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You do a nice job keeping us all updated Griever, its much appreciated. You on mini & training camps is like me on new draft picks. 😉 All part of what makes this forum my first go-to in order to stay informed.

I'm starting to think that winning large negotiations whether it be with the City, County, or players is their Super Bowl. They get off on a good deal. It's orgasmic. Just like my Father-in-law when he saves 5 cents/ gallon on gas by driving 15 miles out of the way to another station.

I'm way more upset about the Stewart situation than Trey. Just give him the Mims deal and quit fucking around! Why does this front office have to make everything so difficult?

I'd like to see a better running game. It would make the offense more versatile and harder to stop. 3rd and 2 is usually a passing down for the Bengals but if we could run better, we'd convert at a higher rate. But we couldn't run because our interior offensive line are bad at run blocking. Karras at least was good at pass blocking, Volson and Cappa not so much. If we had a good running game, as our 80s Super Bowl teams did, we'd have an elite offense. We could close out games with a 4th quarter lead. We could play in windy or wet conditions. We'd be less predictable and put more stress on opposing defenses. Ken Anderson and Boomer Esiason were NFL MVPs on teams with good running games. Maybe that would work for Joe Burrow too.

It would be less frustrating if it wasn't a pattern of behavior on the part of Katie and Co. Every year it's some camp holdout. Every year we're one of the last to get our rookies signed. I mean - Is the agent the problem? Sure, that's his job. But it's not like other agents aren't problems for other teams. Tee changed agents to find someone more compatible with the Bengals and there was still some teeth pulling. Is Trey just greedy? Then so is Chase, Higgins... The NFL pays out a lot in salary because it makes a lot of money off these guys. Meh. Should Stewart just roll over and accept new language because other teams do it? Sure, maybe, but Mims was the last to sign... Hill didn't go down smooth either. All of the names change in these very similar stories except those of the Blackburn clan. I mean.... Damn. What a run of bad luck, hunh? I guess nice guys really do finish last. What are the odds that both of our RDE's have idiot agents and would rather talk to the media than play football. Why us? Life is unfair. Everyone's judged by their mistakes divided by how much money they make.

By the way, I passed my FAA Medical Exam this afternoon. My flight status has been restored, I'm a pilot again. :)

laziness. no one researches anymore, like 3 guys have inside info, if that, aside from that the "media" isnt exactly filled with people who have degrees in journalism, worked thier way up, build relationships, its a bunch of dudes like you and me, who started a youtube podcast, and just have done it the longest, hell i had a media pass for the bengals just from having this forum back in the day. and thats when there was KIND of some criteria to meet.. I could get a media pass today, no problem. so you cant possible watch any of these podcast or media twitter accounts and think these guys are leaving their office chair and actually doing stuff right? even at practice and camp, 5-20 media folks stand there with their iphones, record clips for twitter, joke with eachother, talk about lunch, use said phone to poorly record interviews, all think the same thing, and post it.. they need followers they need hits, they need shares, they need subscribers.. the #1 only thing they do not need what so ever.. is to be right or put in effort or learn anything. the bengals PR team sends them information to release, and they do it, rarely, as the bengals dont do contract stuff in the media, but other things, health stuff signing stuff, etc.. then agents reach out, look at the video i posted... Dingleberry did his own fact checking and contract details around the league.. the stewerts agent reached out to him, pissed and got him to sway back some.. why? because goodberry needs that connect, and if he does his bidding a little, when goodberry reaches out, the agent might reply. 15 years ago, guys would chase down family members, get a cousin to leak info, fat boy andre smiths agent, alvin keels emailed me then text me wanting me to post positive stuff about him during the contract issues, and the proof? it works. look at all of you, look at everyone on social media.. they dont care about any of the facts, its easy and lazy to zap the bengals, they wont dispute or fight back, they ignore it.. so they are easy to slander.. and everyone gets an east post, podcast episode (or 10), no one cares about the facts or details, not even a little bit. no one cares about anything, they just wanna check a box for their day, get some clicks if possible, and go back to doom scrolling on instagram and twitter. all of the sports media, scouts sites, analysts, all for show and clicks, look at collinsowrth, he doesnt give a fuck about anything, he wants some zingers for the show and to go home. and everyone behaves as if we have good reliable crack journalism. its laughable. how many different stories over what the "language" in the contract relates to have been posted in this thread alone? 8? 5? a whole lot more than 1... how many weeks did it take for ANYONE to bring to light that the language is in the majority of first round contracts, its just new for the bengals to add it.... ? hell the hundred or so people who supposidly love and follow the team and gobble every media tidbit there is, still think mike brown is in these contract negotiations. people believe what they want. facts arent a part of the equation any longer. havent been in 10 years.

