Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BENGALS SQUAD SHOW: Joe Flacco NEEDS to be RESIGNED if the Bengals are going to CONTEND in 2026

Episode Date: February 3, 2026

Joe Flacco will always be fondly remembered by Bengals fans for coming over in a mid-season trade and far exceeding expectations with his on-field performance. Given that, and Joe Burrow's history, it would be wise for the Bengals to resign him for the 2026 season. The Bengals have plenty of talent on offense, but depth is still important. Which position, on that side of the ball, should the Bengals focus on the most this offseason to insure that side of the ball can best withstand the war of attrition the NFL season is. A big reason the Bengals have lost 12 one-score games over the last two seasons is the lack of a closer on defense. Is there someone on the Bengals defense who can emerge as someone that can make a play in close games, or is going outside the organization the way to remedy all the close losses? Is this the year Ken Anderson and/or Willie Anderson finally get in the Pro Football Hall of Fame? Alex, Jake and Art discuss that and make their picks for the major awards at the NFL Honors.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! TurboTax For a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today. FanDuel If you’re a new customer, bet just $5 and get $200 in Bonus Bets if you win. Make it count — because after the Super Bowl, the season is over. Last call for football on FanDuel, an Official Sportsbook Partner of Super Bowl Sixty. PrizePicks Download the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LO... Gametime Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime. Robinhood Trade Every Play with Robinhood. Now available across the U.S. Download the Robinhood app now to begin. Futures and cleared swaps trading involves significant risk and is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC., a registered futures commission merchant and swap firm Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/lockedonnfl. Gusto Try Gusto today at http://gusto.com/lockedonNFL and get three months free when you run your first payroll. Quo Make this the year where no opportunity — and no customer — slips away. Try Quo for free plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to http://Quo.com/lockedonnfl. Betterhelp This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. BetterHelp makes it easy to get matched online with a qualified therapist. Sign up and get 10% off at http://BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON. DripDrop Right now, DripDrop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to http://dripdrop.com and use promo code lockedonnfl. 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.

It's been said that defense wins championships, but you know what else wins championships? Depth. Jake Lisco, the Spengel's offense looks to be in good shape, but you can never have too many weapons on offense, right? Can't get complacent in the NFL. And coach, there are many positions on a football roster that are important. One of them, backup quarterback. Absolutely. Hey, you've proven this year. It's been proven all over the league with as many quarterbacks have gone down. who can step up and continue to run the machine. Those conversations and more coming up on the Bengals Squad show. Today, it's the Bengals Squad.

Everything Cincinnati Bengals every week. Breaking down all the big hits and game-changing plays from the Queen City, the way only the Lockdown Podcast Network can. From the jungle to the playoffs, the Bengals Squad Show starts now. Happy February. Welcome to the Bengals Squad Show. We are live on lockdown. The YouTube channel and the lockdown podcast network, your team every day.

Today's show is brought to you by a fan duel. It is the last call for football with Super Bowl 60 on Sunday. If you're a new customer bet, just $5 and get $200 in bonus bets if you win. I'm Alex Frankies, Jake Lusco, you hear him on the daily lockdown Bengals podcast for James Rupin. He's coach Art Valero. He is on every edition of the Bengals Squash, a 45-year coaching veteran and Super Bowl 37 champion with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

It is Super Bowl week, and we'll get into that conversation towards the end of the show. But we got, speaking of backup quarterbacks and quarterbacks and Pro Bowl quarterbacks named Joe, that's where we're going to start. Joe Flacko far outperformed expectations this season and so much so that for me, at least gentlemen, I view him as a need for the Bengals in 2026. Do you view him as such? I think it's not strictly speaking.

making a need, but you need a backup quarterback that is at least at that level. There's a couple guys that kind of fit that bill. I think Flacco might be the cheapest among them. The other one that comes to mind for me as like a high level backups kind of journeyman quarterback right now would be Marcus Marriota. And not Marcus Marriota. Yes, Marcus Marietta. Am I forgetting my backup quarterbacks right now?

Anyway, Joe Flacco would make sense to bring back. I think where it gets tricky. and part of the conversation we're going to have today is it doesn't get an opportunity to start somewhere. Does he get an opportunity for a team that doesn't have a quarterback in place and needs that bridge guy? Joe Flacco is a great bridge quarterback option for teams that are in that situation right now. And so whether or not he has that opportunity,

I think will dictate his availability to the Bengals this year. And I think he will still be looking for that, right? like he still wants to play football. And if he has an opportunity to go compete for a starting job, he will not have that chance in Cincinnati. I think he's obviously open to returning to Cincinnati. He's said as much as just a question of what kind of job he's looking for as he continues his long NFL career.

Coach, does Joe Flacco look like a quarterback to you that can still win games for a team if he's a backup quarterback? Or let's say, like Jake, you said, if he's a starter somewhere, is he a quarterback that can still win a lot of games next year? I think it depends on his supporting cast, whether he can win as a starter. But certainly as a backup, and he's proven that. I think any time you have two Pro Bowl quarterbacks on the same team, the same year, you've got to do whatever you can to get that guy back in the fold.

And just as a safety blanket, because you don't want the thing to go south if all of a sudden you lose your most valuable player on your team, which like Joe Burrow and you're scrambling, you'll find him, you bring him in, who can come in in one week and win a game? Yeah, that's my thing. And that's where I go to with Joe Flacco. I don't see how you can resign him, given what happened last year, given that you traded for him in the middle of the season.

Because I think this organization has to accept if it hasn't already, and it should, that Joe Burroughs injury bro. I mean, he's had three significant injuries. that have caused him to miss good chunks of three seasons in six that he has played in the NFL. And last year, the Bengals thought they had their backup quarterback in place if something were to happen in Jake Brown, and that blew up in their faces for three straight weeks. So you cannot go into next season with your backup quarterback in question. Because you never do know if there's one play where something freaky happens, like as Cleek gets

caught in the turf, or someone runs into his knee like what happened in his real. rookie season. You have to be better equipped to handle disaster happening. Look at the San Francisco 49ers this season. Brock Purdy, like Joe Burrell, dealt with turf toe. But you know what the 49ers had? They had a capable backup quarterback who had started a playoff game. And you can say that he didn't perform well in that game. That's fair. But he still had. He still had the experience. And Mac Jones, he was a national champion in college, former first round pick. The 49ers were able to weather the storm and they still went on to win 12 games. And when Purdy came back, they were still in a favorable position.

