Category: Latest News

Boomer Esiason sees some LeBron James in Joe Burrow’s possible homecoming to Bengals

A Bengals legend threw out a Burrow-LeBron comparison.

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Cincinnati Bengals legend Boomer Esiason sees some parallels between LeBron James’ arrival to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Joe Burrow’s pending arrival to Cincinnati.

The Bengals, in need of a jolt, hold the first pick in the 2020 NFL draft and sit poised to take an Ohio kid who just happened to have one of the greatest seasons ever for a collegiate passer.

And for Esiason, Burrow’s homecoming offers some shades of LeBron going home to Cleveland during his own draft journey, per Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com:

“I equate him to when LeBron James came out of high school his senior year and the Cavaliers had the top pick. They had some good years under Larry Nance, but they were never thought of as the Bulls or the Lakers or Celtics. They were the Cleveland Cavaliers for God’s sake. He grew up in the shadow of Cleveland and brought them the championship. Now it’s Joe Burrow’s time. This is his time. He’s got to go home and get it straight and he’s the reason they get it straight. That’s the way it should be written and that’s the way he should be looking at it.”

Those Cavaliers weren’t much before LeBron. The Bengals haven’t been much lately either and have had serious problems with attendance and fan engagement, never mind the national perception issues.

If Burrow indeed ends up being the pick, the storyline alone will spur major upticks in attendance and engagement. Hope is a powerful thing and no prospect offers more than Burrow in 2020 for Cincinnati’s unique situation.

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Titans uniforms ranked in bottom half of NFL by Touchdown Wire

Are the Titans’ uniforms really that bad?

No one set of NFL uniforms is going to please everybody, but some are simply worse than others.

Take the Atlanta Falcons’ new look, for example, which many have found to be comparable to the uniforms of an Arena Football League team or a squad from the newly relaunched XFL.

Not that there’s anything wrong with the attire of XFL teams, it just naturally seems like there should be a stark difference between theirs and the NFL.

So, where exactly do the Titans find themselves in the uniform rankings?

Well, not very high, at least not in the eyes of Barry Werner of Touchdown Wire, who put the team at No. 24 on the list.

That’s ahead of the New York Giants, but behind the Arizona Cardinals.

“It isn’t easy to pull off the same color just in different shades, but the Tennessee Titans manage to do it without leaving their faithful, um, blue,” he wrote.

Werner put the Washington Redskins at the bottom of the list, with the Los Angeles Chargers sitting pretty in the No. 1 spot.

Should the Titans be higher in the rankings?

You’d probably get a mixed bag of opinions on that one. But let’s be real here, this is what Titans fans really want to see:

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Ravens cut DE Ufomba Kamalu who was arrested on domestic violence charges

The Baltimore Ravens waived DE Ufomba Kamalu shortly before his arrest on domestic violence charges.

The Baltimore Ravens parted ways with defensive end Ufomba Kamalu per Wednesday’s transactions list. On Thursday, Kamalu was arrested on a warrant for a domestic violence charge, per ESPN’s Jamison Hensley.

Kamalu was originally signed by the Ravens off the New England Patriots practice squad in October. He was waived by Baltimore a few weeks later and added to the practice squad before being signed to a futures contract this offseason.

Kamalu played no snaps for the Ravens last season and his last action in the regular season came in 2018 with the Patriots. Over four seasons in the NFL, Kamalu has played in 15 games, getting 294 defensive snaps and 60 snaps on special teams, accounting for 12 tackles and three sacks.

Baltimore has revamped their defensive line this offseason, trading for Calais Campbell and signing free agent Derek Wolfe as well as re-signing Jihad Ward and Justin Ellis.

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Bengals meet with 2020 NFL draft defenders Azur Kamara, Nate Evans

The Bengals tallied two more notable 2020 NFL draft meets.

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The coronavirus pandemic has forced NFL teams into uncharted territory with digital-only meets with prospects ahead of the 2020 NFL draft.

That hasn’t stopped the Cincinnati Bengals from putting in big work on prospects.

Most recently, the Bengals logged contact with a pair of notable defenders with Kansas linebacker Azur Kamara and UCF linebacker Nate Evans, according to The Draft Wire’s Justin Melo.

Kamara is arguably the more notable name here. The 6’3″, 245-pound edge presence grew up a soccer player and only had one year of starting experience at Kansas, but he’s an interesting developmental pass-rusher.

