Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BENGALS SQUAD SHOW: What is the PLAN at LINEBACKER? What does JOE BURROW think of FREE AGENCY?

Episode Date: March 17, 2026

The Cincinnati Bengals have signed three starters in free agency so far. That's a good thing. What's not good is their lack of a signing at linebacker. It begs the question: What's the plan? Are they betting on hope with their young guys, or are they going to eventually sign a veteran to help with the development of Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr.?  Joe Burrow called the offseason of "paramount importance." The emphasis was on free agency. How must he feel with what the Bengals have done so far? Could he step in and have his contract restructured?  On another note that's not linebacker, could the Bengals resign Cam Taylor-Britt at cornerback?  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!  TurboTax This year you’re getting a major upgrade — Intuit TurboTax now has in-person locations nationwide. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today.  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/podcast.  Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.  Robinhood You’re no longer just a spectator. Play by play. You decide. 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.  FanDuel FanDuel is giving you a way to turn that energy into even bigger potential wins with a College Basketball Parlay Profit Boost. Visit https://FANDUEL.COM to get started — Play Your Game.  5-Hour ENERGY Have your cake & drink it too. Birthday cake-flavor is back, no fork needed. Vanilla-y cakey flavor, caffeinated kick, and no sugar. It's party time. Order Now at 5-hourENERGY.com or Amazon.  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.

I'm Alex Frank, and if there's one word that describes the Bengals off season so far, I would say incomplete. But Jake Liscoe, incomplete at this point, can mean a lot of things. Yeah, it is disappointing that they haven't done everything on the checklist. Coach, I can't get over the fact that we are trending towards going into the season. We'll get coach back in a minute. This is Bengals squad right here on lockdown Bengals and the lockdown podcast network. Today, it's the Bengals squad. everything Cincinnati Bengals every week.

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in America and the world coming to you on this Tuesday after. where we have a lot to get to today. Coach, I was going to say this to you in the open, but I cannot get over the fact, and we were talking about this before we came on, that we are trending towards going into this season, 2026 season, which is, it's still six months away. We're trending towards going into this season with an obvious glaring hole on the roster and the Bengals, at least for now, seem content with what they have. Not a good strategy. definitely not you know what i think if you look at who they've signed okay they've helped tremendously

but not to be confused with solved all their issues and i think that you can't always hope for that playmaker at 10 if you get somebody at 10 you've added another playmaker but how about one playmaker is not going to make the difference on a defense that's been ravaged. And that's not even addressing some of the needs that they have on offense. So, you know what, we've heard a lot of talk. We've not seen a tremendous amount of action. And, you know what, to be honest with you, I'd like to see them do more. I thought they were going to be much, much more aggressive and go out and get that linebacker.

go out and get another defensive line, and go out and secure the secondary and then use the draft as best available and for the offense. And it hadn't happened. And Jake, I go back to what you and I talked about on Bengals Squad show last week, Tuesday. We were talking about Kay Nellis.

We were talking about Leo Chanel. They don't go get any of those. And now it's like, hey, you can still sign a veteran linebacker to a one-year deal. But it's like they missed the boat. And that's a hard pill to swallow it right now as a Bengals fan. Yeah, the checklist for the Bengals this off season, the standard we set on Locked-on Bengals, the standard to which we are grading them was essentially add five defensive starters

or solid rotational pieces if they're defensive linemen. They want to be deeper there than I think they are. I think last week, based on everything that I heard, and we've talked about this on lockdown Bengals, they did try to sign numerous linebackers. and they didn't get, they tried to sign Quay Walker and Devin Lloyd and some of these other guys that were out there and they didn't get the deals done. They tried to sign another edge in addition to Boye-Maffei. They didn't quite get it done. At least they haven't yet.

That doesn't mean they won't. As you said, there's still some veterans out there. And something we talked about on yesterday's Lockdown Bengals was the number of players they have signed around this time in free agency, day seven to day nine, which includes guys like Von Bell. and Trent Brown and Quentin Spain, Josh Bynes, guys that have been for this point in free agency, good signings who have played significant snaps for the Bengals in the past and have been solid players. And we'll see if they have any of those deals coming this week. But the expectation was that I think for the coaches and for us on the outside looking in, that they would add a few more players than they have added.

