What I am listening to the Bengali: Handrickson’s drama, the drafts of the priorities, the strategy of free agency
Palm Beach, Fla. – It doesn’t matter where the NFL goes, the Bengali will be sure to grab titles of titles in these days.
From Indianapolis to Palm Beach to “The Pat McAfee Show”, few teams provide more catnip for national attention than the traditionally neglected franchise of small markets. Thanks to a trio of suddenly explicit stars, overwhelming back-to-back seasons and a franchise that shakes to trample the water in a reputational steep, the Bengali are a favorite topic.
Although he has delivered Mega-deal for Star Tee Higgins receivers and Ja’Marr Chase, there is a significant pressure on the Bengali to deliver in the draft and create a quick start in the 2025 season. Their work is far from doing this year and the lack of completion of the work could be what we finally talk about the whole season next season.
Here’s what I am listening to after spending three days at the championship meeting and thoughts on the problems at the top of the list of things to do in Cincinnati.
Treys of our lives
All the conversation begins here now, right? I am exhausted. Few experiences are less fun than publicly looking at an employer and an employee.
This is the nature of the business and particularly important, given the level of player and pressure exerted by the property of Joe Burrow. It is only constant. In the case of Handrickson’s last weapon of “The Pat McAfee Show”, it is equal to the course.
People may not realize that when Hedrickson says he asked for a long -term extension for three years, he is not wrong. For three years Handrickson has expressed frustration, has made requests and, more specifically, has made threats in the background on the fact that he would play, cause distractions and perhaps discovered ailments that would have forced him to sit.
What this offseason is happening is far from new. So, no, the Bengali are not surprised by how it is taking place. This actually monitors with Handrickson’s experience. He expresses unhappiness with his contract, asks for operations or makes threats every low season. Then hunt the quarterbacks at an elite rate when it matters. Cincinnati was willing to call his bluff in previous years and even reached an agreement in 2023 for more money and adding another year on the contract. Signing that agreement was Handrickson’s monumental error. Otherwise, he would have hit the free agency in the past out of season and had been clear to sign his mega-contract everywhere as the best free agent on the market.
In this regard, he has himself to blame for this situation.
The Bengali, of course, even have themselves to blame. Their inability to be decisive with a plan leaves them open to criticism and now with limited options as well as fighting this battle even longer. The word around the championship meeting was that other teams never thought that the Bengal were serious about Hedrickson’s trade. Otherwise, probably an agreement could have been reached and the Bengali could have adapted to cover with a couple of racing signatures of the average level of the agency free to compete with the extra choice.
Instead, remaining behind to do all the business before the free agency left them in a push where any trade should now involve an on -board Rusher who returns to compensation otherwise spending 2025 trying to win games with a ride to a minimum.
Or finalize an agreement or find the best compensation when the authorization for an exchange was granted the weekend before the free agency was the best move. He would have avoided the problems of a low season that the club is fighting now. They never did it. He focused. He reflected. And now it is a full -blown infection.
Where does this end? The executive vice -president Katie Blackburn was not lying when he affirmed himself He didn’t know how it would end. Coach Zac Taylor underlined the need for patience. The end does not appear anywhere and the history of this group of ownership suggests that this type of public wave of discontent not only more deeply in a stubborn position. Prepared for many other twists and turns in this soap work.
Perhaps it will be discovered that in reality it was not Hedrickson on McAfee but his evil twin … Ray Tenrickson!
Regulation of positional priorities
A theme that has distinguished itself through conversations in recent weeks and in Florida it has been that the Bengal front Office could have a different vision of the level of urgency to the positional needs perceived compared to those outside.
In particular, this was true against guard, of which I wrote amply on Monday. Many in the building do not feel the same outrage or urgency on the external guard state. It is believed to find a solid appetizer between the group that should compete (Lucas Patrick, Cody Ford, Jaxson Kirkland, Cordell Volson), the work in working with the new offensive coach Scott Peters and the ability to find a solid internal offensive clock in the draft this year.
If the Bengali blow to land one of their targeted offensive line prospects, they could add another name to the mix in the free agency. Free Agent Brandon Scherff is the main name available. The balance between the desire of the 33 -year guard of playing and the desire of Bengal to give him the money he would have requested for him, should go on should be understood.
Could the veteran Brandon Scherff be a solution for the needs of the Bengali on guard? (Corey Perrine / Image images)
There are urgent needs in the draft. Here is my regulated vision of how the Bengali see their positional priority with three weeks up to the round 1:
1. Guard/equipment: Don’t forget that they still need a swing tackle. Remember, Orlando Brown Jr. is signed during the 2026 season. The ideal fit is one of the guard players for equipment with positional versatility near the top of the draft this year (Texas Kelvin Banks, Donovon Jackson of the State of Ohio and Will Campbell of the LSU). Think about the guard today/faces tomorrow.
2 A player who could challenge the stone on the opening day is an important element here.
3. Linebacker: Who is starting next to Logan Wilson? What is happening with Germaine Pratt? This position is a priority.
4. Edge: The club is invested in Myles Murphy who plays more and plays his pedigree. They reported Joseph Ossai. Taylor mentions that the name of Cam Sample has been mentioned several times. They try to add at least another here, but they feel they have answers if they do not join.
5 Obviously they need to pass the race, but it does not seem as important as I predict.
6. End -End and run back: end -end is a joker here if the right player becomes available, but one day 3 in the race he feels inevitable.
International Mystery Team
The Bengali do not know if they will play an international game as a street team this year. Blackburn admitted that Madrid seems the only remaining game that could adapt. If they played against the dolphins in Spain, however, they would not have taken their next turning point by renouncing a game at home for an international game from books.
Blackburn fully expects that the team is asked to give up a game of home and play internationally in 2027, it doesn’t matter.
Free agency strategy
One of the most interesting observations of Blackburn who flew under this week’s radar was his comment on how the offers of Higgins-Chase have moved the ability to participate aggressively in the free agency.
The team had a lot of limit space also with the decision not to significantly lower the numbers of Chase or Higgins. They have not seen him through the same goal and decided to invest in holding their players.
By putting the timing together, you can see how the transition to signature of Higgins and move away from the additions of free agents has been heavily influenced by the number of hood for the season that ends higher than expected. Blackburn clarified that he provided enough space to the Bengali to see Higgins as at hand.
Despite the affirmation of the player’s staff Duke Tobin staff at the Cavalia that the Bengal would not have been satisfied to pay more for the same players, it was mostly to be developed in March. This provided another theme of these conversations. The front office saw this closest and trendy team in the right direction. The series of victories in five games and seven losses to a score, often unlikely, have allowed them to lean on what they considered a non -disappointing team as the final record and the failure to suggest the playoffs.
Change of presetson
A theme of the offseason was the need for a faster beginning. The Bengali are a 1-11 of the NFL in the first two weeks of the season since Taylor took over in 2019. The scheme of how they hope to change the results have become clearer this week.
Taylor underlined the desire to bring a coexist and close -knit team to the training camp, suggesting that they felt too thrown last season. He thinks that dedication to the creation of a better chemistry in OTAs can contribute to a faster start, no longer with competition on the field in the spring.
The most significant change is the participation of appetizers in the preblical. Taylor expects a substantial increase for beginners who have rarely played in his mandate. A completely healthy den would do a lot too, but time will say if it can reach week 1 without problems this time.
(Photo above: Katie Stratman / Image Images)
