sparky151

The rest of the Bengals picks in the 32 GM mock were: 6A Jaden Crumedy 6B Marist Liufau 7A Matt Lee 7B Evan Anderson

I don't see Paul being available at 80 but wouldn't be too surprised if Bowers is on the board at 18 and think Sweat is very likely to be available at 49. I don't think Beebe or Johnson will fall as far as PFF has them.

Teams expect players drafted in rounds 1-3 to become starters for them, at least by year 3. Merely getting a second contract would be a little disappointing as pretty much any first rounder will get a second chance elsewhere if he fails with his first team. But we can't expect most top 100 players to make a pro bowl either or start all the seasons of their rookie deal.

How the hell did Volson get more than Purdy? The latter was drafted later and was an MVP finalist.

Uh, KC apparently agrees with me since they signed Araiza.

Eh, place holding is something that can be learned in a couple of weeks. Plenty of time to train whomever wins the punting job how McPherson likes the ball angled.

Yeah, last year Hill seemed confused most of the time and Scott was a terrible tackler. This year Bell will get everyone in the right place and he can certainly tackle. Stone can read routes much better than Hill so we should have a much better backfield. We do still need to add a good CB, probably in the middle rounds.

Makes sense. Coverage units will be stretched horizontally with only the kicker providing depth. So popping a seam might mean 6 points.

I'd be fine with Arnold or Mitchell at 18 if they fell there. DeJean would also be a worthy pick as would Brian Thomas, JPJ, Murphy, Newton, and several tackles.

You're probably right. It's not as if Jake saved coach's jobs or anything like that but they are comfortable with the idea of him being the backup for 3 more years before he's a free agent. If they keep him on 1 year deals, then they'll give him the RFA first round tag in the 2026 offseason. If the team wanted to reward someone for outplaying their contract, Browning would be a better candidate than Sample.

Before free agency I thought a trade of Browning for Michael Mayer would make sense for both teams. Still wouldn't hate the idea.

So why did the Bengals triple Sample's salary? What was the great play or talent that he showed last year that opened their eyes and made them think "we can't let Drew get away"? What makes him more valuable or harder to replace than Gesicki?

Then that's a double mistake. Teams should pay for future production, not past achievements. Sample has been in the NFL for 5 years and half his career catches and over half his yardage came back in the 2020 season. That's not even the recent past and if they just wanted to reward him for being a good boy, they could have done it last year when he was also a free agent who didn't attract interest from any other team. I don't recall him even being noted as taking visits elsewhere before re-signing with the Bengals for the vet minimum. Gesicki should be an upgrade over the Smith/Hudson combo from last year. But they played more snaps than Sample. Sinnott seems to be a late 3rd rounder in most mocks lately, comparable with Stover. Bowers is first obviously, then Sanders usually goes in round 2. Sinnott/Stover, even Theo Johnson go in the 3rd.

No chance Fiske lasts until 80. He's clearly the third 3T behind Murphy and Newton. I'm in a 32 GM mock at another site and so far have: 1 Amarius Mims 2 Ja'Tavion Sanders (Sweat went the pick in front of me, grr) 3a Devontez Walker 3b Kris Abrams-Draine 5 McKinnley Jackson 5 Audric Estime We're in late 5th round at present. I offered Tee in trade to Giants and Panthers for their NTs but no takers.

I don't think the Bengals are shopping Jake at all. But if someone called about him, they should set a price. Remember when they almost fleeced Hue and the Browns into paying a 2nd and 3rd for McCarron? I think a second round pick or quality starter at another position would be a fair price for Browning. Another team isn't going to acquire him to be their backup, it would be to start for them. At the moment, Denver looks like the team least able to upgrade it's QB room in the draft. They don't have the capital to move to the top 4 and picking Nix or Penix in round 1 would be a big reach. They could wait for a Pratt or Rattler but Browning is a better option than any of those guys.

If there's one thing we know about the NFL, it's that QB-needy teams will pay, either for hope (Zach Wilson and Trey Lance were top 3 picks) or even more so for production, ie Kirk Cousins 45 mil deal. If the Bengals were willing to trade Browning, he would be worth at least a 3rd round pick and maybe a 2nd. Some team is likely to take Penix before then and he didn't break Browning's career records at U Dub and has never played a snap in the NFL. While Browning has played at an above average level when given the chance. Nobody is going to hold it against Jake that he didn't beat out Burrow for the starting job. But all known evidence is that he's one of the 32 best QBs in the NFL.