And I think they tried and just didn't quite get it done. And now we're at the point where with that third round cop, pick probably secured for Trey Hendrickson. I think it might have gotten to the point for them where they were looking at the guys that were still out there and thinking, do these guys make us better enough to give up that third round compensatory pick? Now, I don't think they should be thinking this way. And we talked about that on yesterday's Lockdown Bengals episode as well. But I do think that probably entered into the equation late in the week at some point when things settled and they didn't have some of their primary targets.

and they were on plan F or G or wherever they got down on the list, and they didn't necessarily think those guys were worth giving up that third round compact. Well, I mean, I don't care what plan you have to go. You can go to plan Q&R. I mean, seriously, because there is just, the disappointing thing for me, Jake and Coach, is the fact that the first day of free agency, they signed two starters. Great. Safety, edge rusher.

That's fine. But the fact that they've only signed really one guy who is totally outside of the organization because Josh Johnson's been here twice and you bring in a guy like Jonathan Allen. That's great. But you're not taking care of what is a glaring weakness on your roster. I can't fathom. Like, first off, I can't fathom that. But I also am having a hard time coming up with what's the plan?

What's the plan here in linebacker? Yeah, like I said, I think they wanted to add someone in free agency and failed to. Now, they also talked a lot about leadership. Say they signed Bobby Wagner. Maybe it's in a month. Who knows? Great. Sign one of these veterans.

Yeah, great. It's not the kind of guys that we were talking about, but there's leadership there. So maybe that's part of the plan. It is a strong linebacker class. I think we should expect to see another draft pick used there. And they're going to hope for growth at that. level. I think that was part of it either way, is they're hoping that Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter

continue to build on what they saw as development, the game slowing down for them as rookies. But as we're pointing out on the side, and as we said, many, many times when covering this team, hope really shouldn't be the plan. And it wasn't the plan. The plan was not executed, in my opinion, which you can pick which is worse,

having a plan and not executing it or not having a plan. Coach, what do you think? You know what I act exactly you know and I heard you guys yesterday Jake and I love the show you know the one thing is is it if you're looking at this point in time you're not necessarily looking for a playmaker at linebacker you're looking for someone to guide that room and for leadership in a Bobby Wagner now he was a great player but if he still got gas in the tank why didn't Dan Quinn resigning

why did they let him go out on free agency to see what he could get when you've got that big of a value I think now you're picking it not middle of the fruit tree you're at low picking fruit to come in for a read and if you you need a leader

where are the coaches there for they should cultivate leaders They should be the leader and get those guys going. You don't necessarily need a guy on the field. And, you know, how much gas does he still having the tank? And that is, you know what, if you're, they tried to go get some people. They lost out in free agency. And what does it come down to in three agency?

A, those people don't like the structure of your building. Or you're not willing to pay the money. because that's what recruiting and free agency is all about. Who's going to give them the best deal? And for them to miss out on those people, you know, there's a reason why. And you know what? At this point in time, you're, like I said, you're picking low-end fruit, guys that might have one year and they want three years. There's got to be some negotiation there.

And I question whether the front office are good negotiators. instead of just sign in people to sign them. Well, we know the Bengals run office isn't the best when it comes to contract negotiations. I mean, you can ask any player that's played for the Bengals that currently plays for the Bengals. I'm sure they would say that they've had a tough time with those negotiations. Coach, you bring up this a lot. And when it comes to players on other teams that weren't resigned, that were cut, like you're giving us a different perspective when it comes to free agency and not just look at the fact that the Bengals signed this player.

It's like, why was this player not retained by their former team? And does that make it a good signing or not for the Cincinnati Bengals? That's really interesting. So when you hear, when you mention Bobby Wagner and why Dan Quinn hasn't resigned him, Bobby Wagner is one of the best linebacks of his generation. He's going to be in the Hall of Fame one day. But the fact that he hasn't been re-signed should, I mean, it can tell you, maybe he doesn't have as much left as people think.

But it also can tell you, here's your answer. it's literally being handed to you on a silver platter. Why aren't you going down and taking him? Like that's the frustrating part. There are linebackers Wagner, Matt Milano, Bobby O'Carkey, that you can go out and you don't have to pay a whole lot for them and then they make your team better by leadership alone.

