Bengals may lose out on Thuney; Thuney is intrigued by the Ravens

[Trademark]

An unfortunate #ThuneyWatch update from one of my sources close to the family. #Ravens are in the mix and Thuney is “intrigued.” pic.twitter.com/f77Q0vou0c

— Drew Garrison (@Drew_LRT) March 11, 2021

Please no....

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Thuney apparently needs to realize that he's messing up the triple crown Joe play the Bengals could have.

Joe (Burrow) takes the snap, hands it off to Joe (Mixon) who hits the hole that Joe (Thuney) creates.

Lamar, JK, Joe? That no good.

[CoachGeorge]

Personally, I’d never expected the Bengals to fork over the kind of money that he would require. Zeitler, the KC center and the top candidate on the board in R2 after we take Chase. Very Bengal-like.

[*bfine32*]

(03-12-2021, 07:23 PM)CoachGeorge Wrote: Personally, I’d never expected the Bengals to fork over the kind of money that he would require.  Zeitler, the KC center and the top candidate on the board in R2 after we take Chase. Very Bengal-like.

We took the top DT and CB in FA last year. With the talk coming out; I could easily see them paying big for Oline. 

[TecmoBengals]

Not surprising, the Bengals aren't a winning franchise. I wouldn't fault any player for not coming here. It is disappointing though if we miss out on him or other talent.

[fredtoast]

Top players will come here. We just got Reader last year.

But there is no need to get totally fixated on just one player and act like if we don't get him all is lost.

I'd really like to sign Thuney, but I won't freak out if we don't as long as we end up with some other significant upgrades on the O-line.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

I really like Thuney a lot and I hope he signs here, but if I could get just 1 OL that would be guaranteed to sign in FA I honestly might go Linsley over Thuney.

Zeitler isn't as exciting as Thuney, but he'd still be a big upgrade over Jordan. After Linsley, the C market isn't exactly spectacular.

[Schmitbuck]

I'll combine this text with the liked tweet by Thuney's sister and consider it a wash.

[SunsetBengal]

(03-12-2021, 07:23 PM)CoachGeorge Wrote: Personally, I’d never expected the Bengals to fork over the kind of money that he would require.  Zeitler, the KC center and the top candidate on the board in R2 after we take Chase. Very Bengal-like.

I think that the Bengals set a precedent for change in the way they handle offseason roster management last year.  I'm one of the few that actually believes that they meant it when they talked about doing what it takes to protect Joe Burrow.  They know that the responsibility for his injury falls squarely on their shoulders, for putting him out there behind that shit OL last season.

[CoachGeorge]

(03-12-2021, 08:03 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I think that the Bengals set a precedent for change in the way they handle offseason roster management last year.  I'm one of the few that actually believes that they meant it when they talked about doing what it takes to protect Joe Burrow.  They know that the responsibility for his injury falls squarely on their shoulders, for putting him out there behind that shit OL last season.

Naturally, I hope you’re right. But I can see Mike Brown saying to the FO, “see, I told you so, we spent all that money last year and what do we have to show for it - nothing”

If we also upgrade WR (Samuel) and TE (Jonnu Smith), plus a few other draft picks and I can see him saying that he fulfilled his promise.

[*Synric*]

Gotta say not a big fan of random source close to family says this and that...

I'm betting Joe Thuney will go to the team that pays him the most. My source is called common sense.

[samhain]

I'd be a bit surprised if he went there, but if he does, then so be it. The Ravens have key players leaving and not much cap room. Add to that the possibility of needing to give Lamar a Dak-style contract in the very near future, and you don't exactly have a recipe to hand over a 15 million per guard contract. If they had that kind of cash to throw around, they wouldn't be getting ready for a showdown with Orlando Brown over a big new deal.

[SunsetBengal]

(03-12-2021, 08:22 PM)Synric Wrote: Gotta say not a big fan of random source close to family says this and that...

I'm betting Joe Thuney will go to the team that pays him the most. My source is called common sense.

Yeah, that whole "source close to the family" stuff, sounds a little too close to the Brian Patteronia guy that kept the entire board on the edge of their seats for a few weeks, during the Carson Palmer quitting days, back on the Mothership.

[Gdale_Bengal]

He won’t win a ring if he goes to Baltimore.

[J24]

There are a ton of guards that would fit the Bengals that would be less expensive and won't count against comp picks.

[SunsetBengal]

(03-12-2021, 08:59 PM)J24 Wrote: There are a ton of guards that would fit the Bengals that would be less expensive and won't count against comp picks.

