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Cincinnati Bengals news and headlines have taken some interesting slants in the weeks after the draft.
Here are some thoughts on notables, including potential free-agency moves, extensions and the Cleveland Browns rivalry.
Bengals don’t want veteran QB
It’s a little surprising to see comments from the team about not wanting a veteran quarterback make such a splash.
This is something the team has telegraphed all offseason. Comments about the potential to keep Andy Dalton were always just trade posturing, especially after spending so much in free agency. They couldn’t afford to keep Dalton — but we could always read between the lines and see they liked the prior quarterbacking experience all over the coaching staff to counteract the absence of an actual veteran on the depth chart.
Is this risky? Sure. But Burrow’s got a good maturity level the team likes. And if he goes down with an injury, this isn’t a contending year anyway and the two quarterbacks behind him have a year in the system already.
Burrow’s lack of signing
Joe Burrow isn’t signing his rookie deal just yet.
Quick take? Doesn’t matter. Burrow, as far as we know, is still holed up in Athens due to Coronavirus concerns. More importantly, teams seem hesitant to throw out guaranteed cash right now until we see what happens with revenue due to a potentially shortened season or one without fans in attendance. Burrow is due to make more guaranteed cash at signing than any rookie pick. Not only is the holdup understandable, only one first-round pick has actually inked his deal so far.
Boyd and Ross ignite Browns rivalry
Tyler Boyd and John Ross threw some shots at the Browns.
And why not? The rivalry hasn’t been close for a long time. The Browns swept the Bengals in 2018 — but it was the first time that had happened since 2002. The Bengals had swept the prior three seasons and the final series record for the 2010s? A 13-7 favoring the Bengals to bring the overall to 51-42 favoring the Bengals.
The Browns are on the receiving end of some questionable offseason hype again, mostly given historical precedent (just two seasons of even hitting .500 since rejoining the league in 1999). Boyd and Ross aren’t exactly out of line for sticking together on this front.
On Larry Warford
We posted a poll asking if the Bengals should sign Larry Warford.
The majority — and elsewhere on social media — says yes. But it’s a tough sell at this point. Warford was cut for a reason in front of Drew Brees (more on that in the poll). Part of it was cost-cutting, but even if the Bengals wanted to get in on him because he’s worth adding, that means a ton of other teams will have an interest too. Cincinnati only has so much cash after a big trip to free agency and might need it to work on extensions with Joe Mixon and A.J.Green.
On a Joe Mixon extension
Duke Tobin made it clear this week the Bengals have talked to Joe Mixon about an extension.
My read on it? Sure sounds like Mixon is in line for a new deal over the summer if he’s willing to play ball in the $8-9 million range AAV. He’s not going to reset the market like a Christian McCaffrey and if that’s what he wants it isn’t going to work out long-term.
A lot of this seems possible because A.J. Green is already on the franchise tag and they probably won’t have a chance to really put him through tests to see if his ankle will hold up due to an odd summer courtesy of a pandemic. Seems like Mixon gets the extension cash now and they’ll revisit with Green after the season.
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