Exactly. You know, that is so true that all of these free agents, now I don't put Cook into that deal. He's legit. Yes. And I guarantee you Kansas City would have loved to have re-signing, but they couldn't fit him in in terms of the cap and what they were willing to pay him. The other ones, I mean, the edge rusher, his playing time diminished this last season in Seattle. So he was expendable. So Cincinnati goes out and signs him. He's still a good player. I mean, he's young.

he's got it. Same thing happened with Jonathan Allen inside. Why didn't they retain him? Do they have other visions? Did he want a longer contract that they weren't willing to give it? And when you get to free agency, that first wave, a lot of people think that's, it used to be anyway, where that was dumb money. You know, people went out and bought players. Some of them worked out. Some of them didn't. but in the present day of football, you have needs, and that's where you fill them. You don't wait to see, kind of, and I revert back to Trey Hendrickson,

there weren't a lot of people seeking him. You cut him loose, and all of a sudden now your rival, your division rival picks him up, and they negotiate a deal that you weren't capable of doing, and now you just got rid of a good player. And so you wonder, you know, how are they working it?

They have their Ouija board out trying to figure it out. They've had a chance. And they've done it before, but they haven't done it yet. Jake, how much does the salary cap come into play here in the way the Bengals have managed it with their contracts that they've given out so far? It's always hard to know exactly because they have options available to them this year that say if there's a player they really wanted. to add. Say hypothetically, and I'm not reporting this, say hypothetically, they were like, oh, you know what, we actually are going to trade for Max Crosby. And that's something they decide to do in, I don't know, a month after the draft. Raiders probably wouldn't like that. They probably

hold on to Max. Maybe it's draft day. And they need to make cap space to get Max onto the roster. They can restructure Joe. They always can. Do I believe that they well at this point? No. And do I think that they're pretty close up to the cap because of the way they've done these deals. Yeah. Is that annoying? Yeah. All of those things are true. All of those things are the way the Bengals have been doing business for a long time.

And in fact, I think it's gotten worse lately. I think that they are including more of the cap hit in year one than they ever have. And that is going to restrict your ability to sign additional players when you're effectively telling yourself, hey, we're going to spend a. up to the cap this way. And if they were to structure their contracts more like literally any other team in the league, literally any other team in the league, I'm not saying this like to say they should be like the Saints or the Eagles or any of those hyperaggressive, the Browns,

these teams that push cap hits way out into the future, literally just being an average team in terms of cap management instead of the most conservative team, again, don't go beat the dolphins and have half of your salary campaign to players that you've cut, including your quarterback. Don't get yourself in that. Nobody's saying that. But if they spend, say,

$7 million less in cap space between Brian Cook and Boya Mafé, which they can do by just doing average NFL contract structures for those guys, that's another player that you can fit into your roster this year. Now, would they have spent that money? That's where it also gets murky.

because they have to be willing to spend the money. And I'm not sure what the answer is there. I do want to just have one thing because coach, you were talking about why Jonathan Allen was available. And that one, I talked to our locked-on Vikings guy, Luke Braun. And apparently the Vikings ownership, and this was interesting to me,

Vikings ownership bought a soccer team last year. And as a result of buying a soccer team last year, Luke Braun believes that they've had to make moves because Vikings' ownership is cash-strapped. And we've talked about this with the Bengals in the past. We speculated about the Bengals having cash flow issues in the past. And according to Luke Braun, or at least he would have liked to have seen the Vikings keep. Jonathan Allen restructure his deal.

So again, a simple restructure, not a pay cut or anything like that. But he liked what Alan did for them last year. He thinks that Alan is still a perfectly capable player, a versatile player at the NFL level. So I did have insight at least as to why he in particular was available. And so when you mentioned that one, I wanted to share it because I thought, had a pretty interesting conversation with Luke Braun. He's a real film grinder, our lockdown Vikings. So we talked about what John Allen can do on tape.

And why the contract, because that was surprising for some people, I think the amount of money that the Bengals paid Alan. And for Luke, he's like, yeah, that's a reasonable deal. It's less than he got from the Vikings. I think he just did a $20 million deal with the Vikings for three years. if he only saw one year of. And for the Bengals, it's effectively a one-year deal for Jonathan Allen. The second year, the contract is very cuttable.