You cannot do what you did last year. Look at the Houston Texans. They even had Davis Mills. He saved their season by winning three straight games in November. So you have to be better prepared at the backup quarterback position. And for me, gentlemen, that guy is currently on your roster in Joe Flacco. Yeah, I think the key difference with those two situations you outline that make them not analogs. to what's happening in Cincinnati is the coaching staff difference,

the schematic difference happening in San Francisco and Cincinnati. That coaching staff did one of the most impressive jobs, I think we've seen in recent NFL history this year in getting an incredibly battered roster to the point that they got it to on both sides of the ball. And obviously, Kyle Shanahan is adept at getting the most out of that level of quarterback. We've seen him do it time and time again.

And Brock Purdy has certainly surprised in terms of his development from being picked where he was to being as good of a quarterback as he is now. Before that, Kyle Shanahan was getting top-end quarterback production out of guys that are not top-end quarterbacks in the NFL. So there is a key difference there in terms of Kyle Shanahan's track record and producing on offense. And the offensive approach and the offensive personnel, the way that team is built, is not so quarterback-centric as the way the Bengals are built. So then that conversation goes beyond just the quarterback, right? And that also applies to Houston. Like I don't care that Houston has Davis Mills as a backup. Man, that's not why they're winning games.

Yeah, he enabled them to win some of that team is built on its defense, right? And so that goes to a larger roster building conversation, something that we're going to talk about, I think, in this show when we talk about finding ways to continue to push the offense forward, talking about finding ways to close out games on defense, something that the Bengals will need to do. obviously the backup quarterback matters, but I always like to go back to the Tom Moore quote

about why Peyton Manning's backups don't get more reps in practice. Bellas, if 18 goes down, we're effed and we don't practice F, that's the Tom Moore quote, right? So there's having the backup quarterback that can keep you afloat, and Joe Flacco is great for that. When we look at the backup quarterback landscape this year, and we can talk about that and talk about the guys that are available, like the Kenny Pickets of the world that,

Speaking of Kyle Shanahan quarterback's, Jimmy Garoppolo is a free agent. You know, like we could talk about some of these options. Joe Flacco is a guy that I think has shown you that he can keep you afloat for a handful of games. That's a great thing to have. If we're talking about those disaster scenarios you mentioned, though, Alex, like, I don't care who the backup quarterback is. Unless they have a dramatically different approach to building this team and have a massive offseason that transforms the defense, it don't matter if Joe Burroughs down for the whole season. Well, Joe Burrow, I mean, this team is going to go as,

Joe Burrough goes, and we saw that last year when he's not playing. This team just isn't as remotely good, if not remotely competitive, if he's not playing. But coach, I think Jake brings up an interesting point here when it comes to a guy like Kyle Shanahan. And I've said many times on this show and others that Zach Taylor is a poor man's Kyle Shanahan because of what he did in 2023 with Jake Browning, what he did with Joe Flacco this season, and the fact that when he's had Joe Burrow healthy, the Bengals have won a lot of games, including they've gotten to a Super Bowl.

But at the same time, is Zach Taylor a guy that if disaster were to happen again, God forbid, do you trust him to still lead the Bengals to wins and offensive productivity if they have to go to a backup quarterback again, God forbid, even in 2026? Well, I think we saw it. We saw what happened. You know, once Joe went down, Joe Burrow went down, and the mental, effect it took on the team was dramatic. And they were very fortunate to be able to bring Joe Flacco in, but still the elephant in the room was still there and it continued to be there. And that's why

Joe Flacco was not as successful as he could have been or they could have been because they just, they were lack in so many different ways that it was finally, that scab was picked off and it was now bleeding and they had no way of stopping it. The other thing, too, is two things. One is the fact that when Joe Flacco was here last year, the Bengals offense got better in a lot of ways. Their offensive line improved, their run game improved, their pass protection was solid for most of that time.

So if you have, if that situation happens again, this upcoming season, you feel more confident that this offensive line of running game at the offense can still function at a high level if Joe Flacco or whoever the backup quarterback is has to go in there. And we're talking about this again. If you're listening to this and wondering why we're spending so much time to talk about the backup quarterback position, well, it shouldn't be a surprise because Joe Burrow, unfortunately, as we've seen, the last three seasons and his rookie season is injury prone, not to mention other injuries that he had on a minor level in 21 and 22.

So, and even the calf injury in 23. So backup quarterback has to be discussed when it comes to the Cincinnati Bengals because Because while yes, Joe Burrow is an elite quarterback, and yes, I still believe the window is his whole career, you have to have continuously planned for when disaster strikes. You have to be able to pivot if something does happen. And when it comes to a guy like Joe Flacco, who not only came in and put up some really good numbers, 13 touchdown passes in six games for one, he also became a very, very popular fan favorite amongst the Bengals fan base. So I think this is up to the organization.

We talk about this organization and not being tone deaf. We talk about this organization making moves and decisions that the fan base wants them to make and understanding where the fan base is at and then meeting them there. I think this is a perfect situation like we talk about with Dalton Reisner. Do right by Joe Flacco, do right by the team, do right by your fan base, where your relationship is kind of on the fence right now. it's better than what it was, let's say, 10 years ago, but it could be even better. It could get back to that level that it was at in 21 and 22, and even beginning of 23,

if you signed Joe Flacco to say, all right, we know we have other needs, but if something weren't happening to Joe Burrow in 26, we like what we have behind him. That's a key reason, Jake and Coach, why I am all for the Bengals spending whatever they need to spend and hopefully not much to resign Joe Flacco. I think it's a little bit more complicated than that personally. And I'm going to disagree on one thing. I don't think that resigning Joe Flacco men's a relationship with the fan base. I think that it's a real mixed bag when you start making moves that your fan base wants you to make.

