Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Bengals Miss BIG Opportunity: Defensive Struggles, Trey Hendrickson Trade Rumors & More

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Bengals had a golden opportunity in the AFC North. They didn't cash it in. Robert Wynetraub is here to break it all down on Locked on Bengals. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hi again, everyone, and welcome in to the Locked on Bengals podcast. I'm James Rupin, and no Jake, let's go today. But we're joined by a special guest, Robert Weintraub of Cincinnati Magazine.

Starting point is 00:00:33 Make sure you check him out in Cincinnati Magazine. And we have a new ebook to tell you about coming up in just a bit as well. Thank you so much for making us your first listen. Shout out to the everydayers. And of course, make sure you hit that subscribe button on YouTube. Check us out if you haven't wherever you get your podcast. Today's show is brought to you by Fandul. Right now, new customers can bet just $5.

Starting point is 00:00:56 And if your bet wins, you get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. And let's dive in, Robert, because. I couldn't help but think late Sunday night, and as we're recording this Monday morning, and I look at the AFC North, and the Ravens are coming on. Like I think everyone thought they would when Lamar came back and looking at their schedule a few weeks ago.

Starting point is 00:01:18 But if the Bengals handled business, the past couple of games, they'd be five and four. They'd be tied with the Steelers technically in the AFC North, but they'd have the tiebreaker. They'd be going to Pittsburgh on Sunday. Everything would feel different, and yet they had to give up 86, points instead of 76 points over the past two games and they're three and six. It just feels like a

Starting point is 00:01:39 huge, huge missed opportunity as we come out of this by week. Yeah, and this is the franchise that never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity, right? I mean, that's just sort of what the Bengals have been over the last few decades. And yeah, it's just crushing to think about how the entire narrative would be so different, even down to like Duke Tobin, who's, you know, getting, taking a lot of shots left and right for his inability to make the defense better over the last couple of years. But if you think about it, all they had to do was get just the one stop in either of the Jets game or the Bears game.

Starting point is 00:02:12 And as you say, they're five and four. They're in first place. And Duke Tobin is getting a parade through Cincinnati for saving the season for trading for Joe Flacko for virtually nothing, a move that came out of nowhere and has proven to be, you know, in a different circumstance. One of the great in-season trades ever made, really. You didn't think about it, especially for Cincinnati, who hardly ever do that.

Starting point is 00:02:36 And it's just, it's maddening, really, is the only word I can think of. When you see how close they should be to that, I mean, not like five and four record is some great thing, but given where the season was when Joe Burrow went down and how just horrifying they were to watch with Jake Browning at the helm, they make the move, they seem to save the season on the, night game against Pittsburgh and the first time around. And these last two games have just gnawed at the flesh of every Bengals fan,

Starting point is 00:03:07 not to be too graphic about it, but it's just really hard to believe that we're here again one year after, you know, kind of witnessing this same thing. And even more frustrating fashion, because at least last year it was like, all right, you know, you expect to have the great offense with Joe Burrow, you expect to score all these points. And he was just let down by the defense. And now they do it in an entirely different and unexpected way, salvage the season. and still have the great offense,

Starting point is 00:03:30 and their defense is somehow even worse. It's really just incredible to think about it, and yet typical Bengals. Yeah, typical Bengals. Robert Weintraub of Cincinnati Magazine is our guest. I'm James Irp. And here on Locked on Bengals. It's, it really is unbelievable.

Starting point is 00:03:45 Like, I know it's believable, like, when you look at the process and all of those things, but for them to be so bad on defense, where do you put the blame? We've talked a lot about blame over the past couple of weeks. I think the fan base is looking at it. You're right. Duke Tobin is certainly someone that a lot of people have talked about, wanted him to talk publicly.

Starting point is 00:04:03 We requested him full disclosure, asked him to talk. Bengals decline it. That's pretty normal this time of year. He does not have to talk. He's not required to do any kind of media appearances or anything like that. So a lot of people looking at Duke. Naturally, people are going to look at the head coach. A lot of people are looking at Al Golden.

Starting point is 00:04:20 Some are just saying, hey, Jordan Battle, make a tackle. Where are you at when it comes to the blame game? Yeah. I think the answer to that question is yes. Pretty much everybody is to blame. I mean, you know, there's maybe excuse DJ Turner. He's playing well. Otherwise, it's basically everything.

