The national sports media can pound sand. I don’t care what they think. You know whose opinion counts with me? Joe Burrow. He wanted Mike Gesicki, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins on the roster. That’s more than sufficient rationale to get deals done.

(03-18-2025, 12:06 PM)basballguy Wrote: The only reason we didn't go 4-12 4-13 is because of Burrow.

I don't think a single sane person will point at Burrow if we don't make the playoffs.

Exactly. I have 99 problems and Joe Burrow isn’t one of them.

I honestly felt the Front Office would blow this. I am very happy to have been proven wrong.

Even the “be patient” crowd has to admit this is pretty ugly outside of Vonn Bell. The chances of getting a decent contributor this late into FA are not great.

Past Free Agents the Bengals have signed this late into Free Agency

La'el Collins (2022)
Trent Brown (2024)
Mackensie Alexander (2020)
Josh Bynes (2020)
Vonn Bell (2020)
Sidney Jones (2023)
Irv Smith jr (2023)

— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) March 19, 2025

(03-18-2025, 10:19 PM)NUGDUKWE Wrote: I think this is a good answer to the question. Hard to pull off and I don't really see the Bengals swinging it. What moves do you make from here before the draft?

At this point I would probably would wait until after the draft.  See what guys and positions you are able to add during the draft.  After the draft, teams will cut some veterans and the Bengals will have options to fill remaining holes.  Maybe you could sign one of the free agent guards before the draft but only if they come at the right price. 

(03-18-2025, 09:57 PM)pally Wrote: Interview with Rocky Arceneaux on how the deals got done

He didn't think he could both done until after the combine.  He was proceeding like the plan was tag and trade but realized after the combine that the Bengals really did want to sign Tee.

Tee's deal was done first, then Ja'Marr's, then they redid Tee's

Garrett's deal did not impact Ja'Marr's.  They signed for the number they were trying for in Jan.

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2025/03/18/jamarr-chase-tee-higgins-contract-agent-rocky-arceneaux-cincinnati-bengals/82527326007/

Thanks for posting that. It was very insightful and while I really hope we continue to be active in free agency the FO definitely deserve some props for getting these done.

(03-18-2025, 04:30 PM)kevinsea Wrote: I remember the end of the Titans game last year Germaine gave no effort at all

I will have to watch that game again and check that out. I didn't see this initially, if so, we shouldn't want players on our team that don't go 
all out all the time no matter the circumstances. I stand by what I said, that we should trade Pratt and see what we can get. He has been a 
good LB in the past and could get us another pick when we only have 6 this Draft.

Germaine wanted to be traded. Players on the team that don't want to be here is not a good thing.

Plus, he has times where he would rather strip the ball out than tackle. That is great if it works, bad if it doesn't and Golden likes different 
LB's in his system, not stack LB's like Pratt who refuse to tackle or cover well.

(03-18-2025, 10:44 PM)007BengalsFan Wrote: At this point I would probably would wait until after the draft.  See what guys and positions you are able to add during the draft.  After the draft, teams will cut some veterans and the Bengals will have options to fill remaining holes.  Maybe you could sign one of the free agent guards before the draft but only if they come at the right price. 

I want atleast one guard before the draft. It's gotten quiet on that front across the league so if the Bengals are atleast active it could play into they're hands. I also think a trade down in RD 1 could be really beneficial this year as they're doesn't seem to be a big drop off in the tier of prospects from pick 17 to the end of the 1st RD.

(03-18-2025, 10:51 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: I will have to watch that game again and check that out. I didn't see this initially, if so, we shouldn't want players on our team that don't go 
all out all the time no matter the circumstances. I stand by what I said, that we should trade Pratt and see what we can get. He has been a 
good LB in the past and could get us another pick when we only have 6 this Draft.

Germaine wanted to be traded. Players on the team that don't want to be here is not a good thing.

Plus, he has times where he would rather strip the ball out than tackle. That is great if it works, bad if it doesn't and Golden likes different 
LB's in his system, not stack LB's like Pratt who refuse to tackle or cover well.

Hendrickson asked for a trade last year. He played pretty well.

I think if a Day 1 starting caliber LB falls into our laps in the draft (Walker, Campbell), then he gets traded. If not, then not.

(03-18-2025, 10:31 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: The national sports media can pound sand.  I don’t care what they think.  You know whose opinion counts with me?  Joe Burrow.  He wanted Mike Gesicki, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins on the roster.  That’s more than sufficient rationale to get deals done.

If Joe Burrow is going to call the shots on the roster then he needs to be responsible for the outcome.   Burrow got what he wanted at the cost of not being able to add better free agents to the defense so Burrow and the rest of the offense needs to win the games.  Dont count on the defense to do it for you.

(03-18-2025, 11:04 PM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: Hendrickson asked for a trade last year. He played pretty well.

I think if a Day 1 starting caliber LB falls into our laps in the draft (Walker, Campbell), then he gets traded. If not, then not.

Trey came back and said all the right things as well and he is the type of player you do not trade unless there is somewhat of a player 
that can replicate what he does. Trey is arguably the best pass rusher in the NFL, you cannot replicate that. With Pratt asking for a trade
while being paid big bucks, this is way different in my eyes.

