New defensive coordinator Al Golden won the NCAA Frank Broyles Award given annually the college's top assistant coach

….Seems pretty Bengals to me.


Sad thing is i feel bad because i actually think he’s ready to start.

But going into the offseason planning on starting him is wild. Sign a vet and force Maema to beat him out at least.

Ever since Joe Burrow was drafted, I considered him a life long Bengals player. He didn't seem to care about which team he got drafted to or where he played. He even said so himself when the media and others continued to pressure him about refusing to play for the Bengals (remember that?).

Fast forward about 5 years later, and this is the first time I'm starting to feel a bit uneasy about Joe finishing his career in Cincinnati. It's very, very clear this off-season that Joe is pushing what he wants the front office to do through the media. He clearly wants them to keep Higgins, Chase, Hendrickson, etc.

I've never, ever seen an athelete go about things the way Joe currently is. Sure, other athletes have demanded things (behind the scenes), but never through the media in such a passive (yet demanding) way that Burrow has done it.

There's been a CLEAR shift in the way that Joe views things. He's gone from "I don't care, I'll play anywhere...I am the franchise, the window is my entire career" to some frustration/concern setting in to "OK, now I kind of see what everyone was talking about...maybe I need to speak up to get some shit done here in order to help us build a winning team".

This is truly the first time that I really feel like if the front office doesn't do what Joe wants, he will leave. Does the front office really want to test this? 

James Rapien wrote an article on SI that was released this morning mentioning that the Bengals MUST franchise tag Higgins again.

The justification Rapien gives:
Tagging costs just $26 mill. (This is around what many fans are hoping Higgins would sign around for anyway, just want multiple year deal)
Other teams are very likely to offer $30+ mill.

Quote:The Patriots are expected to offer him $30+ million. The Chargers, Jaguars, Titans and Steelers are all teams that are eyeing Higgins. He will have other dark horse suitors.

I would expect Higgins to get up to $35 million per season.

We've heard many people recently talking about how Eagles have such a stacked roster and are paying premium for Hurts, AJ brown, DeVonta Smith, Goedert, Slay, Sweat, Mailata, and Lane Johnson.

Some people are wondering how they are able to?

If looking at Spotrac, one can see they have no player with a cap hit higher than $22 mill (Jalen Hurts) for 2025, no player was even $16 mill cap hit for 2024.

The key thing the Eagles did for their big contracts was multiple void years to spread the cap across more years.
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/cap/_/year/2025/sort/cap_total_top51

Compare that to the Bengals, who have 4 dudes with $15+ mill cap hits for 2025, including $46.25 mill for Burrow alone.

If the Bengals hope to stack their roster like the Eagles have, it would probably be in their best interest to restructure some of their key guys to add void years and/or add bigger cap hits in 3+ years from now so they can free up some cap for 2025-2026 and really try to make a push.

I know that many of us would like to see his position upgraded. What do you think the chances of that happening are?

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/look-bengals-safety-geno-stone-vows-to-play-better-in-2025/ar-AA1yZ1X5?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=83e46b81099a42f29dafad87afcb6a5c&ei=16

Quote:CINCINNATI — The Bengals could save substantial money if they release Geno Stone this offseason, but the embattled safety clearly wants to make up for his poor first season in Cincinnati.

He told users on X that he plans to step up his game.

"A lot more went into that," Stone said about the season-long defensive changes. "But no excuses next year I’m back on my s***."

Stone was awful in 2024, posting a 53.1 PFF grade after back-to-back seasons above 72 overall. He ranked 59th out of 66 qualified safeties in PFF grade across the campaign.

Cincinnati can save $6.5 million against the salary cap if they release him.

Germaine Pratt ranked 10th in the NFL in tackles this past season (143) and was one of only three players with 140+ tackles and 6+ turnover plays), along with Zack Baun and Zaire Franklin. https://t.co/mNwxmEYdFe

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 12, 2025

Do you think we stick with him, re-sign Zoe's boyfriend, or look elsewhere? McMoney went to McMaybe and cost us some games. York seemed solid but I'm not sure he could maintain it or he wouldn't be available.

Katie has a number of contract situations to deal with in next 30 to 90 day. Who do you prioritize to finalize first, second and so on.

Joe has hinted at restructuring his deal. I think Katie has have Joe's deal first, so she knows exactly the cap dollars she has available. Next, I would do Chase, he will break the bank and need to know how much. She could stand pat and have him play on 5th year option, but if me I would extend him for 5 or 6 years. Next, I would extend Trey, he earned an extension and raise. Last of the big 4 I would attempt to sign Tee with either the intent to keep him for 4 or 5 years or trade him.

What would you do if Katie?

KC looked horrible last night.

Mahomes looked awful.

Kelce will be 36 a month into next season.

Hunt's a free agent, as-is Hopkins at receiver, as well as both starting guards and various other players.

They don't have much cap space to spend.

The Chiefs looked sloppy last night and they didn't look as confident as they have in years past.

I realize that we need to add some players on the offensive line and defense via free agency and the draft, but we have Burrow.

The Bills will still be good and the Ravens should be good but I don't trust Lamar to come through in big games, but, like I said, we have Burrow and I think he has an MVP next season with protection.

Does next season begin our takeover as the best team in the AFC?