5 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

I'm inclined to believe Frank Sheeran's account that he was stuffed in an incinerator somewhere outside Detroit, even if Sheeran wasn't actually the one that shot him. Making a former friend pull the trigger as a loyalty test does sound like their kind of logic, though.

Yeah, it was a classic mob hit. Hoffa was trying to get back into a leadership position in the Teamsters but the Mob and most of the Teamster leadership did not want the visibility he brought.

RFK did everything he could to lock him up in the past to include a public feud. Mafia likes things to be quiet.

On 6/28/2025 at 12:09 AM, T-Dub said:

Doing business in NJ, what can ya do?

Probably charging Jimmy Hoffa's estate rent for his spot under one of the parking lots.

Hoffa is stuffed in a 55 gallon steel barrel somewhere near Newark Airport. Jimmy 3 Fingers Milano told me so.

56 minutes ago, Griever said:

So the Stealers got rid of a quality player and leader in Fitzpatrick for a mercenary who does whatever he wants in Ramsey? And they still need to pay Watt? So they are going to spend the most money in the NFL on defense? Ok. Chiefs, Rams and Eagles spend the least on defense.

6 hours ago, High School Harry said:

More likely the fool signed a one year deal because he could not get more.

And he's damn lucky to get this one.

Basically a Jonny Unitas to the Chargers move.

2 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

And you can enjoy rooting for the league's 25th ranked defense I guess.

Well, I did last year and this guy isn’t going to improve it.

1 minute ago, LostInDaJungle said:

I am glad YOU feel that way. 😆

Well, he can enjoy a year off from football then. If he can’t trust himself to conduct himself like a professional I don’t want him. Went thru a decade of dumbass players making the Bengals look like shit.

BTW, Abdul Carter, signed his contract, which includes the now-controversial (for a Bengals player that is) provision. I guess Carter has more faith in himself.

The Burton fiasco last year was bad enough although these particular clauses would not have cost him money.

22 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said:

Stewart’s agent is basically saying the main point I said a few days ago. The contract is guaranteed but the team should have the ability to void in certain circumstances. But since the team hasn’t used that language previously, it should be negotiated between the sides if they want Stewart to accept it.

And the fact that the team had not used it previously is meaningless. It isn’t some off the wall unique contract, it’s a standard contract for many teams.

17 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

Good lord. You can't draft a guy at #17 and then go "But you suck so accept this crappy contract." WTF???

There is absolutely nothing wrong with his contract. Many teams in the league use the same language in their contracts. He is GUARANTEED the same amount of money anyone in his draft slot would earn.

19 minutes ago, High School Harry said:

Only two first round picks remain unsigned.

Shemar Stewart is half of them.

Meh, guy has even refused to sign an injury clause which all rookies sign. The idea that somehow the Bengals are not allowed to use the same language many teams use to protect themselves from knucklehead behavior is kind of laughable.

Actual training camp hasn’t started so I am not worried yet.

Never liked the pick anyways. He didn’t produce in college based on his draft slot, seems to be another underwear warrior like John Ross although Ross actually did produced in college.

On 6/18/2025 at 7:21 PM, kennethmw said:

Hell, I had an S63 above 140!!! 😂

I hit 180 in a C32 AMG once when I was young and dumb. Probably closer to 175 but the needle was on 180.

1 minute ago, dex said:

Supposedly Dallas came within an eyelash of taking Stewart with pick 12. They finally decided to go OL instead.

I have to think a guy considered a project albeit with physical talent won’t age well draft wise after sitting out a year. I certainly could be wrong.

6 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

You think a training camp discard is going to replace 17.5 sacks "just fine"?

I will got out on a limb and say Lost was engaging in the classic use of sarcasm.

1 hour ago, BlackJesus said:

Nope. They would have just wasted a first round pick for nothing.

If they want to trade his rights they can still do so until August 5th of this year. After that they either have to sign him or he becomes free at the end of this season to be redrafted.

Do you think he would have a shot at 17th or better in next years draft? Plenty of mocks had him mid 20s or worse. Take a year certainly can’t help him me thinks.

1 hour ago, BlackJesus said:

Even if other team's may use similar default language, the fact is the Bengals have not used it before.

So why for the mother of God would they decide to set a NEW precedent with a rookie, who just happens to play the exact position as their pro bowl player who is also holding out ?! 😵

You set these kind of precedents with a veteran player or perhaps with a rookie you took a risk on with character concerns (Burton).

Shemar didn't need them to do anything different with him than they did with Mims. This isn't the time to get cute.

Yeah well the Bengals never chartered airplanes before until most of the league started doing it. What they did in the past has little to do with today.

That said, I still don’t know who is right or wrong here but I was never thrilled with picking an unproductive underwear Olympics medalist in the first round anyways.

