Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Bengals contract drama is BACK as Shemar Stewart SOUNDS OFF | Can COMPROMISE Be Reached?

Episode Date: June 10, 2025

Contract drama is BACK for the Cincinnati Bengals as star players Shemar Stewart and Trey Hendrickson clash with management. Jake Liscow and James Rapien dissect Stewart's bold statements and Hendrick...son's minicamp absence, exploring their potential impact on team chemistry. Joe Burrow acknowledged the distractions, but there's a silver lining: the team's engine on offense offense doesn't have those distractions, and instead has great continuity to build on.Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengalsFind and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-bengals-daily-podcast-on-the-cincinnati-bengals/id1159723162Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0lh0WmQl5fJVgtajsGoogle Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbG9ja2Vkb25iZW5nYWxz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwio_sXtj8nuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAgStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-bengalsGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.Skylight CalendarRight now, Skylight is offering our listeners $30 off their 15 inch Calendars by going to Skylightcal.com/NFL. FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 We made it almost two weeks without talking about contract drama, but we're resetting the calendar, zero days since the Bengals' last contract incident. Let's break it down. You are locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What up, Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Locked on Bengals podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. I'm Jake, let's go.
Starting point is 00:00:34 He's James Rapine, and we've been covering the Cincinnati. Cincinnati Bengals here on Locked on Bengals for many, many years, nearing a decade of coverage here on Locked on Bengals. Boy, does time fly? If you're looking for daily coverage of the Cincinnati Bengals, you are thus in the right place. You can hit that subscribe button on YouTube or anywhere you get your podcast to make sure you don't miss an episode of the latest and greatest
Starting point is 00:00:58 or not so great in the case of contract drama. In terms of what's going on with the Cincinnati Bengals, On YouTube, everywhere you get your podcast, we appreciate all of you who are already everydayers and have those great listening habits like making lockdown Bengals your first listen. Today, we dive into the latest contract drama. Shamar Stewart sounded off at his locker
Starting point is 00:01:17 after not participating in day one of Cincinnati Bengals mandatory mini camp. Trey Hendrickson entirely absent and Joe Burrow meeting with the media after practice and going into the distractions around the team and the effect thereon. Continuities impact in terms of his weapons. We'll get to some of Joe Burrow.
Starting point is 00:01:34 Joe Burroughs comments later because I thought he had a lot to say in a random post-practice presser in the middle of mandatory minicamp in early June. But got to start with Samar Stewart, James. I did not expect to hear the kinds of things come out of Samar Stewart's mouth that came out of Samar Stewart's mouth today, really putting the organization on the spot as he continues to not practice over the team attempting to establish a new precedent with their 2025 first round pick. Yeah, he sounded off, gloves off, and didn't shy away from the tough questions.
Starting point is 00:02:09 I was surprised. I'd be honest. I was surprised. I thought maybe we would hear from him at some point, but not really. And clearly, and I don't know if it was planned, but he didn't shy away from voicing his opinion. And it went from Kelsey Conway at his locker after Joe Burrow talked for roughly 20 minutes. Shout out to Joe Burrow for doing so. And it went from Kelsey Conway to a bunch of TV.
Starting point is 00:02:34 reporters and then I was like, oh, man, and I saw Mike Pichagia in there. And so I jump in as well, and he spent over 10 minutes total with reporters. And boy, oh boy, I, he's honest. And I love it. And I love that. And I think that we're going to have a lot of interesting thoughts on what he had to say. I tweeted out the full video if you're looking for that. But we do have a clip for you about the two, I think these are the two most important, maybe not most important comments, but the two headline comments that you certainly need to do. Ricky Minkan will be over at the end of the week. I feel like I assume it should be done between now and then.
Starting point is 00:03:22 I hopefully get back on the field tomorrow. That's what I'm, that's what I'm planning to do. But as in how far I'll take it, I mean, it just depends. In my case, I'm 100% right. I'm going to ask for nothing y'all never done before. But in y'all case, y'all just want to win an argument that winning more games, in my opinion. I know business is business and football as football,
Starting point is 00:03:45 but have the veterans said anything? Has there been any reaction at all with your situation? It made it very easy when the people in your locker room say you're doing the right things, especially the star players. It's put as that. So stars in here, I'm not asking names, but stars have said, do what you're doing.