It's nice when it works out and those things are parallel. But I do think that there's two sides to the Bengals front offices aloofness toward their fans or perceived aloofness. I think they do care in some ways, but they're also not influenced by what fans want. And sometimes that's annoying, and I'm sure it is, for all the fans out there listening. But sometimes there's got to be a disconnect there, and sometimes there are good reasons to not do what your fans want you to do. So I think that is like a bit of a perilous relationship to navigate when it comes to what sort of roster moves you're making based on fans' sentiment. and I don't think you can be too beholden to that because from the outside, you don't know everything going on. And that's not necessarily true for Vicer or for Flacco, but just in general, just a general speaking point there.

The other thing is I think resigning Joe Flacco makes sense for football reasons. And that's where I would start with it. Now, there is a cost to it, and that's where it gets more complicated. It is a salary cap game. And we know that the Bengals have a more stringent salary cap management style than many teams in the NFL. They have contemporaries in Pittsburgh and in Green Bay for a lot of the ways that those teams manage their salary caps as well. But the way the Bengals manage their cap is if they're going to allocate a, say, $6 million one-year deal for Joe Flacco, that is $6 million of cap space that they

will not spend elsewhere because of the way that the Bengals specifically play in the salary cap. Now, we'll see if they do some restructures this year. This is a bigger conversation probably for another show, something that they've never done, something that we've talked about on Lockdown Bengals, a way for them to free up cap space, spend more cash. We'll see if they venture into those waters with Joe Burroughs' quarterback or Joe Burroughs deal or not. That is an opportunity they have this year, but there is a cost to resigning Joe Flacco. I think it's important to remember that. Well, I agree generally with the idea that it makes sense to have Joe Flacco be your backup quarterback, and that is also something that I have prioritized. I agree with you there. I just want

to point out that there is actually a real cost to it, especially for the way the Bengals manage to cap. And further, the last thing about that the fan sentiment is, I don't think that in say 10 months from now, if they're winning games, fans will be back. If they're losing games, fans will not be back. Regardless of what they do this offseason, if they re-signed Dalton Reisner tomorrow,

if they re-sign Joe Flacco tomorrow, if they go out there and they're two and six, nobody's going to care. Nobody's going to care about what they did in February. It's all in the end, what happens on the field. And when you're losing, you find ways to figure out why they're losing. And that's ultimately the way the sport goes. Yeah, winning cares all things. Coach, am I right about that?

I mean, it's got to be that way. Well, you know what, exactly. No one cares. The best front offices are the ones that are anonymous. Now, you can be anonymous as providing you put a great product on the field and you continue to win. Nobody cares. Nobody says. but when they see guys you think they need,

and that's a glaring issue all the time, well, sure, the fan base is going to start getting louder and louder and louder. And you can't worry about what the fan base thinks, as long as you make decisions, not necessarily what you think are the best for the program, but end up proving that fact. You know, that's when it all comes here. A happy team and a happy fan base is winning fan base.

Absolutely. And, well, you know, the best friend offices you say are anonymous. I don't know if John Schneider is necessarily anonymous, executive of the year, your former employer. So Joe Flacco, obviously, far exceeded expectations last year. And Jake, I agree with you. I'm not saying Joe Flacco, if the Bengals do resign, it's not going to amend the relationship,

but it could, I think, to a degree, improve the relationship between this organization and fan base after three seasons in which the Bengals have not made the playoffs. To make the playoffs, go ahead. I think they can make such a bigger wave on, on week one of free agency. Like go sign a starting safety. Go sign a lineback.

Go sign to pass. Like the big moves. That's going to do more to mend the relationship if we're talking about things they can do in the offseason. It's those big swings on quality players that show that they're really trying to do this thing, more than a backup quarterback. Yeah, you know what?

They also have to wait to see who else values Joe Flacko before they step up and say, hey, we're signing him right now. Because there may be none. Now, I'm telling you, they end up, you would have thought that Miami would have taken this same situation more valuable than what they have because Tua was hurt all the way through college. He was hurt pretty much every year he's been in the NFL.

One of your big signs should have been that backup. Who could have kept him running? They were paying Zach Wilson. their pants, their pan, Zach Wilson's $6 million last year. So they tried. It just didn't go well. And Zach Wilson is a free agent this year.

I mean, when you look at the list of guys, one of the reasons that it makes so much sense to bring Flacko back is like, who else are you bringing in? The only other guy, like I mentioned, that I would feel very good about is Marcus Mariotto, who I think has a pretty good track record as a backup in this league.

But like Mitch Trubisky, Tarad Taylor, Kenny Pickett, Jimmy Garapolo, Zach Wilson. It's a pretty grim list. Yeah, it is. It's backup quarterbacks for a, reason. I mean, the drop off from starters to backup quarterbacks typically is dramatic. So, but again, Joe Flacco was very good for this team last year. Unfortunately, they didn't

win as many games as probably they should have. We'll get into the conversation coming up in segment three. But the Bengals have part of the reason why Joe Flacco played so well is because he had the best wide receiver duo in the NFL. Jamar Jason D. Higgins. You'll see them at the Pro Bowl tonight. But can the Bengals get even better and deeper on office? We'll explore that conversation. next right here on the Bengal Squad Show. All right, let's be real. No one starts a business for the joy of calculating tax withholdings or managing payroll spreadsheets. That's where Gusto comes in. To take the stress out of payroll benefits and HR so you can focus on running your business and supporting your team. Gusto is the all-in-one remote-friendly payroll and HR platform that makes

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law-in-form conversational supplement to the daily lockdown Bengals podcast hosted by Jake Liscoe and James Rappeen with Coach Ruffalo. I'm Alex Frank and Jake Lisco. as we now talk about a conversation that will probably revisit as we roll towards free agency. Offensive depth. Now, we all know and Bengals fans know that the Bengals have tremendous talent on offense. Jamar Chase, T. Higgins, Chase, Brown, Mike Kosicki. You can go on down the list. You can even mention some offensive linemen if you want to.