1 hour ago, dex said:

Jay Morrison article:

CINCINNATI – Germaine Pratt deserved better from the Cincinnati Bengals, but that just makes him a member of a club that is far from exclusive.

Jessie Bates, DJ Reader and Andrew Whitworth are just a few of the former players who will be waiting to greet Pratt at the door.

The Bengals finally released Pratt today, ending five months of inevitability.

Pratt’s play dropped off considerably in 2024 despite leading the team with 143 tackles. His missed tackles, poor angles and slower pursuit played a role in the overall defensive disaster that cost the Bengals a playoff berth and defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo his job.

With Pratt due to count $8.2 million against the salary cap in the final season of the three-year, $20.5 million extension he signed following the 2022 season, keeping an aging, slowing, declining linebacker never was in the plans.

But the Bengals waited another five months to stamp the transaction, costing Pratt a chance to find a new home in free agency.

You could make an argument for at least wanting to see how the draft played out, but the Bengals landed linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. in the second round and Barrett Carter in the fourth round.

Instead of cutting Pratt after that, the team relocated his locker, shoving it into a corner near the defensive backs to make room from Knight and Carter, the latter of whom is in Pratt’s former space.

Prior to the draft, the Bengals didn’t just cost Pratt in free agency. They cost themselves.

Their inability to get the Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins extensions done before the start of free agency blew up whatever plan might have been in place, resulting in them not addressing some obvious positions of need.

Cutting Pratt saves $5.85 million in cap space which could have been used to add more help in March.

Pratt requested a trade in February, and perhaps that’s why they strung him along for so long, hoping another team would have an injury at the linebacker position that would jolt them into pursuing a deal.

But that was the only way a trade was going to happen because the rest of the league knew the split was coming, so whatever teams might be interested in Pratt were willing to wait until the light finally went on in the Bengals front office.

Pratt deserved better.

LOL, nah man. This is nothing like Bates or Whit.

He was Ok but we can probably get the same level of play or hopefully better with one of our young inexpensive rookies. It’s just the way the NFL works.

No hate, he is basically the 2025 version of Rey Maualuga.

3 hours ago, dex said:

Not sure why the Packers are releasing Alexander. Hope he stays in the NFC though. I know there's no chance of him ever being a Bengal player.

1 hour ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

I believe he has missed a lot of games in the last few seasons, so it is a value proposition.

42 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

Yeah, he can't stay healthy and is expensive. CB pay has gone up this year but I'm not sure Alexander will get base pay more than his old contract.

He also doesn’t get along with his coach which never ends well for the player in Green Bay.

On 5/24/2025 at 2:48 PM, Jamie_B said:

 

 

All I'm saying is the Saints need a QB now too, and they play in Chicago this year, Rodgers has the chance to do the funnies thing ever....

Don’t you dare risk my Saints plan to tank for Cooper.

23 hours ago, BlackJesus said:

If you aim for the crown 👑, you best not miss. 

 

The fine is part of the collective bargain agreement, Mike Brown doesn’t do the fining, the league does and it’s mandatory. 

1 hour ago, sparky151 said:

 

Pittsburgh has a decent roster other than QB despite not drafting highly for years. Also, nobody on the planet thinks Taylor is a better coach than Tomlin. 

 

Yes, they have the perpetually decent roster that gets them a wild card birth and nothing more.   And Tomlin hasn’t won a playoff game in 10 years so why is he better than Taylor?  You sound like a Tiger Woods fan who thinks he is going to start winning important tournaments again. 

 

 

On 4/8/2025 at 9:38 PM, dex said:

I remain convinced that the contract drama last year contributed to the poor start. Certainly it did in the opener at home against New England. Signing both Chase and Higgins probably boosted the morale of the entire roster. Do they really want to give that up by hanging Hendrickson out to dry?

 

One step up, two steps back.

Hendrickson signed this CURRENT contract.  It isn’t close to comparable to Chase or Tee. 

12 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

 

Coy Bacon.

 

Yeah, the Bengals front office is a competitive disadvantage that the players have to overcome. Similar to Cleveland and unlike Pittsburgh and Baltimore. 

 

 

Pittsburgh hasn’t done shit in years other than limp into the playoffs.  Name the player that is dying to play there?  It is 2025, these young players don’t give a fuck about those awesome teams from the past.   Zero buzz around that team other than the media slobbering over Tomlin’s cock. 

2 hours ago, LostInDaJungle said:

The really crappy part of it is that the players don't even get appreciated by the hometown fans.

Trey Hendrickson has led the league in sacks two straight years, and people are like "Well, he's no Myles Garrett." "We can't pay him like Maxx Crosby!" Hendrickson also owns the Cincinnati record for most consecutive seasons leading the team in sacks with four.