Starting point is 00:04:03 Yeah. Boy, a couple things there. One, how many times have we heard the complaint or even talked about it ourselves? The Bengals are more concerned about winning negotiations than they are about winning football games. Have you heard a player expected to be part of the team say that before? I mean, go listen to the full interview that James posted. You find it on Twitter at James Rapine, find it Cincinnati Bengals talk on YouTube. The full video gives you a full scope of his disappointment, disillusionment with where things are right now.
Starting point is 00:04:42 And he was quick to say, I'm not sour on the team. This is the start of things. There could be a long future here. But in the current CBA era where Shamar Stewart is going to sign a contract with the Cincinnati Bengals, he's going to play for this team for at least four years. he is currently not practicing because you're trying to do something new as far as defaulting of guarantees, the canceling of guarantees of Shemar Stewart does something untoward that would put his NFL career in jeopardy, essentially.
Starting point is 00:05:20 And I understand trying to establish that precedent as the Cincinnati Bengals, especially if that's common practice around the NFL, but Shemar Stewart is asking for essentially the same language that Amarious Vams got, the same language that Miles Murphy got. That's why he said he's not asking for anything that the Bengals have never done before. And that sure does sound reasonable. And in his mind, sounds really easy.
Starting point is 00:05:45 In our mind, I think it sounds really easy. In your mind listening, it probably sounds really easy. Just fix the language and get them on the field because he acknowledged how important it is to be on the field. We've talked about that a ton. Yep. And it's just very frustrating to continue to hear. hear the same kinds of complaints that we've been talking about with this front office,
Starting point is 00:06:07 this offseason, previous off seasons, the difficulty for players just get things done that seem like they should be easy that takes away from the football part of things. And if you're asking, let's just say it, if you're asking him to do something that hasn't been done, well, then maybe the compromise would be. giving him more money up front. Because basically what it is is his guarantees that are guaranteed, they can get out of them if he messes up or screws up or gets suspended for a game or, you know, anything happens.
Starting point is 00:06:46 It's a way to jump out of it. And if other teams are doing that and have done that, I believe some have, not all, but some, I wonder if they've sweetened the pot a little bit to do so. And so that's it. I don't think they need to go that route. I also think that because they've tried to do this and because things have gotten so contentious, something that I've pointed out on the podcast multiple times, we talked about it before the pot. This injury waiver, that's out the door now.
Starting point is 00:07:18 Samar Stewart doesn't care about the injury waiver. He wants his deal done. And the injury waiver is kind of like a safeguard. Well, now that they know the contract status is. what it is, where there's this big thing the Bengals want him to do. It's contentious enough where he's like, no way. No way. I'm not giving up any kind of leverage, and his camp is viewing it that way.
Starting point is 00:07:42 And that's what's really tough now, is you have Shamar Stewart, a rookie who needs the reps, 100% needs the reps. And at one point, this offseason, I know it was open to an injury waiver. and now because talks have gone this way, not open to the injury waiver anymore, wants to get the deal done, wants to play. I asked him, hey, do you want to practice on Wednesday?
Starting point is 00:08:04 And a lot of you are probably listening and watching on Wednesday. And he said, I would love to be out there. He said, we got about 20 hours. And he looked at his watch. I don't know if you actually had a watch on it. You might have. But we got about 20 hours until practice.
Starting point is 00:08:15 I would love to be out there. It's just, it's one of those things. I go back to when we talked about this a few weeks ago, when Andrew Brandt said this could go into training camp. and I'm like, oh, I do not want to be watching Stramar Stewart, not in uniform during camp, because that will be a huge storyline. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:08:34 And we are at least one day closer, in a lot of words closer to that being the case, which is really unfortunate. And we're already going to have to deal with the Stray Hendrickson thing unless that somehow gets resolved before training camp, which feels increasingly unlikely. And is a distraction that Joe Burrow acknowledged when he talked to the media.
Starting point is 00:08:51 We'll get to that topic in just a second. Here is the one thing that could help. A whole bunch of first round picks have signed their contracts, including pick number 16, Walter Nolan, and picked for 18, Gray's Abel, I think, Gray's able, 18.
Starting point is 00:09:08 Typically, that means that if there is language in either of those deals that pertains to the contentious language that Shamar Stewart and the Bengals are disagreeing over right now, that should force the Bengals hand, could force the Bengals hand, if that language exists in the 16th and 18th picks contracts.
Starting point is 00:09:32 If it was in the 18th pick contract, it would have already kind of pushed the Bengals in a direction. But as we're going to see with the second round picks, what happens with the picks upstream and downstream for you impacts a contract that you sign with your pick? And so it's possible that 16 and 18, being done gives a Bengals the framework they need to get things done with Shamar Stewart. But that's not all the drama.