We finally got those details this morning. And so it's a one-year deal with an option for that second year, effectively, for Jonathan Allen, who is another deal that we haven't talked about with you guys on the squad show. I kind of like it. I think he still can rush the pass for a little bit. I think it'll be interesting to see how he can do if we can get him into more of a rotational role playing more like 500 snaps and 700 snaps this year with the Bengals with a deeper rotation. Coach, we talked about this, and that's a great point you bring him there, Jake.

And I did listen to that conversation with you and Luke Braun because I do think it's interesting why the Vikings maybe didn't resign him. Now, when it comes to the Bengals and linebackers, I know we're talking about salary cap right now, which may be hard for some people to understand. That's okay. But one thing that shouldn't be hard to understand is having an insurance policy and having debt the position of need like linebacker. Like, I mean, if Limu,

and Doug from Liberty Mutual Insurance came to look at the Bengals linebackers, they would not be very happy with the insurance policy that they have currently at the position. Like Barack Carter and Demetrius Knight, you can hope that they develop all you won. That's fine. But there are teams, coach, that are so desperate to win.

I'm not saying this is the right way to go about it. But there are teams that are so desperate to win that they will punt on a linebacker after their first season if they're not good enough. That's how desperate they are to win. win. I'm not saying the Bengals should do that, but I'm saying yet they haven't done anything in a position that could become a glaring weakness if it's not already. You know, 100% you're correct. You know what, like to go back to what Jake was saying, the bucks were in that similar situation

when Rahim Morris took over in Tampa. Although they had such a big salary cap on defense. They cut a lot of guys loose. Rahim was left with nothing. And he won, which now the expectations were higher. And he lost and they got rid of them. They bring Gary Gsiano in and all of a sudden they open up their checkbook again. And he signs all kinds of free agents. But he didn't win.

And as far as the Bengals are concerned, a lot of guys are really, they know how to manipulate the cap. And the 49ers, the. the eagles, you know, those guys that are traditionally on top, they know how to work the cap and restructure and sign guys for a year that can come in because they have a glaring need that still have one year left in the tank and then cut them loose. And it doesn't appear that the Bengals are really sound

at with the cap and they don't have a capologist on staff this is this is how we deal this is the pot of money we have how do we disperse it not just next year but over time yeah to where can get those players that we need now and what they I mean by not renegotiating anybody's contract they have shown you this is our bank our our our our our our bank account. This is what we're going to spend and let's go see what happens. And that's hard. That's tough because now you're always behind the eight ball and you're always chasing those teams that are, and you know, put it this way. Every team in the league should be in a desperate situation to win next year because it doesn't do the coaches any good. You can talk about 12 years from now,

But the coaches that are in the building right now, they want to win tomorrow. They don't care about your plan. They just concern about what's in my room now and how are we going to win now. That's a great point. That's a great point because you can focus on the upcoming year, but you have to also position yourself to where you can sustain what you're trying to build and what you're trying to do for the long term. That's an excellent point there, coach.

And I got to ask the question, are the Bengals done spending? because look, they shouldn't be, but they may actually be. We'll explain next coming up on the Bengal Squad Show. Today's edition of the Bengal Squad Show is brought to you by Indeed. There's workplace chaos. There's deadline stacking up. There's your inbox overflowing, not to mention it's March Madness. And the one position you have to fill a sitting open.

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Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support the Bengals Squad Show by saying you heard about this podcast, Indeed, that you heard about Indeed on the Bengals Squad Show podcast. Again, Indeed.com slash podcast, terms and conditions apply. Need to hire this as a sponsor. This is a job, rather, or indeed sponsored jobs. I've got to ask before we get to our next segment here. Any of you guys, have any of you guys filled out a bracket for Marsh Madness yet?

I haven't. I don't even know who's playing. Jake, how about you? I have really been paying attention to, college basketball for a few years, though. It's, look, college, like college athletics are a mess. Coach, I'm sure you can attest to it with NIL and

Transfer Portal, but like, the on-field on-court product is tremendous. I mean, I could explain why, but that's for, you know, this isn't the show to do that. But anyway, gentlemen, here's the crazy thing. Free agency isn't over. And who says it has to be over after the first week?

You can still sign players. And there are still plenty of veteran linebackers. out there. So I'm asking both of you, what's the plan here? What's the plan here for the Bengals at linebacker if there is a plan? I think they're still exploring it. I think they're still going to explore some of those veterans. But asking for specifics, I mean, people have been asking me who they're going to sign for a week. And I can't tell you at this point who they're going to sign. I can tell you that they had interest in linebackers and in defensive ends last week. That seems to be the last thing I've heard that they're looking at.