All Andy Dalton did was come in and take a moribund team that Carson Palmer quit on to the playoffs a few years in a row, something that happens here ALL THE TIME, and the fans still have a hate boner for him while they reminisce over the supposed glory days of Carson Palmer.

And so on and so forth... I miss the days when we didn't take wins for granted much less playoff appearances. When we were all Willie Anderson fans because he was our guy. When we were 100% behind Jeff Blake even though we knew he wasn't exactly Steve Young.

May I remind everyone - The only reason you're feeling any kind of loyalty to the Blackburns right now is because we got the #1 pick two years in a row. Because Burrow and Chase are succeeding despite the incompetence of the Front Office. I'm not about to shill for the Blackburns and dis what Trey has accomplished in the process. I'm not going to sit here and convince myself he "doesn't play the run well"... Or that "he's too old". 

Quick, name me another Bengal that has led the league in sacks.

Frankly, if we can't even rally behind our own guys anymore... Please trade Joe Burrow to a team that is willing to put a real O-Line in front of him. Let Trey play alongside some D-Linemen that weren't bagging groceries a month ago. We apparently can't even appreciate having the NFL sack leader in Cincy. We're willing to hope that a rookie can protect Joe. We're willing to take fliers on Jermaine Burton and Dax Hill instead of paying known performers.

Don’t misconstrue what I said about Whit as not appreciating him, far from it.  I wanted him resigned but in defense of management and all the factors at the time, letting him leave for a team that was ready to win a Superbowl was the right decision.   My point about it being life changing is how being in Los Angeles gave him the incredible opportunity post football.  I seriously doubt that happens if he stayed here.  Couldn’t have happened to a better guy. 
 

I was a Dalton defender for a long time.  That ended after the San Diego playoff game.  We had no business losing that game.    He was utterly terrible the 2nd half.   He needed to go and has done little since.   Yeah, he had some nice seasons but at the end of the day, we still had zero. Post season wins. 
 

I want Trey to be a Bengal but the reality is, he already is. As has been pointed out, this is his contract he wanted. 
 

I see teams like the Raiders and Browns blowing huge money on fan favorites and what will it get them?  Nothing.  
 

 

 

19 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

Much like the Whitowrth sitch... The Bengals made two identical offers to Bates. Both were extremely low. As I recall, it was basically them wanting his rights for 5 years while only guaranteeing ~17M of the contract. The Franchise tag guaranteed him $13M over one year. For the record, the Falcons gave him $18M as a signing bonus. 

From that point, they just stopped negotiating. The report for a long time was that the two sides had "made no progress". "Negotiations have stalled".

If I've learned anything here... People will believe what they want to believe to prop up whatever reason they have for not changing what they want to be true. To my mind, making the same lowball offer twice and refusing to budge... Sounds like there wasn't much conversation happening, and certainly none that was productive. I'm not sure you really consider telling someone for a year and a half "You already have my best deal" is considered communicating. Much like "surrender all of Ukraine and we'll stop bombing you" isn't really "peace talks".

If I call you every day for a year and offer to buy your house for half of what it's worth, are we "negotiating"? Are we engaging in effective communication?

I'm sure people will have the same justifications for not signing Bates... But "Here's my best offer F-you" does seem to be the Bengals negotiating style. Regardless of Bates wanting too much money, us having the big three, me not knowing how NFL front offices work, etc...

I agree about Bates.  We had a championship caliber team and bringing him back made all the sense in the world.   Guy was 25 and had missed 2 games in 5 years.  High character quality player. 

On 4/13/2025 at 12:19 AM, stryker57 said:

what you fail to consider also was , Whitworth was the offensive capt, whether they wanted him to be or they tried to anoint Dalton , Whit still was . 
and even moved to guard so their new LT of the future could get reps and they seen then he still didnt have it after being on the team for 1 year and 1/2.
the bengals issue is they always buy the glittery skill positions  and never do any work or upkeep on the foundations, which is the trenches.    
now lets watch another productive player  leave and go get his money and a sb ring because the Bengals dont want to give the man what he has earned, the bengals played the whole wait and see game wrongly and lost,  think about it , did they hope these players would fail last year so we could save on their next contracts?  that seems to be backwards thinking, they rolled the dice these players excelled and now its time to pay then their worth,  which would have been alot cheaper last year . 

 The isn’t a competent GM in the league who pays a player based on what he has earned.  They are paid based on what they are worth in the future. The Ravens paid Joe Flacco what he had earned with his fluke run to a Superbowl victory.  It set them back years. 
 

And bringing Whit back on a big contract wasn’t going to fix the QB situation.  Whit did great on the Rams because he had a great coach and offensive teammates to include Goff and eventually Stafford at QB.  If he had stayed here he would probably be an afterthought like Willie Anderson. 
 

The best thing that ever happened to Andrew Whitworth was leaving the Bengals when he did. His life dramatically changed for the better.