Starting point is 00:09:57 We'll wrap up on Shamar Stewart and Trey Hendrickson's president, Joe Burroughs, spoke to that distraction as we continue the discussion coming up next. Today's show is brought to by Skylight Calendar. Say goodbye to sticky notes, scribbled plans on the fridge and overlapping calendar invites. The Skylight Calendar is here to bring clarity to the chaos and help families stay organized without the stress. The sleek digital display syncs with your existing calendars, Google, Apple, Outlook, and more I in my life have been awful at using a calendar.
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Starting point is 00:11:01 That's S-K-Y-L-G-H-T-C-A-L dot com slash NFL. So to wrap up on Samar Stewart, he says he's not going to practice until the deal's done. It is fully within the Bengals power to get the deal done. It seems like it should be easy. I remain unconvinced that it will be easy. And so while Trey Hendrickson isn't practicing, he's not even present, the Bengals first round pick who's intended to bolster the pass rush isn't practicing. And Joe Burrow talked to the media. Do you have anything else on Shemar Sir before we talk about?
Starting point is 00:11:44 Yeah, real quick. Yeah. It's going to tie to Trey. It's so interesting. One thing Shamar said is he was like, I think Trey Hendrickson's 99% right. But he's under contract. So you could one, one, percent of you could make that argument. If I was the GM, I would give him all the money. And then he went on to say, but I'm 100 percent right. Yeah. Which I thought was like, man, can you imagine, and this ties to tray, but what is said behind the scenes if that's being said out and open and fine? I mean, the other thing that that really stood out, and obviously we played the clip, but the fact that stars, and I wonder, but I don't think he used that term lightly that stars maybe Trey probably not Trey but you never know
Starting point is 00:12:31 maybe it was Trey when they talked uh weighed in on on shamar doing what he's doing I just think it's it's a heck of a look for a team that definitely needs more pass rush help the other last note on Shamar he was asked about Zach Taylor and I might get the exact verbiage wrong but it was like we've talked here and there yeah so I think that that's it doesn't feel great put it that way I don't know how much communication that would normally be between Zach Taylor and Shemar Stewart. So I wonder how different it is with him having signed or not signed his deal at this point. But it is an interesting quote. I mean, the quotables that came out of the Shemar Stewart discussion with the media are going to live on
Starting point is 00:13:14 and are going to be taken in context, out of context, going to make the team look bad. There are going to be people that think it's going to make Shemar Stewart look bad. think, oh, this is a rookie. Why is he sounding off? He hasn't even played a snap. Who is he to make all this noise? Well, he was a 17th overall pick. He was a player that the Bengals identified at that spot and thought would be the best player to improve their team in the short and long term. So, there's that. I mean, he was the most premium pick the Bengals used this year. Clearly has big expectations. So I don't know, hard for me to really take the team side on this one again.
Starting point is 00:13:56 Like I understand the precedent they're trying to set here. But it's really hard when you are trying to break precedent for contracts, period. And when it becomes detrimental to the football team, it becomes much, much, much, less sympathetic if you were to start with any sympathy for the team's perspective in this in the first place. No doubt. No doubt. And I think it makes it worse when it's you've seen the pattern and you've seen the pattern front and center. Yeah. And it. Pulling teeth. It bleeds into. Yeah. I mean, it bleeds into. And by the way, it doesn't mean they're always wrong about things. Like, but it doesn't matter. Because if it's always pulling teeth, well, no one likes their teeth being pulled. And so eventually it would be nice if things were smooth. It'd be nice if you didn't have to numb up before you walk in a pay corps and you try to get a deal done.
Starting point is 00:14:58 And so for Trey Hendrickson, he's saying, all right, I don't need that $105,000 in fine money. And Joe Burrow acknowledging that it's a distraction. And I like that Joe is that direct about it because he was like, oh, yeah, it's great. We have Jamar and T, and they're not distracted by their contract status. And then I followed up. And I'm sure Joe was aware that it was coming. Oh, well, is Trey's a distraction? Of course it is.
Starting point is 00:15:30 Of course it's a distraction. And I hate it. I hate it, to be honest with you. Because I think if even if it was just Shamar and not Trey or just Trey and not Shamar, it wouldn't feel nearly as bad. And yet it's both. and both guys probably should be starting for you week one. And I looked at a defensive line today that left or right was, well, left the right,
Starting point is 00:15:58 let's not even do it. But it was Miles Murphy. It was T.J. Slayton. It was Joseph O'Sai, and it was Cam Sample. And that's tough when Cedric Johnson's the fifth guy. And we're not talking about all these other guys that should matter. matter, could matter. Oh, no, it wasn't Cam Sample.