Evans, a team captain since his sophomore year at UCF, is another late-round consideration on the edge who could compete for a depth spot.

It’s no secret adding an edge presence is a priority for the Bengals in this year’s draft. If not early, it’s bound to happen at least once with recognizable names like these.

The Bengals have logged other notable defender meets with guys like California LB Evan Weaver, Appalachian State’s Akeem Davis-Gaither and Baylor EDGE James Lynch.

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See it: Titans’ Nissan Stadium goes blue for COVID-19 workers

Nissan Stadium was lit up in blue to honor those workers on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Tennessee Titans’ home, Nissan Stadium, was lit up blue on Thursday night to honor the people who are on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over 150 buildings across the United States joined in on the showing of appreciation for those who are putting their lives on the line to fight the outbreak.

As an organization, the Titans donated $50,000 to help in recovery efforts for the COVID-19 outbreak in Nashville. Cornerback Malcolm Butler also made donations to help both the city of Nashville and his hometown of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Former Titans defensive back, Myron Rolle, is personally on the front lines, as he’s a neurosurgery resident at Mass. General and Harvard Medical School who has seen his unit turned into a COVID-19 floor.

Despite the outbreak, the NFL has decided to proceed with the 2020 NFL Draft, albeit in a virtual format. The league will hold a “Draft-A-Thon” to help raise funds for charity, also.

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Zac Taylor talked about a free-agency spending spree while interviewing for Bengals job

The big spending by the Bengals was a long time in the making.

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Zac Taylor and the Cincinnati Bengals spending huge money in free agency has been a long time coming.

Just ask Taylor.

According to the Bengals head coach himself, the topic of spending in free agency came up during his initial interview with the team before he even got the job.

The Athletic’s Jay Morrison explained:

“On the topic of free agency, where the Bengals spent more than $130 million on eight players, one of the most interesting things Taylor said was that this year’s unprecedented, aggressive approach was something he discussed with Bengals ownership back in January 2019 when he was interviewing for the job.”

That story sure meshes well with what the Bengals have said in the past. Particularly, members of the organization have noted they were much further ahead in the offseason process this year as opposed to last year.

That would explain the difference. Last year, Taylor was late getting to the Bengals and didn’t fully assemble his staff until later than expected. The Bengals then ended up relying on lowly, familiar signings like John Jerry and B.W. Webb.

This offseason? An eruption of $100-plus million on D.J. Reader, Trae Waynes and others.

If nothing else, it’s nice to have this context into the background workings of the team. Taylor has indeed spurred some change, though it took longer than some might’ve expected to see.

When thinking about the uncharacteristic big spending on the open market, be sure to accredit it to Taylor.

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Tennessee Titans’ Mike Vrabel talks Jurrell Casey trade, ‘Tiger King’

Vrabel touched on a number of topics.

Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel touched on a number of topics during an appearance on the Official Titans Podcast, hosted by Amie Wells and “Voice of the Titans” Mike Keith.

One of the hot topics of the Titans’ offseason has been the trade of Jurrell Casey, and now, what will the Titans do with the money saved by dealing him to the Denver Broncos for a seventh-round pick.

Vrabel made it clear he thought the move was “best for our football team,” according to Jim Wyatt of Titans Online.

“We are just trying to do what is best for our football team,” Vrabel said. “Jurrell was an amazing player. The two years that I was here he was great for our football team, and there’s tough decisions that you have to make every year. Just like we talk about with all decisions, whether it is on-field decisions or decisions about practice or personnel, we are trying to make them with the best interest of the football team in mind and that’s really what it came down to.”

It’s hard to make that argument when the Titans haven’t made a move to replace Casey, or done anything significant with the money saved.

Sure, Casey was getting up there in age and was making a lot of money, but he was still supremely important to Tennessee’s defense and a fan-favorite.

At this point, almost anything less than signing Jadeveon Clowney, who the team has been in contact with, will leave fans frustrated with the deal.

The Netflix documentary “Tiger King” has taken the nation by storm during the coronavirus outbreak, and Vrabel himself has actually tuned in to watch it.

He compared it to episodes of “The Jerry Springer Show”, while also noting he finished watching “Ozark”, also per Wyatt.