I've heard people asking about DJ Reeder. I've heard people asking about offensive positions that they haven't touched. I don't really know what exactly is next. It would make a lot of sense to me to see them sign a veteran at some point. Maybe the veterans that are still out there are going to sign when they no longer count for the compensatory formula at this point. Maybe they've been around the league long enough, but they're going to skip some of the offseason program and show up for minicamp or show up for training camp.

and maybe it'll be a Dalton Riser, timed, signing. Last year we were waiting for them to sign a guard until forever, but at least they had Lucas Patrick on the roster at that point, so not exactly the same situation. Hard to say what the plan is exactly. I think we're going to be looking at a top-heavy draft on the defensive side of the ball again, and that's going to be part of what they're going to do

to continue to try to add talent to the defense because you had enough talent on the defense, and maybe your poor linebacker unit can get by, right? Like if they add, say, a Rubin Bain and an Emmanuel McNeil Warren in the second round, and maybe they find a corner they really like in the third, you know, like they find or sunny styles in the first round and an edge rusher they really like in the second round, Malachi Lawrence or something, something like that,

who can give you some pass rush juice in the second round. You know, maybe they find a path in the draft that adds enough talent that the linebackers can play up because of the talent around them. But the free agency group is pretty picked over. They'll have to find those deals like they found in years past around this time in this time range. And the Josh Bines of the world, right? Like find that guy who can be a baseline player

and bring some leadership to that room and see if that guy's out there for you sometime between now and training camp, really. I mean, they have a while. now, but the lack of leadership in that room, given what we heard from the Bengals at the combine, is something that I think they wanted to address and we'll still continue trying to address in some way, shape, or form. Coach, what do you think? I mean, you look at who's available, where they want to go, we don't know. I just know what was said, and they haven't lived up to that.

So at some point in time, the lip service gets old very quickly. And this is a show me game. And they seem to be talking out of both sides of their mouths. And you don't know because they're not very transparent. There are some veterans that are still out there. You hate to get a veteran who's going to wait for a long period of time. time before, you know, that wants to skip the off-season program, well, they know that they don't want to go through it because it takes wear and tear off their bodies and they may not have

that much left. You know, I mean, it's very, very difficult to kind of figure out the direction that they're headed and only they know at this point in time. We can speculate on what is out there, but they haven't shown you anything. All we've heard is we heard Duke talk about it right after the season. That hadn't come to fruition. You hear him talk about it at the combine. That hadn't come to fruition. The one thing about the draft you don't know is what is available for you at 10 as well as what, 42? you don't know what's going to be out there. And there's going to be good players, but do they fit and are they playmakers at that particular point?

You talked about it earlier, Alex, about how the product on the college basketball court is tremendous this year. Well, it's NIL money. People have been willing to spend money. And that's what it comes down to. If you want a product, you have to go out and identify them and grab them. Now, if they're not what you think they are, you cut them loose. But you talk about DJ Reader coming back. You had him once before.

Why didn't you sign him again before he hit the street? He lost the best years of his life to somebody else. Yeah. I mean, it's something. seems askew in that front office that you keep regurgitating the players that you cut loose at one point in time. That's a great. That's scary. That's a great point you bring up about money and NIL in college because eventually the NFL

is going to be dominated by players that played college football in the NIL era. So they are going to have an understanding that they want to go where the money is. Now, do they want to win? Absolutely. But at the same time, they also want to make their money because they've made so much money now or more than they ever thought they could in college, that also it's now going to be a factor in the NFL. So if you're the Bengals, that should even be even more of an incentive to spend money to manage the cap better.

I just like, I think about how they have evolved when it comes. comes to spending in free agency and being active in free agency. Well, I mean, yeah, every team should be because you clearly have needs. I mean, the Titans have been active. Even the Browns have been active. Like, there are teams that have sucked for years, but they're being active in free agency. And the Bengals, Jake, you know this. They've been historically, when it comes to linebacker, draft, develop, retain.

They did that with Logan Wilson. They did that with Jermaine Pratt. but already in year one, and you can blame it on the linebackers, you can blame it on Algoon, you can blame it on the front office, whatever. The fact of the matter is, they're not good enough right now at the position. And I don't know if one draft pick on Sunny Stiles, let's do it the same thing again this year that we did last year by drafting linebackers and hoping they work out.