Starting point is 00:16:18 It was Chris Jenkins. So there you go. That's it. Regardless, you need these guys on the field. And obviously, it's a distraction. Joe admitted it. You never want distractions. We're just coming off of an offseason marred by distractions.
Starting point is 00:16:34 Last offseason was a big distraction. And it affected the offense. And the offense is the engine of the team. So at least the silver lining, as Joe Burrow points out, T and Jamar are locked in. They're locked up. They're locked in. There's no focus issues on the offensive side of the ball.
Starting point is 00:16:50 There's no distractions on the offensive side of the ball. The offense is going to drive this team. You do need the defense to return to average. We just spent a whole episode talking about why we thought the Bengals ranked at 18th in PFF's overall roster rankings might be too low, where I spent a lot of time arguing that that was essentially predicting the same low-end range of outcomes for the defense as they got last year, where they're expecting essentially the same issues that existed last year to repeat. I understand why you would expect that, but I thought last year was a low-end outcome for a lot of young guys on defense.
Starting point is 00:17:24 And so you do need the defense to regress to the average a little bit, go back toward the middle of the road range of outcomes instead of the low-end outcome, like the worst-case scenario. But this is a team that's going to be driven by the offense. And so if you're looking for, for the reason to feel good about things at this point in the off season. It's where Joe Burroughs at. It's where he's at with his skill players.
Starting point is 00:17:55 It's that the offense is having as normal an offseason, as normal a mini camp as you could hope. Now, of course, we would still like them to go sign one of those veteran guards you've been talking about for months. But that aside, all the guys are there. All the guys are signed. guys are doing all the work. And so from that perspective, they're getting that important work done at this point in the off season where we haven't really had that in the Joe Burrow era to this degree, where there's continuity, which I think we're going to talk about in just a second. And there's no distractions on that side of the ball. And in those meetings and from that sense of getting
Starting point is 00:18:40 the team ready for the season. And that's why. you go back, it's like, you're right there. Yeah. Give Shamar Stewart the Amaris Mims contract and that's done and you don't have to worry about it and there's no drama and he's on the field. Or just get him to sign the injury waiver before trying to break precedent and make him do something that. Anyways, so there's one. Two, the Trey thing. Trey is, when he showed up last month, that to me is him saying, hey, man,
Starting point is 00:19:13 and talk to me, let's work this out. And it takes two. And if one's not willing to do anything, not willing to bend, not willing to, not even bend, not willing to talk, makes it tough. And I think Joe's aware of that. Because Joe could have taken my question and made it, he has to be signed by this date.
Starting point is 00:19:37 And he's still back tray. It's not like he hasn't. but he could have really thrown the weight behind it. And I think he knows that this is a bit complicated. And there's leverage and there are all the things that go into it. Obviously he wants to trade on the team. I think he wants Trey to get paid. I don't think that changed.
Starting point is 00:19:57 But it's this one could go into camp and it's going to suck if it does. And if it does go into camp, I'm not sure we see Trey. I don't think this is going to be a hold-in scenario. I think much like with Shamar, it got kind of uncomfortable there when he's kind of peeling back the curtain. I think he's going to have to make the Bengals feel his absence. And so I would be surprised if he showed up. That is the one lever that he can pull. We'll wrap up on Trey Hendrickson and then get to that topic of continuity.
Starting point is 00:20:30 Joe Burrough said a lot of very interesting things, in my opinion, in his presser today. We'll get to one of those topics. And we'll have to circle back to some of the rest of another. time to finish the show coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Fandul. Fandul is America's number one sports book. The NBA finals, well, they're going to be like 90 minutes away from Cincinnati. And whether you're going to Indianapolis for game three, the NBA finals on Wednesday night or
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Starting point is 00:21:26 get $200 in bonus bets when their first $5 bet wins. And that's it. All you have to do is go to Fandall and Fandle.com place your first $5 bet. And if it wins, you'll get $200 in bonus bets. It's that simple. it's perfect for the NBA finals. Make every moment more with Fandall, official sports betting partner of the NBA. My last notes on Trey Hendrickson, before we shift back to some of the other Joe Burrow comments are, yeah, this could go into training camp.