Starting point is 00:04:39 It's the approach in the off season. It's draft choices and free agent decisions that were questioned heavily by the likes of you and I in real time. Not, you know, we crossed our fingers and hope for the best, but we could see, you know, not necessarily this sort of train wreck happening necessarily. but at least, you know, we didn't feel confident that things were going to improve greatly. And then the way they've been coached has obviously not worked out. And, you know, they hired a guy out Golden who was, you know, familiar with the franchise, had a lot of success in college, but also a guy who's never called plays in the NFL as a defensive coordinator.

Starting point is 00:05:17 So you knew there was going to be a learning curve there. And whatever they're doing in the practice field, obviously is not working to improve the tackling that was so bad last year. it's worse this year. And, you know, you go right down to the players. And it begins and ends with them, really, at the end of the day, I feel like, you know, where's the professional pride? I mean, that's what I keep coming back to. It's like, you know, you're in the NFL now.

Starting point is 00:05:41 This is not just throw away a week in there, you know, throw away a couple of games and come back and do your best. And, well, we're, you know, we're getting paid. So who really cares? I mean, come on. This is a bunch of guys. And unfortunately is what happens when you go to a youth movement and you, You don't have the kind of, you know, that's another thing that I've been questioning about.

Starting point is 00:06:01 It's like, you know, their whole draft strategy, we've heard so much about how they like to prize, you know, leadership from the college level and how that would translate to a professional locker room and team captains and guys who are mature like Demetrius Knight who, you know, is putting his, you know, young child first by delivering DoorDash. All this stuff we hear about and it's all great and I'm not denigrating them as human beings. But, you know, it's supposed to translate into stepping up an accountability in the locker room and on the playing field. And we're just not seeing that at all. And it doesn't help when the one guy who's your veteran leader, Trey Hendrickson, has been injured and isn't out there leading by example in the second halves of these games. You know, that's obviously you're looking at all we needed was one stop in these last couple of games. And that's the specialty of Trey Hendrickson in the fourth quarter. And because of a quasi-cheep shot against the Jets, he hasn't been out there.

Starting point is 00:06:53 hasn't played a second half in the last month, really, as the defense has fallen off a cliff, so there's a direct correlation there. But, you know, in general, other guys got to step up. These are professional football players. Let's go, man. I mean, again, I bring it back to, you can draft them and you can question, you know, who they are as talented as they are. But they're all, you know, these are all pro players. I stop at the line of, oh, they're just not talented. You know, we see every week in the NFL, guys who are, you know, written up as not talented, go to other teams and other situations and play well, whether they're quarterbacks to get all the pub or just, you know, small, you know, smaller level guys, even like

Starting point is 00:07:34 at Emmanuel Forbes who played really well for the Rams and was a potential bankrupt. Goes to Washington and he's a quote-unquote bust, gets in a different situation and he's playing like a top-line corner, you know. So it can happen for these guys too, but let's make it happen here. Let's just, you know, I don't know what it takes beyond these team meeting. and players-only meetings and whatever it is that they talk about to the press, but they got to show a little bit more professional pride. I've just been shocked at the lack of it over the last month or so, and everything else we sort of knew about coming in,

Starting point is 00:08:08 but at the end of the day, it's on the players to do better. Yeah, I think the professional pride line is a really good one that I look at, and I'm like, at some point you've just got to say you're not getting past me. like you're not getting past me and that's it and I'm going to hold on for dear life until someone else gets there and the the mistackles have been so bad it's been such a haunting issue that that has haunted this defense and it is embarrassing and I like the professional pride putting it that way because it isn't at some point it can't just be all well that guy's more talented because I think Colston Lovellins really talented I also don't care tackle them

Starting point is 00:08:46 no one's saying don't give up the play but but definitely tackle him and there were three guys that could have, and that's just one of many plays that are going to haunt Bengals fans and should be haunting this Bengals defense right now as they prepare for Pittsburgh. A lot I want to dive into with you. You mentioned the youth movement. I think that's really interesting. You also talked about Trey Hendrickson. The Bengals didn't trade Trey Hendrickson. That and more coming up next right here on Locked on Bengals. Today's show is brought to you by Rippling. If you're a business owner, here's the truth. Sass promised to make work easier. But now the average company is buried by hundreds of apps that slow down your teams and simply don't work together.

