Tag: Tre Flowers

Bengals free agent Tre Flowers signs with Falcons

A former Bengals player has found a new home after the team used draft picks on defensive backs.

Former Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Tre Flowers has finally found a home in free agency.

In the wake of the draft, Flowers has signed a one-year deal with the Atlanta Falcons.

Flowers was a candidate to return to the Bengals before the team used three of its eight picks on defensive backs in the 2023 NFL draft. The Bengals selected DJ Turner in the second round, Jordan Battle in the third and DJ Ivey in the seventh.

A solid tight-end stopper for Lou Anarumo’s defense and a very successful waiver-wire claim by the front office, Flowers will work in the NFC next.

In addition to drafting three defensive backs, the Bengals signed Sidney Jones in free agency, seemingly putting an end to the depth concerns.

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Falcons sign veteran CB Tre Flowers to one-year deal

The #Falcons have signed veteran CB Tre Flowers to a one-year deal

The Atlanta Falcons have added another piece to their secondary, signing veteran cornerback Tre Flowers to a one-year deal on Monday. The 27-year-old spent the last season and a half with the Cincinnati Bengals after playing the first three and a half years of his career for the Seattle Seahawks.

Flowers joins former teammate Jessie Bates III in Atlanta’s new-look secondary. The Falcons recently traded for Jeff Okudah, who should compete with Flowers for the No. 2 cornerback spot alongside A.J. Terrell.

Flowers was originally drafted in the fifth round by Seattle in 2018. For his career, Flowers has 224 tackles, 14 passes defended and four interceptions.

The former Oklahoma State standout recorded a Pro Football Focus grade of 58.6 last season, but his tackling grade was significantly better at 86.1.

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Bengals free agent CB Tre Flowers visits Panthers

Is another Bengals free agent heading to the Panthers?

Might another Cincinnati Bengals free agent head to the Carolina Panthers?

According to ESPN’s Field Yates, cornerback Tre Flowers had a free-agent visit with the Panthers this week.

Flowers was an instant-impact waiver claim by the Bengals in 2021 and re-upped with the team in 2022, serving as a key tight-end stopper in Lou Anarumo’s defense.

He’s still just 27 years old and very valuable in that role, so it was fair to expect the team would want him back. Going this long and meeting with another team, though, might hint at a playing time situation such as the one that wound up with running back Samaje Perine leaving the team.

The Bengals signed Sidney Jones in free agency and haven’t brought back Eli Apple, so the depth concerns linger before the draft. Both Vonn Bell and Hayden Hurst already signed with the Panthers this offseason.

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Panthers host former Seahawks, Bengals CB Tre Flowers for free-agent visit

Per ESPN’s Field Yates, the Panthers have hosted former Seahawks and Bengals CB Tre Flowers on a free-agent visit.

The Carolina Panthers have addressed quite a few of their needs through free agency this offseason. But they’re still a tad thin at the cornerback position.

So, with that likely in mind, they have reportedly hosted 27-year-old free agent Tre Flowers for a visit. ESPN NFL insider Field Yates was first with the news late Tuesday afternoon.

Flowers was selected in the fifth round of the 2018 draft by the Seattle Seahawks, who still had current Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer in their front office at the time. The Oklahoma State University product played nearly four seasons in Seattle—recording 40 starts, 196 combined tackles, three interceptions, five forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and 2.0 sacks over 47 outings.

He was then waived in the middle of the 2021 campaign and later claimed by the Cincinnati Bengals for the remaining five games of the season. Flowers stuck on in Cincinnati through 2022, having played a total of 26 games for the Bengals.

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Bengals free agent CB Tre Flowers visits with Falcons

Another Bengals free agent to watch.

Eli Apple gets the spotlight for the Cincinnati Bengals as the team’s big free agent at cornerback this offseason.

But not far behind is Tre Flowers.

According to KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson, Flowers visited the Atlanta Falcons as he makes the free agency rounds.

Since joining the team in 2021 off waivers, Flowers has served as a situational tight-end stopper for Lou Anarumo’s defense and has been quite successful.

The Bengals might roll Tycen Anderson or a rookie into this type of role if Flowers doesn’t end up re-signing, but it’s safe to assume they would like him back at the right price.

Even if the Bengals managed to retain Flowers and Apple, it wouldn’t prevent the team from taking a cornerback in the first round to reinforce the long-term outlook.

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14 free agents the Colts should watch during wild-card playoffs

Here are 14 pending free agents the Colts should watch during wild-card weekend.

The Indianapolis Colts will be watching the playoffs unfold from their couch this offseason, and it begins Saturday with the start of the wild-card games.

While the Colts won’t be leading the NFL in salary-cap space like we’ve been used to seeing, they should be a bit more active than they have been in the past.

We shouldn’t expect general manager Chris Ballard to completely change his ways regarding free agency, but it’s reasonable to believe he may be a bit more aggressive when it comes to adding depth, especially to the offensive line.