But, coach, as you know, in the NFL, it's a war for Trition. not only does defense win championships so does death absolutely you know what i mean you cannot have enough playmakers one so if you can get one if one is available at a at the right price then you go snag them i i believe that where the debt is needed is you need quality guys that are on the cusp to be starters uh up front i think you need a A very good backup tackle that can swing both sides. And I think you need an interior three, have a good backup who can play all the different positions. And I don't think they found that.

I think they found a plug, a person that they can plug, but they're individual specific to their position. And they can't play multiple spots. So I think that if you're going to look at it that way, hey, go find yourself some alignment, whether they be veterans or they'd be. young in the draft like the Fairchild kid. You find those guys, hey, you got a chance. Yeah. Jake, do you agree with that? Well, you know, what's really interesting here, I've got a stat for you. It may or may not blow you away.

Who knows? Sports Information Solutions puts out a list every year that calculates games missed for injury. They try to calculate how many points a team has missed for injury. They try to assign every player an expected points value. And so the Bengals on this list this year, just for what it's worth, had one of the fewest games missed overall, but one of the most points missed because Joe Burrow missed a lot of games, right? He's worth a lot of points to your team. They obviously had games where they were productive with Joe Flacco. They had games where they weren't productive with Joe Flacco. They had

games where they were not functional with Jake Browning. And they did get shut out once with Joe Borough at quarterback this year. But the point I'm trying to illustrate there is that the Bengals were one of the teams that lost a lot from injury this year. And it's not just Burrow. It was also Trey Hendrickson who missed a lot of time. guess who leads away in the fewest games and points lost in the NFL this year. I'm against Seattle. So New England Patriots and number one, the healthiest team in the NFL this year was a New England Patriots. The second healthiest team in the NFL year was the Los Angeles Rams.

The third healthiest team in the NFL this year was the Seattle Seahawks. The fifth healthiest team in the NFL this year was the Denver Broncos. The four final teams were four of the healthiest teams in the NFL. this year. So, well, it is important to build depth. And you see that on these teams, too. Don't get me wrong, where they have guys that can step up. You lose less if you have guys that can step into those roles and perform at levels approximating the guy that you've lost. Now, much harder to do it quarterback, as we discussed, but could you do better replacing a wide receiver here or there? Could you do better replacing a running back here or there? An interior offensive

lineman here or there. There's certain positions where that delta doesn't need to be as large but the bottom line ultimately is a large part of this thing in the NFL is how healthy can you stay? And I think that every year when you look at the teams making these deep playoff runs, there's a lot of health on their side. Now, you need to have a good roster to go along with it. The Cowboys were also one of the healthiest teams in the NFL this year. They just didn't have enough talent. The Raiders were one of the healthiest teams in the NFL this year.

They just didn't have enough talent. So you need both. But health certainly a factor for these teams. The bill is one of the most injured teams in the NFL this year. the 49ers, one of the most injured teams in the NFL this year. Eventually, you could argue, that cut up to those teams where if they had the players that they were without, maybe they had better results in the playoffs. I totally agree with that because the best Bengals teams this century, the best Bengals teams

of all time, it's not because they had depth. They had talent. But at the same time, we kept still talking about like in 2013, like in 2015, in 2021 and 22, depth was not there. And it caught up to them in the AFC championship that they lost to Kansas City because they were starting three backup offensive linemen. So depth, you have to have it because I remember in 21, even the offensive line, well, it wasn't good to begin with.

But at the same time, they were constantly going through guys that kept getting injured. Xavier Sue Afilo got hurt. Then it was Jackson, Carmen, Boutle, an illness. And Trey Hopkins missed a game. Riley Reef missed the last quarter plus of the season. So it was a revolving door. have to get healthy on that offensive sound of the ball because that the best Bengals teams, it's like they've been lucky.

They've been lucky not getting injured as much. And I think all of us could have thought during those times, I for one certainly did. Well, what's going to happen? Gosh forbid if Jamar Chase were to get hurt, he did in 22. Now the Bengals, thankfully, went three and one in those games because they had to Higgins and Trent Nervin and all those other guys step up. But what if those guys don't? You have to have depth.

And coach, I think it comes from the draft. Can you, because in free agency, you're focusing on your needs. But in the draft, you want someone that can come right in and make a difference, especially if he has to make that difference. Look at the Dallas Cowboys in 2016. I'll use them as an example. They drafted Ezekiel Elliott and Dak Prescott, and they both had to start week one.

And those two guys didn't look back for the next six seasons. So for me, it's finding those guys. in the draft and the best organizations like the Rams, as Jake mentioned, the 49ers, the Seahawks, they've done that in the middle rounds, and it's worked for them. That's why they've been able to weather the more of attrition that the NFL is. I think the middle rounds are where you make your money, where you make your long-term money. You know, you talk about, hey, the first two, they are almost gibbons of who comes up. And yeah, you want to be on, but I think where you make make your money long term is drafts numbers three, four, and five.

And then I think that's where you've got to be able to get young guys, cultivate them into your system, continue to develop them until their time is called. So, and I think that that's a big lack in a lot of people's, the way they do businesses, they get those young guys and, oh, yeah, they want to keep them and they want to get them, and they want to hold on to them. But after practice, before practice, people aren't working with them daily to increase their value.

And I think that that's what needs to have happen on a lot of teams. That's a big point that Willie Anderson has made. And he's coaching, he's working with high school kids. He works with some college kids in the off season. And he does the skill development work with offensive linemen specifically. And one of the things that Willie has talked about, as a retired player is the focus on X's and O's in the NFL and so many coaches. And Art, I'm curious to get your opinion on this.