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Starting point is 00:11:17 that, I think the youth movement thing, I don't want to say it's been glossed over it, but it's been on my mind a lot, especially when you look at last week. They trade Logan Wilson for a seventh round pick. A lot of people underwhelmed by that. And I thought to myself, man, if Zach Taylor had just waited to bench Logan and they let him rack up tackles and wear the green dot and be the leader on this defense, and I say that in quotes, because obviously he wasn't a part of their long term plans by that point, maybe they get a fifth. Maybe they get a fifth in exchange for a seventh pick swap, which would be more value than a seventh,

Starting point is 00:11:52 a standalone seventh. Who knows what they get? But that's one of the many youth movement pieces that we've seen. Some have worked. I think Dylan Fairchild, to a large extent, has worked to this point. Jalen Rivers taking his lump sum. Shamar Stewart certainly taking his lumps. And then on the other side, these linebackers,

Starting point is 00:12:11 Poo, Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight, that both taking their lumps. What's your overall thoughts on Zach Taylor's decision one to bench Logan Wilson in hindsight now, looking at the way these linebackers have played and just the overall youth movement on a team that was certainly expected to be in win now mode entering the season. Yeah, well, it really goes back a few years now to me because, you know, I think they're long-term planning, and I agree with it. You know, I think they looked over at, like, say, what the chiefs were doing as a sort of model,

Starting point is 00:12:42 which a lot of teams do. But in particular, it worked for them because of, you know, you had the quarterback coming into his now rich contract and a couple of offensive players who were going to make a lot of money, and they had to get young and cheap on defense. That was the idea. The chiefs managed to do that exceptionally well with their top-level defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnola.

Starting point is 00:13:03 Now, the Bengals thought they had one as well in Luana Rumo, and they figured let's just put all of our youth assets, our draft assets, on the defensive side of the foot. fall as the chiefs have done and go from there. We should be able to at least tread water defensively with our new young players and then then we'll build up a new ramp. At the same time, they also, as Duke Tobin even, you know, sort of admitted after their last season, they kind of hung on to the Super Bowl era defensive guys who came in

Starting point is 00:13:32 maybe a little bit long. And I think they're caught in between, you know, kind of wanting to do it in both ways. You want to have that mix of veterans like we talked about, like a Logan Wilson and you want him around to be able to, you know, kind of guide the new pups, the Barrett Carter's of the world, and at least, you know, get them to a point, well, they'll have that professional pride. You know, when you're a rookie in the NFL, your head is spinning in so many different directions.

Starting point is 00:13:57 It's so difficult unless you're a superstar type athlete like a Jamar Chase was. Otherwise, it's so, you know, it's so difficult just to hang on and feel like you're, you know, even know where to go from one play or one week to the next. and to have a few veterans around mixed in with the youth and these top line first round picks that they were spending on defense. That seemed to be the plan, and yet they not only did they mess up the picks, it feels like, but they also didn't really feel like they committed to what they wanted to do on the defense of the ball by mixing and matching with those veterans.

Starting point is 00:14:32 They kept the veterans playing instead of moving in some of these young guys. You know, you looked to a Dax Hill, just sat and wasted his entire first year, instead of, you know, getting onto the field. Yeah. And that's just an extreme example, but I feel like it's, you know, that's why Miles Murphy is still don't really know what he is in year three necessarily. He's a guy who could go somewhere else and play somewhat better at least

Starting point is 00:14:56 because he had to sit behind, you know, kind of gimpy Sam Hubbard because they loved him and he was providing that veteran leadership. And they just did a poor job of mixing and matching. And now it feels like they've gone kind of in the other direction and just avalanche right into playing all the kids with predictable results. I mean, it'd be one thing if they were, you know, a heavily touted group and no slam dunk prospects like a Jamar Chase, but they're not. They're guys who need seasoning and they need, you know, a lot of help

