sparky151

Hard to see Collinsworth going in this early.

Maybe he just wanted to hang with some of the other guests such as Jay Z and Beyonce?

There's a good chance Rubin had the party paid for by Fanatics as a business expense. Even if he paid 100% from his own pocket, it's still questionable as the food/drink/entertainment is probably worth more than the $250 limit. Florio's point is that the league's policy has giant holes in it and seems to be written more to shield the league from lawsuits than to let players and others know what is or isn't permitted. Why the distinction between bets place from the weightroom (forbidden) and the practice facility parking lot (no problemo)? Or the team hotel before a road game (verboten) vs from the player's bedroom before a home game (A-OK)?

He's been on a crusade against the league's gambling policy. But it sure looks like the party amounts to accepting hospitality from a gambling enterprise. But Bob Kraft was there so Florio thinks it will be swept under the rug.

Florio points out the party might violate NFL rules concerning hospitality from gambling companies. https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/multiple-nfl-figures-attend-fanatics-ceo-michael-rubins-july-4-party

Taylor still has a career losing record and will need a few high performing seasons to get above .500.

The NFL has suspended more players for betting. No big names. Titans RT Nick Petit-Frere (formerly of OSU) got a 6 game suspension. Colts had a couple guys suspended for the year, who were promptly cut. Cam Robinson (Jaguars LT) had his PED suspension announced at 4 games.

Brown had a lot of fumbles last year at Illinois, 6 in 13 games. So he needs to make it a point of emphasis as defenders will be trying to strip it out from him.

Nah, the victim isn't filing charges. That usually means he has a settlement offer. The NFL can't force non-employees to cooperate with their investigations so it won't go anywhere.

Cook had better stats than Mixon last year and over his career. I doubt he gets more than the 6 mil that Jamaal Williams and Miles Sanders go though.

Back when Jonah asked to be traded, there were reports (I think it was Breer or Shefter) that he would have a trade market if the Bengals wanted to move him. Various teams were mentioned with Jacksonville not even getting involved until Cam Robinson's PED suspension. It's a fact the Bengals didn't get an offer they accepted but it's not unreasonable to see who the potential trade partners would have been. PFF thought he'd go to Tampa as the replacement for Donovan Smith. In some mocks, I was able to trade him to the Colts and Commanders without any trouble. Quite a few teams could have used him on their left side if healthy. Keeping both Williams and Collins seems unlikely. The Bengals can keep Collins and Mixon until final cuts without owing them anything for 2023 if they don't look like contributors. Collins seemed to be moving pretty well this week so my current guess is he plays in a preseason game and isn't on PUP at the start of the year. He may have a trade market as well if he's able to play week 1. The O-line position where we should worry about our depth is C. We have a logjam of bodies at RT but we're screwed if Karras goes down. Trey Hill and Ben Brown have shown nothing in the NFL. The Vikings were trying to trade Cook before the draft but nobody wanted his contract. He may take a paycut to stay in Minnesota but if not is likely to be cut. They are trying to clear cap space so they can extend Justin Jefferson and an expensive RB is a luxury.

The money saved from cutting deadwood can be carried into future seasons. Cutting Mixon probably isn't needed for the Burrow extension, at least as the team planned it. It would perhaps help the Higgins deal get done sooner. But it would definitely help with extensions for Wilson, ADG, Bailey, Awuzie, Reader, Boyd or any other 2024 free agent they want to keep.