I think you're right that there's no chance the Bengals cut him. But the offense needs a TE who can block, not necessarily Sample. And, as noted above, there are plenty of better blocking TEs around. Or, dare I suggest, they draft a TE who can do both? Or if he goes down early in the year again as in 2022, they can just sign a guy off the street. Remember how the Bengals offense crashed and burned when Sample was done for the year? Oh, wait... You may remember Marvin's quote along the lines of Kelly was a grown man who could handle DEs. Sample+Jonah couldn't handle Watt. Sample is certainly a better blocker in the backfield than Mixon was. But inline he isn't a receiving threat and was behind a couple dozen other TEs as a pass blocker. Ultra dependable? Are you kidding? He's missed 22 games in his 5 year career. That's more than a fourth of them. Why are they paying him triple the AAV on this year's contract compared to last year when he was a free agent? Were they worried about the Titans or something? If the Titans had paid him nearly as much as the Bengals did, he'd qualify us for a comp pick. I want the Bengals to spend to the cap. But spend it more efficiently and pay the difference makers. Giving Sample a (relatively) big contract is tripling down on error. He was overdrafted in the second round initially. Not his fault but poor evaluation by Tobin. Then Tobin botched the first round last year, choosing Murphy when we could have turned that pick into multiple good players such as Jones, Washington (a better as well as less expensive blocking TE) plus an early 2nd rounder this year. Tobin would probably claim it sends the message that "we reward our own" or some such. Players might well take it differently, like "play internal politics and you'll get ahead".

If we draft a rookie TE (or sign a street vet) who turns out to be better than Sample, we could cut him at the end of training camp with a modest cap savings in 2024 but save 5 mil in space over the next couple of years. He has a 2.35 mil roster bonus that hasn't been paid yet but I'm not sure of the timing on it. If it's not due until week 1 and depends on him making the team, that would be extra savings.

Barton will be an interior o-lineman in the NFL, probably a good one. I've seen Joe Thuney comparisons. I wouldn't cry if we took Barton or JPJ at 18. But tackle is probably a bigger need than a guard/center. Brown is only signed for one year and tends to miss 4 or more games each season. He's played 53 games in the last 5 years. My guess is we re-sign Scharping as the backup center. Karras is going into the final year of his current deal. I'd be fine with extending him but the Bengals famously hate 3rd contracts for players over 30.

He's a sunk cost. That shouldn't be an obstacle to upgrading the blocking TE position if the chance presents itself on day 3. We have 10 picks this year.

Lame band? Wash your mouth out. That's one of Vince Clark's songs but I think the band was better after he left.

Sample is no Reggie Kelly. He isn't going to erase TJ Watt. Guys like Darnell Washington last year or Tip Reiman this year are better blockers and better all round athletes than Sample.

Latham is the latest in a long line of Alabama guys who are maxed out before the reach the NFL. Hard pass.

Taking him in the 2nd round was a mistake because it was a missed opportunity to take a better player. But that has nothing to do with whether or not Sample is good at his job. He's not. He's just average as a blocking TE and well below average as a receiving TE. Among TEs with enough snaps to qualify, PFF rates him as the 35th best overall TE in the league last season. He ranked 44th and 54th in the other 2 years of his career with enough snaps to be rated. So if your argument is that he's showing improvement over the course of his career, eh. He ranked 26th in pass blocking (well behind Gesicki for what it's worth). He was 12th in run blocking. And 48th in receiving. That's not the profile of a 3 million per year player. The ancient Marcedes Lewis outgraded Sample by a lot last year and plays for vet min on a year by year contract. The Bengals need to get off the complete annual TE room turnover treadmill but Sample isn't the guy to sign for 3 years. Just draft a rookie on day 3 as a blocker and you'll have him for 4 years on the cheap. So we shouldn't draft a tackle in round 1 because he'll be a crapshoot? I've no objection to signing a good TE. Gesicki should be an upgrade over Hudson or Smith and probably over Hurst and Uzomah. He's certainly a better player than Sample though he's getting paid less.