We’re taking the list of unrestricted free agents, according to Spotrac, for the teams playing in the wild-card games. So there won’t be any Kansas City Chiefs or Philadelphia Eagles players on this list. We’ll save that for next week.

As wild-card weekend gets underway, here are 14 pending free agents the Colts should keep an eye on:

Bengals CB Tre Flowers latest example of Lou Anarumo’s versatility

Tre Flowers is the latest to flourish under Lou Anarumo.

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Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo has a reputation as one of the league’s premier halftime adjustments guys and a big part of that is an amoeba-like defense that can do a ton of different things depending on the matchup.

Tre Flowers is a great example.

A veteran cornerback who doesn’t see a ton of snaps and is generally just a tight-end stopper, Flowers was a key component in the Bengals defense forcing four Tom Brady turnovers in Week 15.

On his key interception, Flowers did an uncharacteristic thing and wasn’t in man coverage. Instead, he dropped back into a zone, confusing Brady and ultimately picking him off.

“We’ve expanded his role where he’s not just going in there and playing man, Anarumo said, according to Charlie Goldsmith of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “You saw the interception he had, he was in underneath zone and really make a heck of a play. Really happy with Tre.”

Flowers is the latest example of Anarumo’s skill craft in squeezing the most out of his players and giving opposing offenses problems.

As such, its no wonder that even though he only played 15 snaps, Flowers ended the day as the defense’s highest-graded player:

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Bengals’ Tre Flowers gets the call again vs. Chiefs’ Travis Kelce

The Bengals will again look to their tight-end stopper to help get a win.

The Cincinnati Bengals hope defensive back Tre Flowers can help shutter Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce on Sunday, much as he did over two games last season.

Flowers doesn’t see a ton of reps often, but he’s one of the matchup guys defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo goes to when confronted with an elite tight end.

And Kelce is a generational talent — just ask Flowers himself.

“The thing he does best?” Flowers said, according to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “Get open. He’s a Hall-of-Famer in my opinion. Mahomes is going to find him. He can make any throw and Kelce can make any catch.”

Flowers and the Bengals held Kelce to 120 yards over two contests last year, which sounds like a lot until one looks up the star tight end’s production on a weekly basis.

One of the biggest corners in the league (6’3″), Flowers earned a 66.3 PFF grade in Week 17 against the Chiefs last year while allowing two catches for seven yards. He allowed just one catch for 11 yards in the AFC title game.

Flowers was one of six Bengals who covered Kelce last year as the unit dropped eight in coverage and forced the offense to beat them. But that could change on Sunday, which would ask even more from Flowers.

Like breakouts from Trenton Irwin and other unexpected names lately, Flowers excelling and giving the team a chance to win would just be another example of the team’s superb depth.

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Bengals thrilled to have Tre Flowers for full season before 2022’s tough TE schedule

The Bengals will get a full year of Tre Flowers right before facing a brutal lineup of opposing TEs.

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It took longer than fans might’ve wanted, but the Cincinnati Bengals did end up getting defensive back Tre Flowers back in free agency.

And besides Flowers’ versatile skill set that helped during the Super Bowl run, Bengals coaches needed one look at the 2022 schedule to know they needed him back.

Case in point, the Bengals will see major names at tight end next season like Mark Andrews (twice), Kyle Pitts, Mike Gesicki, Travis Kelce, Hunter Henry and potentially Rob Gronkowski, now that his desire to play with Joe Burrow was trumped by Tom Brady’s return.

Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo told Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com that the big bonus in getting Flowers back is that he’ll actually be around for the entire season:

“Once again, he’ll be here at the beginning of the season, which will help us…I know what he can do. Certainly he’s carved out a heck of a role for all the tight ends we have to cover. Certainly he’s a guy we thought we could keep adding to his plate. He’s handled all of it well because he works so hard at it.”

Flowers came over late last year and had a big impact right away as a matchup asset who tailed opposing tight ends, a position that has annually given the team issues for what feels like a decade-plus.

Given that Flowers can do that, line up at corner or even line up at safety, his re-signing could quietly end up being one of the bigger moves of the offseason for the Bengals.

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Bengals get key piece back in free agency by re-signing Tre Flowers

Tre Flowers is back with the Bengals.

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The Cincinnati Bengals are mostly done with free agency outside of bringing back a few of their own key guys, if possible.

Cornerback Tre Flowers certainly falls into that classification.

The Bengals got Flowers back on a one-year deal worth $1.85 million late this week, according to Doug Kyed of Pro Football Focus.

It’s not a small-time move by any means. The Bengals grabbed Flowers off waivers last October and immediately got a big performance from him. Flowers only played 152 snaps for the defense last year, but his uncanny ability to shadow opposing tight ends and play all over the defensive backfield is a big deal.

Flowers knocks out a direct need for the team in the draft as a rotational, do-it-all guy who can win direct matchups with tight ends, which is a near-invaluable thing for a defensive coordinator like Lou Anarumo to have at his disposal.

On paper, the move means the Bengals can directly focus on boundary corners in the draft while also getting a full season of Flowers in his specialized role.

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