So many coaches are so focused on you need to be here. You need to do this responsibility. And this is what you need to do on a play, but not necessarily the how or the technique or the skill development part of things because you're so limited on time, especially in the current CBA environment where there's less practice time in the preseason than ever. do you think that teams in the NFL, assuming unlimited, unlimited resources,

which NFL owners effectively have, and I think that NFL owners should be spending more on their coaching staffs across the board. I mean, we just read about Brian Flores, getting $6 million per year to be the defensive coordinator, which might be more than Zach Taylor makes. We don't know exactly. But is there room for teams to be investing in?

Yeah, we've got our offensive line coach, but we're also going to have our assistant position coaches be more focused on technique. And how much do you see that across the league? Are there teams that are doing things like that? Well, I can tell you this, that there probably are not. And I think that where you have an offensive line coach, and then you have an assistant offensive line coach. And basically what he does is, yeah, he watches film,

but he also draws pictures for the playbook each week. You know, he may on the side grab a kid, but their job, because of the time considerations are so limited, you can bring in. And it started, I mean, it started way back. Even during COVID, when you could have hired some coaches to come in just in case your coach had to sit out for two weeks because he was tested positive. But people chose not to do that. And they also chose not to get some of the veteran coaches out there that are versed in multiple positions to take your young guys, show them how to watch film, show them specific techniques, all right, whether it be run or pass. And the final thing is to talk about scheme. I think a lot of teams right now are focused so much on scheme.

It's as if people are playing Xbox that the players don't matter and why isn't he ready? Well, we don't have enough time, right? There's not enough time in a day to make sure that this young man is ready and developing. Because it's a what have you done for me lately occupation? Coaching matters in the NFL. I mean, you see it because it's scheme, it's playbooks, it's anything related to scheme. What I'm trying to say here is, but every great Bengals team that I've watched, I keep going back to a point that are a good friend.

Patrally of CLNS Media told me it's the fact that the Bengals, if they get to the Super Bowl, it's like they've run into it. It's like they run into it via luck, which is fine. But I don't want that to be the case for the Joe Borough era bangles. I wanted to be that they got to the Super Bowl because they drafted well, they fulfilled their needs and free agency, they had depth, they had contingency plans. John Gruden coach always talked about, I was reading Jay Billis's book, Toughness, and John Grudin's mentioned in that book, you have to have contingency.

for adversity because you're going to face it, period. You're going to face adversity. And the Bengals will face adversity next season. It may be self-imposed because, you know, the Bengals always seem to make it harder on themselves than what it needs to be. But I watched the games the last two seasons. And I just think to myself at times, you know, this team could use another Tyler Boyd.

Or when Chase Brown is off the field, it feels like this team can't run the football as effectively. So it's like, I want the Bengals to have enough depth to be able. able to overcome the war of attrition and if any major injuries and hopefully not Joe Borough if they happen in 2006. On the other side, well, if the Bengals defense had just had that closer to close out games, Joe Flacco's record, I think, would have been three and three at least in his six starts. So where is that closer on defense? And is it not already on the roster? We'll talk about that next right here on the Bengals Squad show. Today's edition of the Bengals Squad show is brought to you by TurboTax. Look, tax season doesn't have to take over your life. This year, TurboTax

is making it easier than ever to just hand things off and move on with your day. With TurboTax full service, you can have your taxes done for you by a trusted local expert. Start to finish without stress or guesswork. So instead of spending hours trying to figure out forms, you can be with a local TurboTax expert in person or just connect online because that's what we're doing these days. They handle everything from W-2s to self-employed forms and work to get you every deduction. You can upload your documents. You can go about your day and get updates right in the Turpaltax app. It's a huge time saver and it gives you real peace of mind knowing that an expert is handling it.

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But by the way, 18 years ago today was the what I think is the greatest Super Bowl of all time. Super Bowl 42, David Tyree, the head. Helmet catch. Jake Arden and I were talking about this before we came on the air. Do you remember watching that Super Bowl, the Giants and the 18 and O coming in, New England Patriots? I am sure that I've watched it, but there are definitely years that I watched more closely than others. I think last year is a great example of that. I did not watch a whole lot of last year's Super Bowl when I turned it on. it was already pretty much over by the time I turned it on. So I do remember that game.

It's long enough ago that the memory is a little bit vague. And I remember I kind of bounce off of juggernauts in sports. When you're a team like the 18 and 0 or 17, whatever their record was, 18 and 0 Patriots, I kind of like lose interests and kind of am repelled from it. Maybe it's my inherent resistance to authority that comes out with their teams like that. I just kind of bounce off of those stories. That's a funny thing that you say that. It's like this weekend, there's going to be a lot of people going to parties to watch the game.

You can't watch the game at a party. You can't. No. You've got to sit down with your own bag of chips and where you're comfortable if you want to actually watch the game. I don't believe I've ever watched a game at a party. Yeah. I just can't force myself to. My wife will go, but I'll sit at home by myself and watch it. Yeah, you can't pay attention to anything. Like, I've had people, there's like a handful of Bengals fans where I live on an island on the west coast of Canada. Not a whole lot of Bengals fans up here,

but every now and then I get somebody that asks you like, hey, I'm in your neck of the woods and you want to watch a game. I'm like, I cannot watch. Like, if I'm trying to pay you, attention, I can't watch football socially. This is interesting because, like, I was at a Super Bowl party last year for the Chiefs and the Eagles. And I didn't really hear, like, I wanted to hear how Tom Brady was going to broadcast a Super Bowl. I mean, you know, Tom Brady at the Super Bowl.

I mean, we've seen that too many more than a handful of time. So, like, I couldn't even hear the broadcast again. Like, I was watching the game. I knew what was happening. But it's like to your guys's points. Like, sometimes I like to be at home watching the game, listening to what Tom Brady or on Sunday's case, Chris Collinsworth or whoever the color analyst is and what they're saying about the game. Because personally, I think this is going to be a really good game on Sunday Super Bowl 60.