Starting point is 00:15:29 and a lot of people who are a little bit older than them and have been around to guide them and to how to be that pro, to show that pro pride that we were just talking about. And it just feels like they've met completely, messed up that chemistry experiment completely over the last three years. And it's, you know, you can't blame them for doing what they did. I think in the moment, a lot of the moves and a lot of the sort of big picture operation from Duke Tobin on down was, was proper. You know, you wanted to get younger and cheaper. You had to you. That was just the way to go on defense when you're paying all the

Starting point is 00:16:02 big money on the offensive side of the ball. But the way it's come out has just been, you know, such a hash. And, you know, there's, again, there's a, there's a lot of point, a lot of fingers to point and a lot of places to put the blame. But there's no question that it just seems like it's getting worse in every single micro decision now. Like you point to it, you know, taking Logan Wilson off the field so early to get back to him, it just, it's compounding on itself. It was just that move in a vacuum. You could live with it. But it's, you know, everything else has not worked before that. So this looks even worse.

Starting point is 00:16:36 And every time they, you know, try and dig themselves out of a hole, they're getting another foot deeper. It feels like they just are unable to get themselves out of this abyss that they're in on the defensive side of the ball. And it's really a shame because the offense has just been so incredibly great with or without Joe Burrow. Who knew that Trey Hendrickson was more valuable than Joe Burroughs, it turns out? But maybe that's the case. Robert Weintraub of Cincinnati Magazine is our guest. Yeah, he is valuable. We're going to get to that in just a few minutes here, how valuable he will.

Starting point is 00:17:06 in NFL circles at the trade deadline. And I think that's going to surprise some that maybe have taken the buy week off and not paid a ton of attention to the news. But before we do that, yeah, I'm just, there's some kind of disconnect as the wrong word. And clearly there was a disconnect with the old old regime with Luan Arumo. Like you've seen it. I'm sure you've seen it on social media. Everyone's like, oh, well, Lou is the fall guy. No, Lou is the guy that didn't want to play Dax Hill.

Starting point is 00:17:34 Like I don't I'm not mad at them for moving on from Lou because it clearly wasn't working for whatever reason. But I also think whatever plan they had in February when they bring it out Golden and that was the plan for weeks going into it and all of those things. Whatever plan they had clearly hasn't worked. And I just look at the draft alone. And I don't think anyone thought Demetrius Knight was necessarily a plug-in-play player. No one thought Shamar Stewart was a plug-and-play player right away. And they drafted those guys with the idea that they would be plug and play. Really, their first three picks were like, hey, you're going to play right away.

Starting point is 00:18:12 And I think Fairchild has delivered on that, even if that wasn't the expectation. But the other two, it's tough. It's tough to be mad at them because in an ideal situation, Shamar Stewart is just playing here and there and learning the ropes and learning technique and doing all of those things. And you have a real pass rush without him. Same thing with Demetrius Knight. He's learning from veterans and doesn't have to be out there, 85% of the snaps.

Starting point is 00:18:38 And that just obviously hasn't been the case. And now the same thing does go for Barrett Carter, where all four, now five with Jalen Rivers. I mean, think about all the rookies they're playing and leaning on. That's a lot to ask of a team that's supposed to be contending. Yeah, to go back to Lou real quick. I mean, listen, you know, he had a, I've said this many times and written about it. he had a real 25 game heater as a defensive coordinator that encompassed the playoffs led to the Super Bowl and then the 2022 season and then the other six years he was here

Starting point is 00:19:10 it wasn't it wasn't good I mean let's just call it like we see it I mean it wasn't all lose fault but you know there was a shelf life and after last season they just they couldn't keep him and it's ridiculous to think that he was some kind of fall guy or you know should have been kept it just was it was over for him here now as for Al Golden he can you know People asked me sort of to describe the, I remember I was asked to describe the draft in one word afterward. And I just said, Golden. You know, I mean, it seemed like he had his hands all over it. And the one advantage of getting a guy out of college you would have thought is that he has his real eye on the talent.