I never said that the media is lying. I am saying that they are not always telling both sides. That's dishonesty by omission. You're on crack if you don't think that the media piles on. There are plenty of teams with far less recent success than the bengals. Name one other team that the media constantly bashes like they do the bengals. Even the turds get more respect than we do. I think there's an agenda and you patronizing me and repeating the same thing over and over again isn't going to convince me otherwise. I never said anything about signing Trey one way or the other. But I don't think that it is a no brainer that they should give him whatever he wants. He's already under contract. There are considerations.

That is a common reaction people have to hearing anything bad about their side. It's the same phenomena that creates the "fake news" dialog. Assuming that 100's of people have some personal beef with Mike Brown, or by extension, the Bengals... If they do, it's because Mike Brown is an asshole. Sure, maybe they don't like us... Because our ownership is so UNLIKEABLE. Sure, Jerry Jones probably finds Mike Brown to be an obstinate prick who cheaps out and collects all that sweet revenue sharing... Because he is. It's not unfair for people to dislike the Bengals when they are unlikeable. Do I think there's some Illuminati conspiracy to... What exactly? Do I think that Paul Dehner, Lance McAlister and Pat McAfee are all in some text chain saying "Guys, lets all spread these lies about the Bengals!" Put down the crack pipe bro. I worked in various forms of news media for 20 years. They're mostly just lazy and incompetent. Paul Dehner is going to be a little more "pro-team" because that's his source... And frankly, this still comes back on the FO for not doing the PR. If it's a "one sided story", it's because the FO refuses to tell their side. They famously don't talk to the media. However, MANY posters like to just sweep all valid criticism of the NFL's most useless FO under that same "fake news" banner. Attack the source, not the reporting. Sure everything they say sounds true... But Pat McAfee said it and he has a dumb haircut. And that guy has never liked the NFL's most incompetent franchise! Fake news! It's not a conspiracy... It's the Bengals having a reputation. They're calling your girlfriend a slut because she's slept with half of Toledo, not because they have some agenda against her purity. I'd be curious... Why? Why do you think "The Media" has it out for Mike Brown and the Bengals? Because they've been historically shitty owners? They just hate small market teams? Revenge of Art Modell? Why? Because they've made themselves easy punching bags for half a century? I'd bet that your reasons are going to be that the Bengals have a BAD reputation. It's earned criticism/hate. And then maybe you'll start to see that it's not a conspiracy - it's something the Bengals FO earned over 40 years. It's a reputation. And you're sitting here going "How dare they keep assuming that the village idiot is going to do idiotic things??" "Fake news, so unfair." "Adam Schefter only talks to agents." This is a team with $32M in cap space who can't decide IF they want to sign the league's best pass rusher. And in the middle of THAT holdout, they decided to play contract games with his replacement. But yes, the Media is sooooo unfair to assume the Bengals are idiots for being in this situation. How dare they call a spade a spade. And somehow... You're in here defending not wanting to sign the league's best pass rusher?? So, explain to me why the Media and the NFL have always had it out for the Bengals in a way that is "unfair". Because I think it's a biggol' serving of cope.

This is exactly why I question it, he's not a character risk and never has been. It seems like they want to find a "character risk" clause because they drafted a traits player that they are gambling on instead of drafting a guy they actually believe in.

32 out of 32 NFL teams would take Watt over Hendrickson. Not even a thought about that decision. He shouldn’t expect to be paid close to what Watt will get. Watt is on Myles Garrett level, Tre is one level below them. Not to mention Garrett’s deal isn’t what’s advertised (40m/yr). Oh, and for ArkansasBengal….F POS JD and POS DJT 😃

F POS JD. Palantir surveillance on citizens proponent.