We'll get to that in segment four. And by the way, he wanted to talk about defensive closers. Malcolm Butler, yeah, he was that 11 years ago. As for the Cincinnati Bengals, I'm not sure if the closer on defense is currently on their team. Jake, you and you, James, we're talking on lockdown bangles on Monday. Great show that, you know, it sounds like Trey Hendrickson is not going to be on next year's team. Now, could they franchise tag him? Sure.

Is that the best thing to do unless you're tagging and trading? Yes. But if you're not, just a franchise tag him, no, it's not. But that then leaves a void in who your closer is on defense. But it doesn't necessarily have to be an edge rusher. Yeah, I don't think the guys on the team. to your point. I went back and looked,

knowing that we were going to be talking about this today, and I looked at all the games, the Bengals won. I think there's one game on the entire schedule that you can say the defense closed out the game. And I think that's Cleveland in week one. In week one in Cleveland,

the Bengals are holding on to a one-point lead. Joe Flacco gets the ball back with about two minutes left in the game, and DJ Turner picks him off with a minute 30 left on the second play of that drive. the Bengals then burned a minute and had to put the ball back to the Browns and the Browns had 19 seconds and couldn't get the ball into field goal range to try to win the game. But outside of that, they had some close wins, but, you know, they win against Pittsburgh 31 or 33 or 31. And the way that game ends is Pittsburgh scored a touchdown in 25 seconds.

And the Bengals had to go take the lead back with a field goal in a two minute drill. and then the Steelers had seven seconds, didn't have enough time to answer. Same thing for Jacksonville. The defense did answer in that game, but they also were giving up points. They managed a fourth down stop in their own end zone, essentially, to give themselves a chance.

But that maybe counts as closing a game. Outside of that, they didn't have close games. Baltimore win. They blew out Baltimore. They blew out Miami. They blew out Arizona. Obviously, the defense may plays in those games. but in terms of close games where they had to close out a game,

the only time they did it in 2026, or 2025, sorry, was DJ Turner in week one. I mean, it just wasn't part of their DNA last year. It wasn't part of their DNA two years ago. So really hard to make an argument that the guy is on the team now that we'll be able to consistently do that for you. There's no Jesse Bates out there who's the fireman in the secondary, cleaning up all your messes, putting out all your fires. And we'll see if they can get a guy to approximate.

what Trey Hendrickson was able to do for them at times in his career in Cincinnati, where he did at times take over games in the fourth quarter when he could pin his ears back. And right now that guy's out on the roster. We'll see if that emerges or not either internally or externally, but probably need to take some swings in both the draft and free agency to find those guys. Coach, to use a baseball analogy is Jake, you were alluding to firemen, those guys to come in from the bullpen and extinguish the sparks from the opposing offense. That's what this Bengals team needs.

And forget about talent. Like I need someone who's a leader, a captain, someone who's won before elsewhere. It's like the New England Patriots when they brought in Rodney Harrison in 2003. What did he do? He immediately gave him that enforcer in the secondary. They go on to win two Super Bowls the next two years. And it doesn't necessarily again. It doesn't have to be an edge rush.

We talked about game changing safeties last week. Can it be the guy that just looks physically imposing that can come in and not necessarily in the fourth quarter? Can he make that game-changing, you know, fumble? Can he pop a wide receiver coming across the middle, jar the ball loose? Like in the third quarter to get the jungle fired up? Can he shush a home crowd if the Bengals are on the road? That's the kind of guy that I won. Now, let me ask you this question.

Is it the great defensive linemen make great defensive backs or is it the other way around? Like, does having a great secondary help the pass rush or is it the opposite way? I think it's the opposite. I think great when it comes down to rushing the passer, I think that if you can rush for and create pressure from within, you've got two edge rushers that are coming off the edge, they contain him, not let him outside, and then two guys pushing the pocket inside,

that makes the secondary job that much easier because if now if it was the other way around, you say, okay, we're playing man all the time. and we're locking down everybody. Well, they don't play man all the time. They play a mixture. They play combo coverages. They play two-deep, three-deep, man-free.

They play a multitude of coverages. So you need to be able to play those coverages with the pressure that's coming from up front alone. And you need somebody in there. You need defensive linemen that can rush the passer. Yeah, you do. because it makes everybody else's job easier. Now, there may be games where you face a really good offensive line. Like next year, the Bengals are going to face the Falcons in Atlanta.

The Falcons have a good offensive line. So in that game, if you can't generate enough pass rush, your coverage better be locked down. You better have players in that secondary that can make an interception that can break up a pass that can help close out a game because you know when you face the Falcons, they're going to go with a run-heavy game plan offensive way. they're going to unleash Bijjohn Robinson. They're going to sprinkle in passes, big time passes to their wide receivers, Drake London, Kyle Pitts, Starnel, Mooney.

That's what they're going to do. But again, can you have that guy on your team? And it sounds like from what we're talking about, and Jake, you mentioned it, it's not, they don't have that currently on this team. Jordan Battle makes some nice plays. I don't think he's a closer. Dax Hill, yes, he makes some nice plays. I don't know if you can rely on him. to blanket coverage when the game is on the line.

If you need a proof of what I'm saying, look at the last drive against Cleveland at week 18, when he couldn't break up a pass from Jerry Judy, despite blanket coverage. So, like, is this one free agent at safety? Is it one free agent on the defensive line? Like, how are you approaching finding that closer in free agency? I don't know if you can find it in free agency.

