his second year. All five of his missed FG in 2023 were from over 50, as were 4 of his 6 misses last year. I think he set the bar pretty high his first couple years making 14 out of 16 over 50. The Bengals will be happy if he goes back to making 83-84% with most of the misses over 50.