Starting point is 00:19:45 He knows who's there. He knows, you know, guys who have just been recruited. He knows all about these things. And yet it's mystifying some of the guys they picked. I'm not going to put it all on him and saying he stood on the table. We don't really know that. He wanted Shemar Stewart. or say instead of Derek Harmon, who was picked right after him and would have made a lot more

Starting point is 00:20:03 sense to me. You know, did he really not want his own guy, Xavier Watts, who's playing well right here in Atlanta? I mean, did he not want some other guys that we could talk about, you know, that they could have should. And I don't want to close the door, like you say, and Shamar Stewart, he was hurt, missed that, you know, a lot of practice time in the summer for, you know, ridiculous reasons. And, you know, the jury is still certainly out on him.

Starting point is 00:20:26 The problem is when you play these rookies, as just we've been talking about, and get into these situations that are so bad, we see it with quarterbacks and we talk about it with quarterbacks all the time. But the same is true with other positions. You get into a, you know, you get beaten down as a rookie and you don't know success right away or, you know, through your entire rookie year. It can take years to recover from that if you ever do. And, you know, or you have to go to another team to do it, as we were just alluding to before as well. So, you know, that's the risk in playing kids. You always want to get younger and you want to be able to show your, you know, your draft, is having an impact, but that can blow back on you.

Starting point is 00:21:02 And unless you have guys who are really, you know, top of the line prospects and their positions and are ready to step in and make an immediate impact, you know, that's pretty rare. That's only about 5% of the draft to begin with. And it's clear that they missed the boat on a lot of these guys on the defensive end, at least what they wanted to get out of them in terms of plug and play. Like you said, they're just not ready for that. And, you know, but there's no option now.

Starting point is 00:21:27 I mean, and God forbid. That's it. At least the only you can say about Knight and Carter right now is that at least they're not injured because what happens if those guys go down? Who's left to play? I mean, you know, they're going to have to run a 407 defense of some kind. And it could even get worse. If you can believe that if that happens. Yeah, knock on wood.

Starting point is 00:21:46 At least the guys are getting playing time. You hope it pays off. We do need to talk about the defensive end. And by the defensive end, I mean, the best defensive end, certainly on the Bengals roster, Trey Hendrickson. They didn't trade him. and now we have an idea as to why. We'll get to that coming up next. Today's show was brought to you by friends over there at Peloton.

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Starting point is 00:23:06 Explore the new Peloton, cross-training, Treadplus, at OnePeloton.com. All right, Robert, the Bengals, well, they held on to Trey Hendrickson. And in the moment, I'm like, what are you doing? You should have really considered it. I also said in the moment, and this is why you always have disclaimers, it should be, if you're going to, for a second round pick and get something of value. well it turns out according to multiple reports Ian Rappaport and NFL.com

Starting point is 00:23:35 we're certainly all over this. The Bengals didn't get offered more than a fourth at the trade deadline. That surprises me. I don't think a serious trade. If you're a GM and you want Trey Hendricks and you should already know that a fourth probably won't get it done knowing the Bengals,

Starting point is 00:23:50 knowing how they operate all of those things. And yet that turns out that was at least reportedly the case. Your thoughts on the Bengals' decision to keep Trey Hendrickson given the trade offers. And is it surprising to you that no one said, hey, we'll at least give you a third or we'll give you a third and a fifth? I mean, two fours even. Like, to me, a fourth is almost insulting.

Starting point is 00:24:12 But what say you? What are your thoughts on that? Yeah, it's a bit of a slap across the face. But part of it, I think, it was because of the injury and it's just so ill-timed. And, you know, typical bangles like Hendrickson was playing and doing what he normally does. I think teams will have been lining up to get them. and it just because now you kind of justifies what the Bengals have been you know have they have they played this all along in terms of not wanting to pay him into his 30s you know guys of his

Starting point is 00:24:39 age regardless how great they are they tend to get injured more often and we're seeing that unfortunately play out um you know I haven't been surprised that they haven't traded him kind of all long I mean I you know I remember when they you know came out with the quote unquote you know allow him to seek a deal whatever however the one language is phrased earlier this season. Permission to seek a train. Get to write that one down, get that tattooed on my back. It's, you know, I didn't think any team would really come across with the deal.

Starting point is 00:25:12 That was just the Bengals way of saying, well, if we get an offer, we can't refuse. If Godfather offer, we'll take it. But, you know, we're not really serious about trading. And you can see why in a lot of ways. And, you know, right now in terms of where we are today, To me, the Bengals are, and we talk about it a lot, I'm sure you guys talk about it too. They're not punting on the season. They think they can still win.