A ton of Guards would be 6 of them.  Who are the 6 that you feel would fit the Bengals?

[J24]

(03-12-2021, 10:17 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: A ton of Guards would be 6 of them.  Who are the 6 that you feel would fit the Bengals?

Gabe Jackson, Kevin Zietler, Trai Turner, and most likely Andrew Norwall. If they don't end up with one of those 4 then they failed m

[SunsetBengal]

(03-12-2021, 10:27 PM)J24 Wrote: Gabe Jackson, Kevin Zietler, Trai Turner, and most likely Andrew Norwall. If they don't end up with one of those 4 then they failed m

Trai Turner is definitely an interesting option, given his only 33 penalties in well over 5,800 snaps. (That's like 0.005% penalty rate)  The Panthers hated to have to trade him, would be nice to give him a forever home in Cincinnati.

However, you listed 4, add Thuney, and that is 5.  Still a bit short of our "ton of Guards"..

[Burma]

NJ.com had an interesting article about possible replacements for Zeitler. It compares the top free agent guards available to Zeitler and offers some good info that relates to what is being discused here.

https://www.nj.com/giants/2021/03/stacking-giants-kevin-zeitler-against-possible-free-agency-replacements-and-why-cutting-him-is-not-a-simple-decision.html

Quote:Joe Thuney (Patriots): Thuney would serve as an upgrade over Zeitler, sure, but not quite a significant one. He is slightly younger (by two years) and has generally graded out better on PFF. If the Giants are cutting Zeitler to save money, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to turn around and hand Thuney a deal worth $14 million per year (as PFF projects) rather than fill other needs and keep Zeitler. Still, it’s hard to ignore the Giants ties to Thuney (via Joe Judge, who knows him from the Patriots days).

Gabe Jackson (Raiders): Las Vegas released Jackson recently. The 29-year-old signed a five-year, $55 million deal in 2017 and will get much less than that — and probably only a one-year deal — this offseason. It’s debatable whether he’s appreciably better than Zeitler, though he might come cheaper. PFF had Zeitler graded 29th among guards (min. 500 snaps) in 2020. Jackson was ranked 39th and worse at both pass- and run-blocking, though he didn’t allow a single sack in 2020.

Andrew Norwell (Jaguars): He’s still technically with Jacksonville but there are reports that he could be cut for cap savings. The 29-year-old was an All-Pro in 2017 but hasn’t reached that level since. He missed three games due to injury in 2020 — Zeitler hasn’t missed any games for the Giants — and struggled a bit down the stretch. Giants consultant Pat Flaherty coached him in Jacksonville. He’s only played left guard in the NFL, though, so the Giants would have to move Shane Lemieux and/or Will Hernandez to the right side. PFF had Norwell only allowing 15 total pressures in 2020.

Larry Warford (Saints): The three-time Pro Bowler opted out of the 2020 season after the Saints cut him, so it’s unclear what sort of shape he’s in or how much he’d cost. But if he’s still capable of playing at the level he did from 2017-19, he’d be an interesting option.

Matt Feiler (Steelers): The versatile 28-year-old would be better as an addition to Zeitler, not a replacement for him. Feiler would be an intriguing option at both right tackle and left guard and might not cost all that much. PFF only projects him at a perfectly reasonable $12 million over two years.

Germain Ifedi (Bears): Like Feiler, Ifedi would be more intriguing as an addition to Zeitler, not as a replacement. He has experience at both right guard and right tackle and is coming off his best-ever season (65.5 overall PFF grade, 25 pressures allowed) after a few bad seasons with the Seahawks. PFF only has him earning $5 million over two years.

[Benton]

Would the source close to the family be named Harbaugh or McCarthy?



I don't put a lot of stock in these sorts of things. There's too much market manipulation from agents and other team's reps. I mean, if Thuney wants to sign with the Bengals and the Bengals want to sign Thuney, this first thing his agent is going to do is call a reporter and say "sure, the Bengals would be a great fit, but I heard that other team in their division is interested." It costs the agent 0 and raises his client's asking price. Same way with opposing coaches. Even if they've got no interest in a player being courted by a rival, all they've got to do is "leak" it to the press that they adore the guy and his price goes up, which reduces the dollars their rival has to spend.

I don't know if Thuney has any interest here. I don't know if the Ravens have any interest in him. But the Bengals should look to sign the guy. Or, at this point, any guy. Just sign random guys off the street that are over 250-lbs and can move sleds, and let them compete.