Starting point is 00:21:56 This could go into the season. This could remain ugly. But Trey has very few options because if he doesn't show up at all this year, his contract doesn't expire. He's not a free agent. And so where he does not have the leverage besides retiring, really, he is under contract, as Samar Stewart pointed out, the only options he really has are to eat fines and make things uncomfortable and hope that that pressure is felt in a way that spurs the Bengals front office to action. And unfortunately for Trey, that is an uphill battle. that's a Sisyphian tasks in some ways with the Bengals history of really not caring all that much. Like they don't like it.
Starting point is 00:22:54 But it doesn't historically affect them in the way the players hope it does. So we'll see how that plays out. I do not envy the position that Trey Hendrickson is in. I have some sympathy there. I also have heard many, many people remind us time and time again that he agreed to this extension that gave him this one year. And so there's that complication, the age complication, all of the edge market exploding complication, all these complications and a very difficult position for Trey Hendrickson from a leverage perspective with a team that really historically does not care. And I think that's why Joe is kind of measured. He knows Trey may have to go to the extreme.
Starting point is 00:23:48 And if he's going to pop off, there's a time for that. But I don't think it's in June. Right. Like, Joe may be super mad at the front office for how they're handling this. Very well could. But you want to pull that lever when you need to pull the lever. He was clear and not aggressive, but pretty clear, like not having train makes us worse.
Starting point is 00:24:14 And he also talked a lot about aging. We're not going to get to this aging conversation today, but he talked a lot about aging and how quickly time passes and this topic as well. And you combine that with the idea that you're not making the team as good as it could be this year. And there's something there. It's pretty cohesive. Well, one of the things that we'll get to with the aging is like how the hits compound, how the hits throughout his career.
Starting point is 00:24:40 The hits in free agency and negotiating those compound two. And that's why Joe was so outspoken about T and so upfront and pushed it the way he did. And by the way, Trey was in that as well. And so there's no reason for us to believe that Joe feels ending differently in January than he does now. And so if they want to drag this out, make it even uglier and impact what could be Joe's best chance in a lot of ways to make another run at it, I'm sure it's going to really make him frustrated, and he's not going to forget that. And I think that's what it comes back to.
Starting point is 00:25:23 And that's the card that will be interesting. Does he play it at the beginning of training camp? If nothing's done, that will be a huge topic when Joe Bro talks at some point at the start of training camp if, if Trey isn't done. I think we're going to talk more about Trey. I have some numbers in my head that I would offer Trey that. Bengals should offer Trey. I waved at Katie today and I was like, man, I wonder if I should give her the numbers
Starting point is 00:25:47 and I did not. I'm kidding. But I did see her today. So who knows, maybe T.J. Hushmanzada, who's at practice was saying, hey, give him the deal, get it done. Or maybe he was like, man, I never should have left Cincinnati. It was stupid that I did. And I should have just taken the deal you guys offered.
Starting point is 00:26:05 You never know. You never know because I think he does regret going to Seattle. He had a great shirt on. Really a great shirt that T.J. Hishmanzada was wearing at that practice. So that's my thought on T.J. Love, TJ. Nice to see him around, see him in Cincinnati. The Trey Hendrickson Topical remain frustrating.
Starting point is 00:26:27 And there are going to be listeners out there who, if you're still listening at this point, you're frustrated. I hear you. We don't want to be talking about this stuff either. We don't want to be dealing with this stuff either. It's annoying as our perspective, my perspective, at least as well. And the question that I asked earlier this offseason for the everydayers that remember me saying it, if not now when, that question has been answered, I think, this offseason. This is an opportunity.
Starting point is 00:26:57 This should be seen by this front office as a chance to really do things with your core on offense. and it's just disappointing to see them not doing everything they could be doing to make this feel like, yeah, they're trying. They're trying their best. They've pushed their chips to the table. And instead,
Starting point is 00:27:20 they're sitting on like $30 million in Capspace. In reality, it's like $10 million less than that because of all the end-season. It's a ton of Capspace. They can do literally... You know what you can do $20 million in Capspace? Like, I know you know, but like, oh, my God. Anything they want.
Starting point is 00:27:36 Like anything they want. Literally anything they want. You're thinking about plus the other free agent you're thinking about plus Trey. And that doesn't that's including by the way the 10 million you're including include Shamar's deal. It's not like their Shamar's deal is going to impacted. Includes the rookie. So yeah, anything they want.