Starting point is 00:25:37 They think Troy Hendrickson is the key element to them, you know, making a run like they did last year, down the stretch, whether it proves ultimately futile like it usually does throughout Bengal history of these late rushes that, you know, sort of tend to make up for their slow starts is, you know, that's a different question. But I don't think in the building, they think to themselves like, let's build for next year and trade our best asset, which they should have done if they were really thinking ahead, certainly before this season. But as you say, if the offer is not there, then you can't really blame them. And I just think it plays into their hands. This is all playing right into their way of thinking. And I think, you know, if somebody's really offering them just a fourth for Hendrickson, that's an automatic hangup. And maybe they're just thinking, oh, well, the Bengals are so desperate to just turn over.

Starting point is 00:26:26 everything that they'll give away their best defensive player for virtually nothing. And, you know, you can't do that if you're Cincinnati, obviously. You could have definitely traded them at any point, you know, for a two and a four, or even if they got a late first over the summer, something like that, you would definitely want to think about it. And at this point, though, that ship is long since sale. I really don't think that that was a possibility then. And, you know, at this stage, like we were just talking about, if they had Hendrickson on the field the last couple of weeks, maybe they do win those games. Maybe they're an entirely different situation we wouldn't even be thinking maybe they'd be buyers at the

Starting point is 00:27:00 trade deadline maybe they should have been anyway to make a different kind of deal but that's a different podcast maybe but um you know i just think in the building no it's not that that's right up my alley so go ahead i'm all about yes i mean i was i was stumping a few weeks ago i was asked i said you know they should try and get geoffrey simmons i mean that was a guy who no doubt at the time he was available now maybe he wasn't and isn't but and the best Bengals never do that kind of thing anyway. So it was all just for speculation. But, you know, I think you and I are over the same milk.

Starting point is 00:27:32 How are you going to improve this defense in a sort of global way? And, you know, by getting a guy like Simmons or another similar player like Quinn and Williams, even, you could make, could have made that trade easily, especially when you think about how the Bengals have proven repeatedly, they can't use those top draft picks to, you know, get instant impact players into the building anyway. And it makes all the sense in the world to try at least trade from one. get a center of gravity in the middle of that defense and, you know, change the, change the way they've been playing over the last few years. It's, you know, really since DJ readers left.

Starting point is 00:28:05 And even a guy like Larry Ogdenjobie, they miss his penetrating and quick twitch. They haven't had that in the building since he left. So it's like, you know, roll the dice here. We got, you know, this is the borough era. And it's the sands are clicking through the hourglass there. And it's already six years in the league. Who would have thought that, you know? and make it move, do something.

Starting point is 00:28:27 But of course, that's not this franchise. So it's all just a good podcast stuff. Yeah, I said at the time, no one's going to blame you for paying DJ Reader. No one's going to blame you for paying Jesse Bates. Like if it ends up wrong, right? Like if it just doesn't work, like if DJ Reader. And I said it about Trey as well.

Starting point is 00:28:46 Not that the tray thing is necessarily wrong with where they're at as a defense. But the drama ends if you had just paid him in February. I remember telling someone at, combine like hey offer him 28 million and and i told bengal's personnel that too like offer him 28 million a year and then guess what all these deals went through and the money went through and it delayed things because i do think that they planned on at that moment getting something done with tray then the deals went haywire and then they gave him permission to seek a trade because his asking price changed right

Starting point is 00:29:18 and they were just really far apart and then it just kind of all evolved into what it is now which i think he's going to, if he plays well down the stretch, he's looking at another tag. And we're looking at doing this all over again. And I hate that for all involved, including us, because that means that we're going to have to cover it. Especially us. Yeah. Well, you know, I've always said that Bengals are essentially a Depression-era franchise, right? I mean, what that means is they kind of don't ever want to spend money until they absolutely have to. Like, you know, you're thinking about hoarding all of your assets until the very last minute.

Starting point is 00:29:53 If you have to pay, if you have to pay Joe Burrow, sure, we'll do it. If we're, you know, at the last second. Thursday before the season. Oh, my God. Right. I mean, they could have done it and saved themselves so much more money, you know, by being proactive. But this is the Scorpion and the frog here.