Those guys just don't generally get to free agency at this point. You can find guys that are going to help you. you. I think if you're looking for that real difference maker, you're really hoping to get it at 10 in the draft. And so you need a lot of things to go your way. For me, that's praying that the NFL really overthinks Ruben Bain's arm length to me when I watch the two top defensive edge guys in this draft. And that's Ruben Bain and David Bailey. There's a clear difference for me personally, in my opinion, in the way those guys play, I think Bain, is the every down player that can make that kind of difference for you. So like maybe it's Caleb Downs for you. You know, I know there's a lot of Bengals fans that really think Caleb Downs is going to be that, that a racer, that Swiss Army knife that can do everything on this defense. I don't know if this defense knows what to do when they get a Swiss Army knife,

because that could have been Dax Hills trajectory, and it obviously has not been. But yeah, I think it'll be really challenging to really find the one guy, the one star that you're counting on, the close. out games for you this year because I don't think the Bengals are going to go spend $20 million on a linebacker. And that might be somewhere where they could find a huge upgrade, right? But I don't think that that's in their blood. I think that what the Bengals probably do is they find some adequate or maybe above average players, hopefully at all three levels of the defense. And they can bring the floor up. And then I think if you're looking for that premium

talent, you're looking for either development and finding a guy to take that step. And I think that's really hard to predict or I think you're relying on your most premium asset this offseason, which is that 10th overall pick. And again, now you're asking a rookie to do it, which is also really hard. So I do think it's going to be a challenge to find the individual stud playmaker closer in one season. I think that's just a really tall task. And if it's me thinking about this defense, I'm trying to find some strengths. I'm trying to raise the floor and trying to find guys that are going to emerge that way. And I think it'll be more of a collegiate. elective effort than we've seen in the past when it was, you know, the two league guys were really

Jesse Basin, Trey Hendrickson when the defense was in its prime. And I don't see that being a very easy thing to achieve in the immediate future. And that's why I'm talking about taking this more widespread approach to raising the floor across the defense. But coach, that goes back to what Jake is saying, the fact that this organization has to get better at developing their defensive of graphics. Absolutely. I mean, I think that's, you can see the last three or four years. They've chosen some nice players, but they haven't panned out yet. So either they're underdeveloped, or they guessed wrong in terms of their picks. When you're picking at number 10, and then again, probably around 42, most of the players that are from 20 in the first round 20 to

32 are usually high second round picks anyway because all the great ones, the playmakers and the show, I mean, the guys that are really coming to show are gone by that time. The guys that can make a difference. And I think that you really have to be astute on what you want, what you need, how to put that person into that mold and start day one with training that young man, how to play your style of defense, and then allowing him to get better. as the season progresses. And I think that, you know,

they had some fine players last year, but you never saw them progress. And it wasn't until game, what, five when Miles Murphy finally started playing on a regular basis. Did his true colors come to show? Now, we talked about it all in the last segment. Does he go out and find somebody like a Willie Anderson, but on defense, they can take his playing to a different level.

And now we're making that guy because obviously he's working on talent right now. But he needs that skill set that separates him from everybody else. Yeah, I mean, that's what it is. And there's so much unproven parts of this defense, defensive line with Shamar Stewart. Obviously, he missed a lot of time last year. And then in the secondary, like you said, these guys have not panned out.

So this is all great. And we can keep talking about what the Bengals need to do or should do. It's just a matter of if they do. And obviously, we hope they do because this is the Joe Borough era. And as he said, the window is his whole career. But doubts have started to creep into this fan base of if that actually is reality. Up next, we'll one or both finally get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. We'll discuss that as relates to Willie Anderson and Ken Anderson, plus make our predictions

for the big awards at the NFL honors. Coming up next right here on the Bengal Squad Show. Today's show is brought to you by Better Help. February can be a lot. Flowers, candy, stuffed animals, and so much talk about relationships. And it honestly feels like everyone else has it altogether in their love life.

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And if you want to switch therapists, you can do that at any time. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash locked on. That's B-E-T-T-E-R-H-E-L-P dot com slash locked on. Lance McAllister had a tweet earlier today. I don't know if you guys saw this, that because Robert Kraft did not get into the or did not get voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame,

which I am quite frankly surprised at just as much as I was about Bill Belichick. That leaves three contributor coach, senior class, basically. Ken Anderson, former San Francisco 49ers running back Roger Craig, and Steelers' defensive lineman, L.C. Greenwood. So those three among the five with Belichick and Kraft, you can vote up to three into the Hall of Fame. That's what Lance is saying. And if no one gets 80%, it goes to the highest.

vote getter. So Ken Anderson still could get in and he probably has a better chance now. Willie Anderson is one of the 15 finalists in the modern era for the class of 2026. Do we think that one or both of them will get the knock on Thursday and finally get enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame? I think there's a chance that Willie spoiled it and Willie did not get in this year. And I might be over-reading a tweet, but it looked like he shared cryptically that he once again was not elected this year. That one remains an absolute travesty to me. Best right tackle of his era. And this disrespect on right tackles really needs to end. I don't think he was recognized as a pro bowler early enough in

his career. I know he finished his career on an amazing run. I think he was better or good enough, I guess, to be a pro bowler and all pro earlier in his career than he finally got that recognition. So really frustrating to watch that continued struggle for Willie Anderson. And there's just this, he played on some bad teams, and I think that's tough for him. Ken Anderson a little bit more interesting. I think the fact that this process with the senior group and the owners and the coaches this year went the way it did gives you a little bit of hope. And I just wonder how many guys end up getting in from that group.

The more I hear about that process, the more, what's a word? concerned maybe is an easy word to pick. Like I just don't really understand why that process is the way it is. But hopefully the news about Kraft and Belichick, which I agree with you, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. And it also doesn't make a whole lot of sense that they're in the same pool of guys as the seniors, as it were, for the Hall of Fame. It doesn't make any sense either.

But hopefully that means that there's a good chance for Ken Anderson this year. Hopefully so. Coach, what do you remember about? Willie Anderson when you were coaching. Oh, technician. Big body, as you need to be, but he was very technically sound. Yeah. You know, Willie would go out and you wouldn't hear much about him because he always did his job.

And it wasn't until people, broadcasters, especially started focusing on the group up front and how they're playing, that all of a sudden you started saying, hey, that guy, That gets pretty good. I mean, he is good. He is, there's no such word in football as dominate. You don't dominate a man. But when you win, whether it be art, which is the technique or the war, which is just the physical nature of the game, Willie Anderson had it.