“Ozark, I finished Ozark,” Vrabel said. “I fell into the trap of the Tiger King unfortunately – the kids were watching it and (my wife) Jen was watching it.”

“It was like back when I used to watch Jerry Springer, when you thought that the next episode couldn’t be any more ridiculous than the one before,” Vrabel said. “That’s what I felt like I was watching.”

Among the other topics Vrabel spoke about, he said his favorite player growing up was quarterback Bernie Kosar. He also said he wouldn’t want to be quarantined with Taylor Lewan because he isn’t quiet enough, or Ben Jones because he probably uses too much toilet paper.

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Former Titans RB Chris Johnson denies murder-for-hire allegations

Johnson called the allegations “false news.”

Former Tennessee Titans running back Chris Johnson is denying reported allegations that he paid someone to kill two men back in 2016.

A report, which was based on court documents obtained by TMZ, alleges Johnson paid Dominic Bolden, an alleged Florida gang member, to kill two men who were suspected of shooting him back in 2015 in Orlando.

Johnson’s friend, Dreekius Johnson, lost his life in the shooting in what officials believe was a “gang related murder attempt on Chris Johnson”, according to the report.

Johnson has not been charged with anything.

On Thursday, the former Titans running back came out and called the allegations “false news” on Twitter.

The court documents also say Johnson helped elevate Bolden’s status in a drug trafficking organization in Florida on top of paying him cash, per the TMZ report.

Johnson was drafted by the Titans in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. He spent six seasons with the team, with his final one coming in 2013.

Johnson went on to play for the New York Jets in 2014, and then spent the next three seasons with the Arizona Cardinals.

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Delayed NFL schedule could push Bengals to keep Andy Dalton on as Joe Burrow mentor

Could outside forces push the Bengals into keeping Andy Dalton?

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Could non-NFL forces push the Cincinnati Bengals into keeping Andy Dalton as a mentor piece for Joe Burrow?

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic is an unexpected wildcard in this process for the Bengals as they make a rare transition under center.

And with the draft already restructured and offseason dates in limbo, the idea the Bengals could keep Dalton to help guide Burrow and the team through this unsteady time is an increasingly popular one.

Jeremy Rauch of Fox 19 asked Zac Taylor this very question and the Bengals head coach offered a notable response:

“That’s one of the options you keep on the table for those very reasons. We’re in a position right now where Andy’s under contract and we just want to make sure we’re making the best decisions for the club.”

A note from The Athletic’s Jay Morrison added further context: “Again, we just take it on a week-to-week basis because no one in this world can make any predictions on what … We were supposed to start our offseason program on April 20. We still are not clear on if that’s going to happen or not.”

There’s always the matter of money to consider here. The Bengals spent huge cash in free agency and probably wouldn’t mind getting Dalton’s $17.7 million hit off the books.

But consider the coronavirus situation plus the usual hurdles of offloading a quarterback an odd tandem potentially having a big impact.

Not that keeping Dalton would be the worst outcome imaginable. He’d easily be the best backup in the league. He’d be a Kitna to a Palmer. And he’d still be an incredible trade chip in training camp right on through to the trade deadline if a contender gets desperate after an injury.

In uncertain times, even the idea of letting Dalton walk via trade or release isn’t so certain.

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Odds for Tennessee Titans’ Ryan Tannehill to win NFL MVP Award

Tannehill is coming off the best season of his career.

Tennessee Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill enters 2020 coming off the best season of his career.

Though the former Miami Dolphins signal-caller’s career has been riddled with inconsistency and some injuries, it’s clear the Titans expect him to stay on the up, as illustrated by the four-year contract extension they signed him to this offseason.

He’s also a name some might bet on to win the title of NFL Most Valuable Player this year.

However, he’s certainly not at the top of the list of odds alongside names like Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (+325), Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks (+500), and Baltimore Ravens signal-caller, Lamar Jackson (+500), according to BetMGM.

Tannehill (+8000) is at roughly the middle of the pack and in the company of quarterbacks like Derek Carr, Philip Rivers, Cam Newton, Mitch Trubisky and Drew Lock.

Many of the names on that list will see a change of scenery this year, with Rivers in Indianapolis and Newton still looking for his next landing spot as a free agent.

Only time will tell if any of them reach the peak level of success to reward those who take an early gamble on them to win league MVP honors (which quite frankly doesn’t seem all that logical at this point), though.