Starting point is 00:30:11 When are they ever going to do that? When have they ever done that? Why are we expecting it, you know? The Bengals are always operating as if they're, oh, they're ready in case the salary cap goes down. You know, that's, that's their thinking. It's like, okay, if something bad happened, we're ready. You know, it's hurricane prevention season.

Starting point is 00:30:28 That's right. We got our natural disaster. Our cap sheet is clean. It is clean. There's not much dead money on that thing. We're never going to be the saints. And, you know, I'm not saying, you know, to a certain degree. And don't be the saints.

Starting point is 00:30:42 The saints are idiots, but don't meet what you are either, you know. Exactly. They take it to the other extreme. And that's what's so maddening. And when you have players like Joe Burrow and Jamart, Chase and T. Higgins on your team, it's, you know, I don't know how you look them in the face. I mean, it's kind of an insult to them to not, you don't have to go for it, quote, unquote, by, you know, spending every last dollar up to the caps viewing and doing, making you a whirlwinded

Starting point is 00:31:07 trades and, you know, going a little bit over the top necessarily. But, you know, there is a, there is a middle ground. And there's a lot of ways they could have done things that are just much more proactive, creative, and smart. And just, just at the end of the day, better for your team. costing yourself money and assets by the way they're playing these things out and it's just you know over and over again it happens and we um you know we're the ones who suffer at the end of the day he's robert winthrop cincinnati magazine makes sure you check out his bengals coverage there also you have a new ebook out and you're going to have to tell me about this you're going to have to tell all of our viewers and listeners because i got to be honest with you i don't

Starting point is 00:31:48 the max mercy i don't know max mercy and so you're going to have to educate me a little bit and why I need to get this e-book. Sure. Well, for those who don't know, I'm an author. I've written four books, so go to Amazon and put my name in there, and you'll find them. But now I've written sort of one of my typical insane side projects, as I like to call it, which is just a fun little conceit, which is that Max Mercy, the famous sports writer, played by Robert Duvall in the movie The Natural, starring Robert Redford as Roy Hobbs.

Starting point is 00:32:18 Many people will be familiar with that, hopefully. Anyway, the idea is that he is, you know, know, filmdoms, movie dumbs, greatest ever sports writer. And so what I kind of done was take his voice and written about various games, athletes from sports movie history and put it under his byline and just written, you know, a series of 30 or so pieces about, you know, the game where Johnny Utah point break tore up his knee in the Rose Bowl against Ohio State and various other, you know, Rocky Balboa's 20 greatest fights.

Starting point is 00:32:52 We only are familiar with a handful of them. Just kind of using the imagination to go out and take sports movies, which I love, you love, we all love as sports fans. And just, you know, kind of have fun with it, a little bit of fan fiction, nothing too seriously at the end of the day. But you can get it on Amazon. It's free, I think, if you're a Kindle Direct member and otherwise it's $3. So, you know, just the Max Mercy Reader is what it's called. and you can, I could say, download it for just, you know, the price of a cup of coffee and have fun with it. And, you know, get your mind off the Bengals and their futility for at least a few minutes of each day, which would be nice for all of us.

Starting point is 00:33:32 I think so. I think that would be nice. You can also check Robert out at Cincinnati Magazine. And again, if you want to check out any of his books, Robert Weintraub, just plug it in on Amazon. Robert, I appreciate the time. It's a lot of fun always catching up with you, so thanks for coming on the podcast. No problem, James, and let's hope for a good second half of the season. One thing to hang on to is that Zach Taylor post-bye in the last four years or so has an excellent record.

Starting point is 00:34:03 I mean, you know, 23 and 9, I think it is. So I think we can at least, you know, be competitive. And once again, they'll send us home happy if not necessarily playoff bound at the end of the year. Not happy. I won't be happy if that happens. If you're going to win games, you better get your butt to the postseason, Zach. But that is a topic for another day. For Robert Weintraub, I'm James Rupin. Thank you so much for watching and listening to the Lockdown Bengals podcast.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - Bengals Miss BIG Opportunity: Defensive Struggles, Trey Hendrickson Trade Rumors & More

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