And if anybody is deserving of being in, it's a guy up front. And it's a guy like Willie Anderson, a proven veteran that, yeah, if he played great late in his career, that's what you're supposed to do because you, it takes you a long time because the position is a learned position to where your technique and your fundamentals are down pat. And I think that that's what Willie showed everybody. As far as Ken goes, oh, yeah, that was a long time ago. You know, that was a long time ago to even think back. But you got to remember back then, yeah, he was on fire. He was one of the better ones. And for him to wait this long, it's hard. And there's a lot of those veteran players who played very well and they played

well in their era, who time has forgotten because everything is, what have you done lately? And I wish them both the best of luck. I'm really disappointed in the whole New England situation. But you know what? Roger Craig was a great player. And, you know, I think that, you know, they've got a great chance. El C. Greenwood. I mean, really? That guy was unbelievable with Dwight White and Mean Joe Green and Otis Sisson. Shoot, they won four. They won four Super Bowls. That tells you a little bit about them. It's my biggest fear is that Ken Anderson, when you're putting them up against Roger Craig and LZ Greenwood, look, those two guys played on dynastic teams.

the 49ers and the Steelers. And I just hope that the Bengals and how they can be viewed from a national perspective, that doesn't prevent Ken Anderson again from Yainan. Because Jake, as you mentioned, Willie Anderson didn't play on a lot of great Bengals teams. He did play on the 05 AFC North Title team. He was a stalwarted right tackle. He just hoped that that doesn't keep him out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame this year. Modern era predictions for me, I think two locks, Drew Brees, Larry Fitzgerald,

My other three that I'm not totally confident in, but I think could get in. Frank Gore, longevity at that position for as big as he was. Marshall Yonda, stud on the offensive line for the Ravens. And then Luke Keekly, Cincinnati Native, heck of a career with the Carolina Panthers. All right, let's make some predictions here for the big NFL honors on Thursday night. Who do you guys think is going to take home MVP this year? That's usually the AP one, right? So that would be Stafford is a likely winner.

So you're going Stafford. Coach, who are you going with? I'm going with Stafford. Okay. I'm going to zag and I'm going to go Drake May. Because Stafford did not play that great in the playoffs, minus the NFC championship game. Drake May.

Playoffs not part of the voting. They finished the voting before the playoffs. So you always got to remember that for the NFL honors. Interesting. I think Stafford's body of work throughout the season, always ranked him up there. You know, where Drake May was a little bit, you weren't quite certain,

and then all of a sudden they got on a roll, and all of a sudden you noticed him. Yeah. You know, he did a great job. I think Matthew Stafford, though, has been there. Time in, time out, win, loser draw. He has been there the whole year. There's also right or wrong.

There's a longevity thing here. Drake Mays in his second year. Matt Saffer's near the end of his school. career. I think that impacts voters. Although Lamar Jackson and Patrick Baholmes did win MVP's in their second seasons, but that is a good point. Defensive player of the year, no question for me, Miles Garrett. I mean, he was a wrecking ball from week one all the way through week 18. Yeah, I think so. I think that's pretty clear cut. Hit it right on the head. Yep. I mean, disruptive. You have to change your game plans for him.

Without doubt, he is the man. You guys see the Todd Munking quote today. I didn't chip Jim Schwartz. I game plan to chip Miles Garrett as he was doing his introductory press conference. Jim Schwartz is on the outs in Cleveland. Yeah, he is. No question about it. Speaking of coach, coach of the year. I have no feel for this one. I mean, this is the coach who overachieves his Vegas win line by the most, right? And there's so many deserving candidates this year between Shanahan and Vrable and Mike McDonald and Sean McVeigh, any of those guys are deserving to me. And probably they go for one of the newer guys.

So, like, maybe it's just Vrable because it's his first year. And they've worsted to first it. So maybe that gives him the edge. I'm not sure how that one shakes out. You know, with Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVeigh, you know, it's really, it's a shame that people look at the situation and they say, well, they're the Rams and 49ers. They always win, right?

They don't look at the adversity that they have to go through. But yet on the other token, you look at what Mike Brable did, and we talked about this months ago, how he has developed the team to play and play at a level. They haven't lost a game on the road. They haven't, you know, and Jake said it earlier, they didn't have the injuries where they lost games. I mean, that is great management behind the scenes of how to prepare your team week in and week out on the road or at home. Bad weather, good weather, it doesn't matter.

And I think Mike Rables got it. I'm going to the opposite, Mike and go Mike McDonald. The Seahawks have lost since November and end their final regular season game. that they took apart. San Francisco's high-octane offense. Jake, real quick, I know you got a hard out at 3 o'clock. Who are you picking to win Super Bowl 60, Seattle, New England? I'm staying with the favorite here. I'll believe Drake May can play in a playoff game when I see Drake May play in a playoff game. He's been really disappointing, faces another tough defense this week. And look, they're the parallels between this year's

Patriots and the Bengals in 2021. Big difference being the health between those teams, right? but Drake May has been so disappointed. So disappointing to me in the playoffs. And that defense has kept them in games. Maybe the defense doesn't get. Maybe this is where Sam Donald finally turns into a pumpkin. But I'll stick with the favorites. Okay.

Coach, you and I are saving our picks for Friday. You and I are back. I was right there. Ooh, I caught you just in time. You and I are back. You and I are back? I was prepared with my spiel and you just took it away from me. save it for Friday.

You tease the audience. Go ahead. I may forget about it. Oh, I don't think you'll forget about it. You and I are back Friday, coach, with another Mike. Mike Santagga at a 4 o'clock Eastern time right here on the Bengals' Squad show. The twice a week long-form conversational supplement to lockdown. Bengals, part of the number one podcast, number can America and the world, your team every day.

For more on how to become a member of the Everydare Club is at Lockdownpodcast.com slash everyday. for Jake Lisco at Jake Lisco for Coach Arfellara, 45-year coaching veteran and Super Bowl 37 champion. I'm Alex Frank at Frankie underscore 90. Thank you for listening. Have a great rest of your day. We'll talk to you Friday right here on the Bengals Squad Show.