We brought in Oren Burks who played great on the Eagles last year and he can cover and most importantly, tackle.

I just don't think Pratt fits Golden's system and that is why he asked for a trade. We will see, I am expecting us to Draft a pass rushing 
LB that can play the Viper position in Golden's scheme.

(03-18-2025, 10:44 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Even the “be patient” crowd has to admit this is pretty ugly outside of Vonn Bell. The chances of getting a decent contributor this late into FA are not great.

Past Free Agents the Bengals have signed this late into Free Agency

La'el Collins (2022)
Trent Brown (2024)
Mackensie Alexander (2020)
Josh Bynes (2020)
Vonn Bell (2020)
Sidney Jones (2023)
Irv Smith jr (2023)

— Goodberry (@JoeGoodberry) March 19, 2025

I thought Bynes waa pretty good. So was Brown until the injury. 

But this is not a normal year. 

I *hope* we still have some significant moves to make. There are some good FA's still out there. 

(03-18-2025, 11:09 PM)007BengalsFan Wrote: If Joe Burrow is going to call the shots on the roster then he needs to be responsible for the outcome.   Burrow got what he wanted at the cost of not being able to add better free agents to the defense so Burrow and the rest of the offense needs to win the games.  Dont count on the defense to do it for you.

Okay sure. But the team needs to improve the IOL position. That was a big weakness. 

(03-18-2025, 08:42 PM)kevinsea Wrote: Justin Simmons is still available 

He is 31 years old and had a bad year this past season.   Im not sure he helps this defense at this point in his career.

(03-18-2025, 06:55 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: You're framing it in an weirdly biased way there, Housh.

We weren't even a top-5 offense last year, so why would having a much improved defense require us to be a top-5 defense?


- - - - -

If you're asking a real question of who instead of just making a venting thread.... for roughly the same money, who we could have signed on defense that would improve our team more than losing Tee would hurt our offense for an overall net gain? My answer would be signing both Josh Sweat and Justin Reid. Arguably I could probably then sign another player on top of that since Josh Sweat would remove the need for overpaying Joseph Ossai $7m, which could nearly be the AAV of a James Daniel or Kevin Zeitler contract upgrade at G.

We were #5 in third down conversion % we were #6 points per play. #7 in points per game. #5 yards per point #5 in red zone scoring % #5 first downs per play 

(03-18-2025, 11:15 PM)NUGDUKWE Wrote: Okay sure. But the team needs to improve the IOL position. That was a big weakness. 

The defense has several weaknesses.  Expanding on my previous post suggestion, if you added Josh Sweat to Trey Hendrickson that would be a pretty good pass rush, then you add Justin Reid at safety.  That defense is now better.  You would also free up 7 million by no longer needing Ossai.  If you wanted, you could have put Ossai's 7 million with Slaton's 7 million and paid most of the contract of Jonathan Allen.  That would have given you Jonathan Allen, Josh Sweat and Justin Reid on defense + a 1st or 2nd round draft pick for the Tee trade that could have been used to draft Tee's replacement instead of the current Tee + Ossai + Slaton.  Now my proposal would cost a few million more if using just Tee's base pay but would be right there with the incentives.

(03-18-2025, 11:28 PM)Soonerpeace Wrote: We were #5 in third down conversion % we were #6 points per play. #7 in points per game. #5 yards per point #5 in red zone scoring % #5 first downs per play 

Scoring points is what the final outcome of games are determined by.  The Bengals were not in the top 5

(03-18-2025, 06:42 PM)michaelsean Wrote: I don’t know why anyone pays any attention to sports media. Whatever they said yesterday has no bearing on today. “Joke Bengals can’t sign their star receivers.”  “Joke Bengals sign both receivers.” There is no accountability to their blathering. They just say what they think is a hot take.

Agree.Why does anyone care what they say,or think?

(03-18-2025, 06:18 PM)Housh Wrote: That would’ve made our defense top 5?


Iv been seeing the media say the dumbest shit ever in regards to us signing Tee and Chase.


If you are saying we would’ve been able to get a big fish you are talking about Milton Williams

So that’s 1 guy. Even if we had Milton Williams it’s not like he turns us top 5 by himself.


You could also say maybe with the 28M we could’ve gotten 2 mid tier guys. Like a Chase Young and a Jevon Holland.


Yeah our D would likely be better but 2 mid level guys ain’t taking our D into the top 5.







I guess I’m saying Iv seen ppl say we could’ve done so much more to help the defense with Tee’s money….

Ok give me the exact moves then. It’s everyone saying we messed up but not one media pundit has put together a plan with the 28M that would’ve taken our D to new heights. Mofos just wanna complain about us making a move right after they complained that we weren’t making moves.

Milton Willaims might not be better than BJ Hill on another team. I agree on Tee even if he doesn't stay healthy as much as we would 
all like he was the best FA of the bunch and we brought him back after showing he is just reaching his prime as a player.

(03-18-2025, 11:45 PM)007BengalsFan Wrote: Scoring points is what the final outcome of games are determined by.  The Bengals were not in the top 5

Again they were #6 in points per play and #7 in offensive points per game.