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Paul Dehner says Burrow was in the locker room. No longer had PICC line on his arm and seemed to be walking better than earlier in the week. GREAT NEWS.

Your number (3) is so important here, and no one seems to talk about it. Goodell works for the owners, and right now there are 31 owners who are absolutely livid at Jimmy Haslam. for guaranteeing every dollar of Watson's franchise QB contract. A long suspension would sort of put a huge asterisk over Watson's contract, the largest and easily the greatest in NFL history by far.

I have always thought that the NFL would appeal and that Watson's suspension would be at least 8 games when all is said and done.

Very happy about this.

Keep in mind that Dax Hill was a very versatile safety at Michigan over a long career, yet almost never played a deep free safety role like Bates. Hill usually played much closer to the line of scrimmage. Not to say that Hill cannot do it at the pro level with his elite athleticism, only that Hill played more of a Vonn Bell role (another safety who may have to be replaced next season) and far-far less of a Bates type role in college.

Bates had a brilliant 2020 season, and may have been the best player on the team from start to finish. (admittedly there wasn't much else to choose from that year). Even if he didn't have a great reg season last year, that will have no bearing on how he will play this season. I expect Bates to have a great year and sign a big contract elsewhere with plenty of guaranteed money. Entering free agency at such a young age will be a great selling point. The Bengals will get a 3rd or 4th round comp pick for him down the road.

I guess recovery time is different depending on circumstances, but 2 or weeks seems to be the average recovery time.

Anyone else surprised that Dax Hall will be given the headset for practice and preseason this season? I get that he will likely be on the field during training camp more than Logan Wilson, the guy who holds the headset for receiving and relaying plays during official games, but Hall still seems like an unexpected choice here. That feels like a lot of responsibility to give a rookie who has a learning curve in terms of the playbook and learning his position as a pro. OTOH, if he takes to the responsibility well maybe it accelerates his development.

Every indication is that the staff loves Smith as a tackle. If he had not suffered a significant injury during the course of the season, I believe Smith would've been the RT in the Super Bowl not Prince.

Cappa's opening on PUP was to be expected. Collins was a full participant in OTAs, correct?

If Burrow really wants the Bengals to keep Higgins, he could make it happen Burrow has all of the bargaining power next offseason. He could have his agent work out the details for his contract extension, but only sign it after the Bengals sign Higgins to an extension first. Any deal with Higgins would require the Bengals to pay substantial guaranteed money to a non-QB, which is something they have never done before. Would then set a new contract structure precedent for the Bengals that would greatly increase the chances of signing Chase to an extension during the following offseason. Burrow has more leverage than probably any player in Bengals history A move like that would help keep the championship window open wider and longer into the future. His teammates would love him even more than they already do. I certainly wouldn't put it past him. Burrow has always seemed like a shrewd guy who has his eye on the big picture.

Looks like the new helmets will be showcased today.

I know Watson would be allowed to play during the exhibition games, but would he be allowed to practice with the team once the season starts?

That's fair. But Hurst is faster than CJ and has only been credited with 3 drops in 4 years. So he catches the ball when it gets thrown his way. The reason he has gotten so few catch opportunities is because of Mark Andrews with Baltimore and last year with Kyle Pitts at Atlanta.

I think DT is slightly worse due to the absence of Ogunjobi. The health of BJ Hill becomes very important this season as a result. I'm hoping that Ossai mightpush Hubbard or Sample inside in passing situations to help with the interior rush.

I wish Awuzie had been a 4 year deal instead of just 3. Played far better than most of us expected and he is still young.

Dax Hill was a very versatile safety for Michigan last season. Often he played a Vonn Bell type role, sometimes a Mike Hilton role, occasionally a Tre Flowers type DB. The one type of safety he played the least? A deep free safety like Bates. Which isn't to say he can't do it, just that he got very few college snaps in that type of role.

Guarantee more than just the first year of the extension like every other team in the league does, and I'd bet Bates would already have signed his name on the contract. Very little reason to believe that this holdup is about the total amount of the contract package, as Cincinnati has shown themselves recently to be on a par with the rest of the league in that aspect.

But to re-sign Chase to an extension will require Cincinnati to do something that they have never done before in terms of guaranteed money. I hope they have a plan to retain all of their impact players to extensions, but to do so will require an updated way of structuring contracts more in line with the rest of the NFL.

You are right, they are doing a lot of things differently than before, and most of it seems to be working well. But as for the issue of guaranteed money on extensions, there is a good reason why Cincinnati is ranked number one in the NFL in terms of "overall cap health." That sounds like a good thing, to be ranked number one, but this is one of those categories where I wish the Bengals were ranked closer to the middle of the pack like most of the the other smart Super Bowl contending organizations. But so far it seems that the Blackburns aren't really concerned with what's going on around the league.. They have their own way of doing contract business and don't seem eager to adapt to an ever-changing league.

With contract extensions the Bengals only guarantee the first year for their players, the only exception being QBs. Dalton got the first 2 years guaranteed on his contract extension back in 2014. He was the last Cincinnati extension that was guaranteed more than the first year, and even that one was incredibly team friendly. Not only will that strategy not work with Bates, there is very little reason to believe it will work with Higgins, Logan Wilson, and definitely not Chase. Not with the way the league is trending with guaranteed money. I doubt you would even be able to get Higgins or Chase to play under the franchise tag with the way WRs are valued across the league. Those two may have to be traded away like AJ Brown or Hollywood Brown after their 3rd year. Could bring back a 1st rounder for Higgins, and Chase could bring you several top draft picks.

Watson may play but I don't think it would affect Mayfield's status with the Browns either way. As soon as the trade for Watson was made, all Cleveland bridges with Mayfield were burned to the ground. He was never going to play another down for Cleveland at that point.

Baker Mayfield traded to the Carolina Panthers for a conditional 2024 5th round draft pick. Teams split the financials. The Bengals play the Panthers in week 9 right before the bye week.

Wow, that really is great.

The NFLPA will want to defend that 230 million dollar guaranteed contract. When contract talks begin with other franchise QBs over guaranteed money, they don't want the owners to be able to put an asterisk on Watson's contract and call it an outlier rather than a precedent.