2 years into an NFL career and he's learned he needs to be in good shape. Who knows what's next? Paying attention in meetings? Watching film? The sky's the limit!

Bengals offseason blueprint: 1. Sign Jamar & hopefully Tee - Check 2. Extend Trey 3. Draft a young Edge 4. Sign a veteran interior OL 5. Super Bowl Easy Peasy Wrong. I stupidly had come to think that Mikey boy had failed to pass the Douche Baggery gene on to the grandkids. WRONG. Give Henderson the $30-32M/yr. you're gonna end up giving him anyway, sign Stewart to a fair 17th pick slot deal and sign either Risner or Scherff as insurance at guard to protect - you know - the FUCKING FRACHISE! Tired of the bullshit dick-swinging games!

New Yoshi logo just dropped

Ja'Marr and Burton came to Knoxville, Tennessee for Tee's celebrity basketball game.

Ja'Marr's first ever Bengals TD is cinematic art 🎥 o0lX-hXBdycwNTF0.mp4

I thought the CBA covered the "conduct detrimental", refunds due for suspensions, off-field stuff? "Similar" language is not identical. It's possible the Bengals are still trying to do it their way instead of imitating everyone else. My hunch is the team's still in their feels over Ja'Marr/Tee & Trey. Suddenly they want to keep up with the rest of the league? Since when? And over this? Eating a first round bust is part of doing business in the NFL. If it happens too often, go hire better evaluators instead of trying to wring that money back out of the next first round pick and make better picks. If they won't do that but don't have the stomach for the risk they need to step away from the high-stakes table. Maybe sell it off to someone who doesn't need NFL matching funds to pay their bills. Owning a pro sports franchise is like end-game gambling, to be treated like a racehorse. It's the big-boy prestige item, "how we name royalty in this country" to paraphrase Billions. It's not the corner deli & no place for the cautious, safe, and timid. Honestly the Browns/Blackburns may own this team but they act more like they're only managing it. It's a line on a graph to them. Team culture, once again.

The people have spoken. Champions 🏆🐯

A few months ago he went 144 when he was supposed to be going 25.

So... Are they not lazy in covering the other 31 teams? https://bengalswire.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2025/06/17/bengals-crushed-earned-reputation-contract-standoffs-hendrickson-shemar-stewart/84245705007/ Their history overshadows the fact that Hendrickson signed a short contract extension recently, is 30 years old, was granted permission to seek a trade and has walked back previous holdout threats. Cincinnati’s history also, ironically enough, overshadows the fact that attempting to revise contract leverage, starting with Stewart, is another attempt at modernizing, considering some reporting says the language they want to insert is pretty standard for other teams. The media has always been lazy. This golden age where these guys did leave their office chair is something from Nick at Nite. If that age did exist, you'd need to be in your 80's to remember it. A lazy media will always fall back to what Cincy's reputation is... And this is a team not 15 years removed from having their Franchise QB refuse to play for them for non-monetary reasons. You want fair media.... Bengalswire seems to get that we're victims of our reputation. Paul Dehner takes the team's side quite often because that's his source. Are you mad that ALL Bengals coverage isn't slanted the way you prefer? The Family are Billionaires in a VERY public enterprise. The fact that they can't manage their PR is not good. It's not a sign that they're more down to earth, or more "real". It's more of a sign that the NFL's worst FO doesn't "get it". Are the Bengals losing in the court of public opinion? Yes. Is that fair? I think so. Is the Judge who convicts you unfair when you show up without a lawyer and refuse to speak on your own behalf? Or do you say "What a lazy judge! He should have left his bench and gone and done an investigation! He can't expect me to hire a guy to give him my side of the story!" You've watched MacAfee... They read shit off the wire and then talk about it. That has been "Journalism" since the 80's when people read shit off the wire and talked about it. Now we just have a lot more sources than the AP. Frankly, you're a lil' dim if you think they're doing much else. You think 6 brohams sitting around are supposed to have Katie on Speed Dial? And what would she say if she did answer? How do you know they didn't call her? Adam Schefter is the "rumor" guy. His job is to report juicy rumors... Is it his job to NOT post what an agent tells him because Katie refuses to talk to him? Do you think he's refusing to talk to Katie? The Bengals have an earned reputation and have done nothing to change the narrative. The coverage they get is fair. Everything else is people whining because they're hearing things they don't like.