That's not going to solve all your problems. I think there is a difference in spending a premium pick on a linebacker. versus what the Bengals did last year. For sure. That we should draw a line there. Like drafting Sunny Stiles or grafting Jacob Rodriguez or something like that is different from drafting Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter last year. The process that I take issue with the way that they went about building this linebacker room last year,

so it was a really bad linebacker class. And they had to have known that. They say they really liked Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter. They had second round grades on both of those guys. apparently. And we'll see. I mean, we can't entirely write them off, right? Like, there is a chance, and I wouldn't be banking on this chance. I would be having contingency plans in place. But there is still a chance that you get a big year two leap from those guys. You tend to see year two development from linebacker in the NFL. It should not be as bad for them

as it was for them as rookies unless they really don't understand what's happening. Because a big part of the problem was the game was going way too fast for those guys, right? And if the game slows down for those guys, even if there are limitations, they should be better. Now, maybe they don't get better. And that's what you need to be preparing for. Yeah. If you're the Bengals and they didn't do enough to prepare for this year. So the issue that happens for every NFL team is you're never complete.

The only way you have a complete team in the NFL that every single position is average or better, solid or better, is if you absolutely crush. consecutive drafts. And that's the way Seattle just won the Super Bowl. But you can't dismiss the draft either. Because of that, you can't dismiss the draft is what I'm trying to say. The Bengals need to be better drafting. They need to stop double dipping at weak positions in a draft class, right? We've talked about that, I think, on the squad show before.

The linebackers last year defensive tackles before that, wide receivers before that, they have this habit of saying, ah, you know what? People think the linebacker class isn't very strong this year. we better take two. People say the defensive tackle class isn't very strong this year. Better take two. People say the wide receiver class isn't very strong this year.

Better take two. Now both of those are on day three. And I care less about how you spend your picks on day three of the draft when there are guys you really like that you think can do something for you. And Andre Yosevash has been a big role player for this team. Charlie Jones is a returner for this team. So I care less when it gets to day three. But identifying the players and the players.

the draft needs to be better for this team in terms of immediate impact, long-term impact, especially in these years where they're not picking at the back of the first round. And here we are with the Bengals picking as high as they've picked since drafting Jamar Chase. It's a paramount draft class for them, just as it was paramount in free agency. And look, they add us some guys in free agency that made them better. They didn't do enough, but they are clearly better at safety. in my opinion, they're clearly better defensive tackle. They didn't really get better anywhere else.

So there's a lot of room for improvement. The offense is really good and we'll see what else they can do to put this team in a position where they can overcome the holes because like I said, teams in the NFL have flaws. Teams in the NFL have holes. There's just not enough good players out there for everyone to be good at every position. And this is probably where the Bengals are going to have some issues next year. Coach, can an upgraded defensive line and an upgraded second? secondary. Can they help young linebackers develop?

Oh, they can. You know what? Because of the amount of pressures put on and how they cover. But you know what? People find out where your warts are. And then they pick you apart because they too watch film. And as Jake was just talking about that, you know, they had both of those linebackers picked it as second rounders. When were they picked? and that I don't remember where those two young linebackers were picked in the draft last year. Second and fourth. Okay. They haven't performed, right?

They had them as twos, so there's a lot of teams that have passed them up because they didn't consider them as second round picks. And so when you look at that, you've got to think, okay, in my scouting department, we had them as a two, and he went in in the fourth. Ooh, that's like Tom Brady. You know what? Tom Brady's a, you know, he's an enigma. He went in the sixth.

There's a lot of teams and a lot of players passed him up, and he ends up being the goat. You know, where did you have him? And, you know, Seattle, they got Russell Wilson and, what, the third? A lot of teams passed him up, and he ended up being a very dominant player for you for a long time. How good is your scouting, apartment when you rank people and you have them as a two and a lot of people pass them up,

whether it be by need, I don't know. You know what, there's a lot of, I mean, there are good players, but the talent pool isn't that big. And you have to, I'd be able to identify them. And when you identify them, go rank the bank on getting that player in. And after year one, if he shows promise and he shows that he's able to play in this league, then you continue and you sign them early to extend that contract, not waiting until it runs out.