Starting point is 00:27:55 They can sign us. Sign us. The one last positive that we can finish the show on here for anybody who's stuck around. for one final positive here is Joe Burroughs talked about the positive of continuity. So where we've been talking about all these guys that Joe Burrow wanted the Bengals to bring back, they got the guys done on offense, Ciggins, Mike Keseki, the two weapons, and they got some more chase's deal done obviously. But the two guys that were potential free agents, potential departures,
Starting point is 00:28:27 Joe Burrow talked about the continuity of having not just those guys back, but also another year with Andre Yowell. Osvash, another year with Romaine Burton, another year with Charlie Jones. And it stood out to me that Joe Burrow mentioned those guys as well and praised the wide receiver depth as well, but talking about the steps those guys are taking and not having to take anybody under his wing, no newcomers who's like, this is how I want you to run this route. This is how I want you to execute this concept. This is what I want you to be thinking about when a play breaks down and we're in a scramble
Starting point is 00:28:58 drill. And maybe they're still talking about some of those things, but not having to do it from scratch with any new players, I do find that to be a somewhat compelling piece of argumentation from Joe Burrow that suggests that there's no reason to expect offensive regression here. If anything, we could expect, at least from a skill player perspective, obviously, not talking about the offensive line here at all. But from a skill player perspective, you can expect those guys to continue to perform
Starting point is 00:29:31 at the level they did last year, if not better. with more experience in the system with that continuity, where we talked about continuity on the offensive line before and stuff like that. But I did find it to be fairly compelling from Joe Burr to point out that they can spend that effort and that time they would spend in the past catching somebody up on other things that should, in theory, improve the efficiency and the alignment, to use that word again, of the Bengal skill players with their quarterback.
Starting point is 00:30:00 And he was asked about, some of the guys in his rapport, and he praised three guys specifically. I'm Joe Yosefos, Jermaine Burton, Charlie Jones. And it's interesting because in practice, he hit Charlie over the middle in seven-on-seven in like an awesome play by Charlie, awesome play by Joe, and a really good throw. Another one where he found Mike Gisicki over the outstretched arms of Logan Wilson. Like you're seeing that continuity. Last year at this time, he was trying to get Mike Gassiki.
Starting point is 00:30:31 cut up and get him comfortable. Charlie Jones is a young player that's trying to find his way on offense and hasn't contributed. Andre got the praise from T last week. Well, clearly Joe feels the same way. And then obviously, Jermaine Burton and just everything that goes with him and everything that's been the Jermaine Burton experience, if he does figure it out, no one doubts that he can help this team. And so it was nice to see Joe say those things.
Starting point is 00:30:59 And by the way, he mentioned like Charlie. and remain, and other guys are mentioning that too, or you're seeing them make plays on the field. So you just hope health, off the field, all of those things come together as one, and these guys can be what the Bengals hope they can be because they don't need to be wide receiver one or two. They need to be depth pieces that know where the hell they're going.
Starting point is 00:31:21 Because if they do that and they do their job, they're going to matter. They're going to play at times this year, and Joe's going to have to rely on them. And having that depth that you're confident in makes a big difference. If you're talking about targets, you know, seven through nine or six through nine,
Starting point is 00:31:38 six to seven, whatever, the back of the receiving target list. Yeah. Then if you have guys that you feel good about from a trust perspective that have the ability, then you maybe aren't just concerned about the wide receiver depth. And that's the trajectory right now in early June. Breaking news.
Starting point is 00:32:01 Jake Liscoe says Jermaine Burton is target nine on Bengals offense. Aggregate it. Aggregate it. Write the articles. I mean, I'm not going to go through it right now, but I don't think that's not far off. Chase, like, it could be a couple of running backs ahead in terms of targets, three receivers, a tight end. So you're already at seven or eight. I can't.
Starting point is 00:32:23 So you're being practical. I was just trying to get people, get the people going. Yeah, I mean, you got to go through the list. There's a lot more from Joe Burrow that we didn't get to today. We probably won't get to it in the next show either. That'll be coming out after Minicamp concludes on Thursday evening, Thursday afternoon. We'll hear from a bunch of coaches between now and then. We'll have a couple more days of practice between now and then.
Starting point is 00:32:43 Of course, if anything breaks, we will have you covered. If Samar Stewart signs his deal, for example, that is something that will bring James and I very likely back together to discuss the implications thereof. And we'll hopefully have time to circle back to Joe Burrough's comments. a little bit later on, perhaps Sunday evening in the next episode of Lockdown Bengals after Thursday's episode. So two episodes from now. But that's going to do it for this episode of the Locktime Bengals podcast.
Starting point is 00:33:10 Until next time, thanks for listening. Ho-Day. And have a good one.

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