Lol probably not even in the top 50 worst fan bases. But in terms of worst ownership in professional sports, they’re definitely on the short list.

They've got the fanbase they deserve

Seriously. My YouTube feed is just a constant flow of "Boy do the Bengals suck." I was almost going to post Grossi and Perna's video.... But it seemed like pouring water on a drowning man. Hearing Bengals fans get called "the worst" on MacAfee. Care what they think or not... The Bengals are a joke again. We have officially spent all of the goodwill that we earned going to the big dance. Thanks to the CBA, getting a Rookie deal done is EASY. And no matter what, they're cheap by NFL standards. Not extending Trey was missing a layup. The Stewart situation is blowing the dunk, smashing your face into the rim and then having the ball hit you in the nads on the way down. Mike and Katie should sell the team just to avoid further embarrassment. I was hopeful with Katie... She seemed cut from a different cloth back in the Marvin days. Over the last two offseasons, she's proven to be shitty in ways Mike Brown lacked the imagination for. I said before - not getting Tee, Jamarr, and Trey signed was basically malpractice. And now I'm looking at a team with $32M in cap space who can't figure how to get the league's leading pass rusher signed. Meanwhile, they're measuring dicks with the guy they drafted to replace him. Frikkin' ponderous. Or, as you put it so elegantly, batshit insane. Any other GM would be brushing up his Linked In. I honestly feel sorry for all of these guys. Shemar Stewart didn't choose to have his career sidetracked and possibly destroyed by this bullshit. Trey deserves a raise - and if you believe him - one he was promised. Joe Burrow is going to play his tail off for a team that is always a dollar short. Whitworth didn't deserve to be treated like that. Losing Jesse Bates is now a three year long clusterfuck that saved us 0 cap space. But we're still top 10 in cap space next year. And we will be until Joe Burrow is 38 years old and being compared to Dan Marino. Rinse, lather, repeat. Because you know what the definition of batshit insanity is? Watching this franchise do the same stupid thing year after year and expecting it to change.

Shemar's father weighs in ... What a shitshow the front office has created. 😡

Damning. I'm 100% on Stewart's side. #FreeShemar

"Don't air grievances today about the team you'll be playing for..." Doesn't that work both ways? Don't piss off the guy you want to have producing for you for the next 4-5 years? If he's everything you hope he'll be, is he going to be looking favorably on the Bengals FO when it's time to extend or resign him? I mean, Katie gets to do her shitty lil' stuff behind the scenes... Meanwhile you have these guys constantly being pressured by the media to talk about it. Here's Stewart with a gaggle of reporters who only want to know one thing. "When are you going to sign your contract??" And unless you're willing to let the FO run roughshod over you, it's out of your hands. I freakin' hate it when reporters pester a guy for a half an hour, then choose a pull quote that is a mild complaint, and go "Oh, he shouldn't have talked shit about Katie!!!" Stewart says it's "On The Bengals FO".... Shouldn't use language like that!!! Tsk, tsk. Drummed up drama. This is what the Bengals are doing to leverage having two generational talents - this is their "strategy" for maximizing Burrow's championship "window". Engaging in pissing matches with our best defensive player and our first round pick. And this is over a CHEAP azz rookie contract. And Stewart didn't say anything I haven't been saying for the last month. Something that needed to be said IMHO.

I guess it's a sign of the times that Hendrickson has gotten way more national attention this offseason as a contract holdout than he ever did as an on-the-field football player.

The masses have spoken ...

Lolololol yeah I can imagine. The one time I did them I was at a damn Halloween party and when I tell you I lost my shit, I absolutely lost all of it. I was hiding from Michael Meyers most the night thinking he was coming after me. Every costume seemed so real. After that night I said never again 😂 I wasn’t right for the next day or two. Had me hiding in Debo’s pigeon cage type shit. Good times. DMT takes you to other dimensions. I’m not sure I would ever want to experience such a thing. Same with ayahuasca. When most everyone who does it describes the same “DMT world” including interacting figures, it confirms what CERN has proven, that there are different dimensions within our world. I’m not sure I’m ready for all that lol.