The argument is perfectly legitimate until the week 8 trade deadline. Paying Williams 12.6 mil to play RT doesn't make sense. If Collins and Carman both get hurt and go on season ending IR, then sure. Otherwise, no. Do you expect Collins to be on the active roster for week 1? If so his contract is effectively guaranteed as a vested veteran. That would mean the team is paying 22 mil to the pair of them. Combined, they aren't 35% better than Orlando Brown since only 1 can play at a time at RT. If you think Collins should be cut, fine, just say so. But choosing Williams over Collins to play RT for the Bengals in 2023 would be a poor decision imo. Collins is recovering from a serious knee injury but seems to be progressing well. He played well for the Cowboys at RT his last couple of years there in 2020 and 2021. Then not as well in 2022 in Cincinnati. Maybe he'll bounce back but Jonah has never been as good at LT as Lael was at RT. So Collins is probably a better bet to be a solid NFL RT for the playoffs this upcoming year. I don't fault the team for drafting Jonah, nor for exercising his 5th year option. But circumstances changed when Brown fell into our laps later in the first week of free agency. The team should have adapted not by moving Jonah to RT but by getting value for him on his way out the door. A healthy Williams has trade value as various NFL observers noted at the time. He's a middle of the pack starting LT when healthy. That would be an upgrade for quite a few teams and well worth a mid-round pick provided they were sure he was healthy and not just a one year rental of damaged goods. Even now, a team like the Patriots could use him. His trade value was higher before the draft because teams could (Bengals willing) examine his knee caps and talk contract extension with him. Filling a premium position with a midround pick is an attractive option for a team since that leaves a top pick available for other positions and doesn't require your first choice player to fall to your draft spot. There is more demand than supply for competent O-linemen. I doubt the Bengal would have drafted any RB at 28, except maybe Bijan Robinson. Bengals could easily have taken another RB in rounds 2-4. They chose not to and I'm happy with Brown, provided he hangs on to the ball. The Titans have a new GM this year and it's been reported he was cleaning out the older players. Tannehill is in the last year of his contract and they drafted his replacement. They cut Ben Jones and Taylor Lewan. Henry is in the last year of his deal and has lost a step so the reports he was being offered to other teams make sense. He's still clearly better than Mixon and costs less so picking him up would be a good move for a team competing for the Super Bowl. Maybe they will just wait for Dalvin Cook to be cut by the Vikings. He's a better player than Mixon at this point in their careers . Uh, having insurance for Jonah makes sense. He's ended 3 of his 4 seasons on IR. Counting on Jonah as the insurance plan doesn't make sense. Twelve mil is a lot to pay for a backup and so is the 9 mil+ that Collins costs. Cam Fleming signed for 4 mil with the Broncos this week and that's what a quality veteran backup should cost. Or we can go cheap with Carman, Smith, Adeniji or Ford. The question isn't whether Jonah is better than Adeniji or Smith, he is. It's whether it's a good use of the team's resources to pay him 12.6 mil. IMO he's clearly not worth the 12.6 mil that would amount to the signing bonus on a Wilson or Reader extension or a large part of a Higgins signing bonus. So even trading him to Jacksonville for a conditional 2025 7th rounder makes more sense than keeping him a insurance in case Brown gets hurt or Collins can't play week 1. We have Carman to cover those situations.

Eh, he's a very good MLB but a WR2 who is as good as a WR1 is harder to find and has a higher market value. I'd keep both as well as extend Burrow and Reader. But that requires cutting Mixon and trading Williams.

The PFF guy who did the projection for Tee's extension has his article on defensive players out today. His projection for a Logan Wilson extension is 3 years, 34.5 mil with 14 mil guaranteed.

That article is strange. It has both Higgins and Pittman signing 4 year extensions with Tee getting a higher annual average. But Pittman getting 53 mil guaranteed at signing compared to 32 for Tee. I think the 24 mil is probably a good estimate of his open market value, it's comparable to DK Metcalf, Terry McLaurin or AJ Brown. But Tee won't be on the open market until at least 2025, maybe 2026. So he'd have to take a discount to get paid early. About 20 mil per year, as you suggest, seems like a fair price to shift the injury risk to the team. Also, with Orlando Brown and Joe Burrow taking less than max deals, Tee has good examples to follow.

I think that's the former Bengal receiver, just 1 of several Michael Thomases in the NFL.

Cincinnati is as good a fit for Germany as any of those other teams.

Volson is 6'6" which is pretty tall for a guard. He played tackle in college so in case of emergency he could pitch in there. But our roster has more tackles than guards so that's unlikely.

Godspeed Radio, godspeed

Nobody here thinks Burrow is going to hold out. As far as not giving players a contract that stretches past age 30, the team shouldn't be dogmatic about it. It makes more sense for positions that depend on speed, than on strength. Karras is already 30 but he shouldn't be in any danger of being replaced. Likewise with Reader who is now 28. The team should extend DJ unless they have a capable replacement in hand. My view is that Tupou is fine for depth but not close to Reader as a starter.

How many contracts did Huber get? It depends on how well the player is performing and whether he's old by the standards of his position. NT is a job which depends on size and strength more than mobility. That's why guys like Vince Wilfork or Ted Washington were effective at an advanced age. They played 13 and 17 seasons respectively. Reader is going into his 8th season and played very well last year. The team shouldn't be afraid to extend him a couple of years for numbers similar to what he currently makes. The team should be more afraid of losing a very good DT if they have to replace him, whether with Tupou or a rookie or another free agent. Yeah, the idea of Burrow holding out is silly. The CBA includes pretty severe penalties for holding out during training camp, let alone missing games. So players in general don't try it. And Burrow is about the least likely guy in the NFL to hold out.

They'll get the deal done with Burrow before this season. And likely Higgins too. I doubt they would use a tag on Wilson or Reader but they'd be next in line for extensions.

I voted for Boomer as a former league MVP and Parrish as an old timer. Let's get some of the early guys in before they're gone.

Players usually take a discount to get paid early. Burrow is 4 or 5 years away from free agency at the moment so he should be and is willing to structure it in a team-friendly fashion. Higgins has a couple seasons to go. I wouldn't be surprised if the team waits until after 2024 season to extend Jamarr. But Bengals are 82 mil under the cap at the moment for 2024. That's with Burrow counting at 30 mil on his 5th year option. So there is plenty of money for extensions and re-signings.