That was fast: The #Bengals are hosting FA TE OJ Howard on a visit today and assuming all goes well with the physical, he’s expected to sign, source said. The former first-rounder was a surprising cut yesterday and this should come together today.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 31, 2022

That was fast: The #Bengals are hosting FA TE OJ Howard on a visit today and assuming all goes well with the physical, he’s expected to sign, source said. The former first-rounder was a surprising cut yesterday and this should come together today.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 31, 2022

Not too shabby.

Yes! I wanted him when he was a FA the first time around. I really wished we got him when I saw how little the Bills had to pay him. He should come cheap and give us real depth at the TE position. Hurst, OJ and Sample is a lot better than it could have been.

Nice. TE was easily our worst position group. Could actually be decent between Hurst and Howard.

(08-31-2022, 08:38 AM)Trademark Wrote:

That was fast: The #Bengals are hosting FA TE OJ Howard on a visit today and assuming all goes well with the physical, he’s expected to sign, source said. The former first-rounder was a surprising cut yesterday and this should come together today.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 31, 2022

I'm excited if this goes through and he could be a good addition to the team. I thought he was going to be a beast coming out of college, which he didn't achieve, but I think he could be TE2/3 for us easily. The Achilles tendon tear I think really did a number on him and not sure what kind of player he'll ever be able to get back to though.

Injuries have taken his athleticism and he doesn't seem to be a very assignment-true player...more of just an athlete that used his athleticism but now has lost that as well.

People are so done with Moss because of a couple of penalties in the preseason and one drop. I would not give up on him. Not because of his name, but because of his connection to Burrow and his drive. Finally healthy, I think he could surprise.

(08-31-2022, 08:44 AM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Nice. TE was easily our worst position group. Could actually be decent between Hurst and Howard.

He hasn't been the same player since his achilles injury. Hopefully with being another year removed from it he starts coming into form again but sometimes you can never recover fully from those types of injuries. 

This is a waste in my opinion. If you can't it done with Brady I'm not sure you can get it done. We have bigger needs than TE as well. Also I wouldn't say it was a surprise cut as he wasn't having a good camp with Buffalo.

Football wise he definitely has a role in case of a Hurst injury. Looks like the FO is just as afraid as me of looking up one day mid season and having to start Sample at TE1. With OJ, if Hurst is injured we don’t all of a sudden have to ditch all the plays where Hurst is the hot read but with how late he is being added he won’t have the playbook knowledge or chemistry to get big minutes probably for a couple weeks.


I could see him being a short yardage gimmick look. If routes and hands are his issues, then the easy fix a good coach would do is to limit his responsibility. He’s still very athletic at the position so getting him the ball and letting him run is what we want.

Drew Sample and Mitchell Wilcox are both dealing with injuries.

(08-31-2022, 09:00 AM)TheFan Wrote: He hasn't been the same player since his achilles injury. Hopefully with being another year removed from it he starts coming into form again but sometimes you can never recover fully from those types of injuries. 

Must have really dropped off. The Bills are losing a lot of money with the cut:

“Howard’s deal with the Bills included $3.19 million guaranteed, so they’re paying him a lot not to play for him. He’ll land with another NFL team, but it’s telling that Buffalo would move on at such expense.”


https://heavy.com/sports/buffalo-bills/oj-howard-cut-release-contract/

I'm reading that the Giants have a history of snapping up Bills players that are waived, before they can get them on the practice squad, and they didn't want to lose their two promising tight-ends to the TE-hungry Giants.

At this stage you can't be picky. He is the best option available at arguably our 2nd weakest spot so we atleast are trying to address the need.

He was a disappointment in our camp. More of a possession, catch it and fall down guy. Good blocker though. Was definitely overpriced for what we paid. Hope it works out for the Bengals.

(08-31-2022, 09:23 AM)Au165 Wrote: At this stage you can't be picky. He is the best option available at arguably our 2nd weakest spot so we atleast are trying to address the need.

The Bills have a good group of TEs, ones they didn't want to lose. The Bengals don't have a strong TE group. So, it makes sense. Particularly since the Bills will be eating a lot of the money and the cap space. It is reported that The Bills will eat 2.6 million in dead cap this season and another 625,000 next year. Some wanted him to be traded, so they could save 2 million and just lose the 1.25 million signing bonus, but I guess they couldn't find any trade partners. 

Quite a deal financially for the Bengals.

When he got cut yesterday I was texting my buddies saying we should sign him as he's an obvious upgrade over Sample. They weren't on board saying that if the Bills are willing to cut him and take that big of a cap hit, there must be something up. My argument was the dude is basically at a crossroads of either a.) figuring it out and becoming something or b.) be out of the league completely within a year or two. What better place to figure it out than with a young star QB in Burrow that feeds his guys confidence?

He's only 27 and we're getting him on the cheap to be TE2. I think it's a great signing and worth the gamble. If it fails, oh well, we still have Hurst and Sample. If he plays to his actual ability this will be an absolute steal of a sign.

(08-31-2022, 09:25 AM)BillsGuy1986 Wrote: He was a disappointment in our camp. More of a possession, catch it and fall down guy. Good blocker though. Was definitely overpriced for what we paid. Hope it works out for the Bengals.

If he's a good blocker and at least has the potential to be a possession receiver he's an upgrade at TE2. Sample is almost exclusively used as a blocker and has very low catch ability. 

Like I mentioned in the other thread neither Drew Sample or Mitchell Wilcox are practicing due to injury and the Bengals cut the rest of the TE group. It doesn't surprise me they are going after a vet. They will likely cut Wilcox and out him in the practice squad.

Everyone knows I'm a fan of this.
Let's see if Howard can do anything while Sample is on the mend.
If he's doing solid, I'd be ok keeping Howard and letting Sample walk.
Sample is in a contract year anyway.