All the good will they got for getting Jamar and Tee done, flushed down the toilet. Hendrickson is one thing, trying to undercut giving this kid what every other kid in his position has gotten is Old Bengals thinking. Has anything changed or not? You drafted him, if you didn't believe in him enough to not give him the same contract you gave Mims that's on you and your small "if I thought we needed more we would hire more" front office.

This quote is going to haunt the Bengals if the season starts out slow ...

I'm not a Brown family hater but this is shameful behavior by the front office. I hope Shemar stands his ground to teach them a lesson that this kind of fuckery is not right. He didn't give them any reason to make him a new precedent and upend the player union rookie scale like this.

The knock on Pratt the last few years has been that he was so concerned with causing fumbles, that he often went for the strip rather than the tackle. The fact that he caused some memorable fumbles early in his career, seems to have left him always chasing that former glory.

Interesting... Tee signed a VERY team friendly deal. He actually has a higher cap hit this year, but he could also be cut THIS YEAR without much effect on the cap. Should Burton and Yoshi really step it up this year - he's prime trade bait. Chase sees more "real money" this year. He's also got a few years of runway before it makes financial sense to get rid of him - no matter what. Neither one has void years or other tom foolery... Signing bonuses are pretty similar... Higgins gets 13 in salary with 5 as a roster bonus, Chase gets 8 with a 10 roster bonus... Both around $18M a year. Tee gets a slightly higher bump in "per game" bonuses that offsets the signing bonus. They both make roughly the same amount with Chase having a lot more in guarantees. Just goes to show how you can structure two different deals that sound very similar in overall terms to be two completely different deals.

Please take your vitriol to the JESUS & DRUMPF forum. https://forum.go-bengals.com/index.php?/forum/22-jesus-drumpf/

Thanks to everyone who voted. Here's the final tally: 14 Lemar Parrish (1970-77) (b.1947) 11 David Fulcher (1986-92) (b.1964) 10 Bob Trumpy (1968-77) (b.1945) 10 Reggie Williams (1976-89) (b.1954) 8 Dave Lapham (1974-83) (b.1952) 3 Jim Breech (1980-92) (b.1956) 3 James Brooks (1984-91) (b.1958) 2 Max Montoya (1979-89) (b.1956) 2 Cris Collinsworth (1981-88) (b.1959) For the ties, I've arbitrarily ranked them in order by oldest age

Hello, fellow kids

What's crazy is I think this season Burrow will be even better and win the MVP award he deserved last year 🏆

The fact that Burrow threw 21 TDs and only 3 int in the 8 losses is mind boggling. That should basically be statistically impossible in today's NFL, unless you just let the other team score on every possession. That was basically a 13-4 team with the worst fluke luck and defensive execution in NFL history.

What they are trying to do with Stewart's rookie contract is completely idiotic. They are trying to roll back the clock on a 1st rounder's contract even as the clock continues to roll forward all across the NFL. Why did they ever think this would work? There's no way that Stewart's agent will allow him to sign a contract with that kind of language. He wouldn't be able to attract more clients after that. Just pure craziness that the Bengals are even attempting to do this.

I remember attempting to help him with his health some time ago and that was the last I heard from him, on this site or otherwise. Hope he’s ok.

Better covers

Yeah, how the Bengals do business can be impersonal and even downright insulting. I get it. On the other hand, a team not wanting to overpay players who are heading into their 30s is understandable. Hendrickson's choice to make this contract dispute very public is pretty selfish. He's decided to make himself as large of a distraction as he can be. Will it force the Brown family to pay him? No shot. Will it lead to a trade? Possibly. Will it harm the team come training camp? Definitely. I appreciate how Chase handled the dispute last season. He "held in" but pretty much kept quiet. Not a fan of how Hendrickson and his agency are handling this.

Dear Trey, There's (supposedly) $28 million on the table. For one year. And not a full year's worth of work. $28 million is a hella lot of money. Yours for simply signing on the dotted line. You aren't going to get that much anyplace else. 31 other reams have said you are not worth that much by not trading much for you. Sign. Play a year, maybe two, retire and never work another day in your life. What's so hard to understand about that?