And that's how those can make and develop good football teams. The frustrating thing about all this is Bengals linebackers coach Mike Hodges said that he was expecting more additions to the linebacker room. That should tell you right there that there's a disconnect between the coaching staff. They're trying everything they can to get development out of this defense and make it better, but the front office isn't giving them the resources that they need. Like, I don't understand the disconnect that's there. I don't understand where in the plan there is a flaw, something's an askew, as you say, coach, and like I just cannot wrap my head around it.

And then it all goes back to this. Is Joe Burrow happy with what the Bengals have done, so far in free agency. It's a proverbial question that we will discuss next right here on the Bengal squad show. Today's edition of the Bengals Squad show is brought to you by Robin Hood. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood prediction markets. It's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long. Use your sports knowledge in the moments that matter. Robin Hood prediction markets changes the game. It's people moving the action.

So when momentum shifts, you can move with it. I always knew the game, but never had a dynamic way to apply that knowledge. Now I can actually take part live in a market power by people. You're no longer just a spectator. Play by play, you decide. Trade every play with Robin Hood. Now available across the United States. Download the Robin Hood app now to begin. Futures and clear swaps, involved significant risk. It is not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robin Hood's Rivettives LLC of Registered Futures Commission Merchant and Swap firm. Back here on the Bengals show with Jake Liscoe and Coach Arfellera, Alex Frank with you. So I mean, look, everything that the Bengals do, whether it's in free agency, whether it's in the draft, whether it's anything that they do,

it all goes back to number nine, right? He's the face of the franchise. He called this offseason of paramount importance. He emphasized free agency coming into this offseason. And look, look, the Bengals have signed three starters to their defense. That's fine. That's totally fine, actually. Now, it kind of reminds me, and Jake, you remember this vividly in 2022, when they signed three starters to an offensive line that was putre the year before. So on one hand, I can say, okay, the defense is better now than it was two weeks ago.

Great. But there's a reason Bengals fans still aren't happy because if they see what needs to to be better, how does this front office not and how does Joe Borough not? Well, again, I want to reiterate that the front office and the coaching staff did try and did have a plan to address this defense more than it was addressed. And I think they failed to execute that plan. Now, that's its own problem. I do think that you mentioned the coaching staff was expecting more.

I think the coaching staff still is probably pretty displeased and wants more to occur. From Joe Burroughs point of view, I've been thinking about this the last couple of days because all eyes are on the Bengals based on Burroughs' comments and based on speculation that if they don't do enough, then Burroughs going to want out, I think it ultimately comes down to what happens in the season. If the defense goes out there and is for any stretch of time like they were last year for 10 weeks or so, one of the worst defenses we've ever seen in NFL history, things are probably not going to be great. If the Bengals, on the other hand, are able to win some games because Joe Burroughs, a quarterback,

the offense is really good, and maybe Boy, Maffei is the ascending player they think he is. Maybe Brian Cook and the tackling issue they had at safety was actually responsible for them, losing a game and a half last year, individually, maybe. Maybe they get development out of linebackers. Maybe Jonathan Allen and whoever they add in the draft on the defensive line juices up that pass rush a little bit, right? There's certainly paths to this team being much better next year with some player development, with the offense maintaining so many of its pieces.

And I think Joe's probably thinking about. can I win, right? That's all he cares about. Can I win? Is he potentially a little bit annoyed because I think he understands this cap stuff better than a lot of players in the NFL that he didn't see his contract restructured? Probably a little bit. Ultimately, though, every year, around this time of year, I think,

we get really caught up in the optics of free agency and stuff. stuff like this. And a lot of times we're right. Like last year we looked back on the free agency period. We said, man, where are those extra couple of moves this team needed? Didn't make them a couple of years ago. Where's that extra, where's the guard? Where's the one more offensive lineman that could get them over the hump in the two years they got to the playoffs? And we wanted them to make those one more moves in free agency. Sometimes you end up being right. Then you look back and he said, man, yeah, they didn't address linebacker, and linebacker tanked them this year.

And sometimes that comes to pass, but got to play the games. Still got to play the games. And I think Joe Burrow, as a player, is just thinking about playing the games. I think that's his approach to it. I'm sure there's some annoyance about the way the cap stuff has gone. If he's seeing it, if he's keeping up on it, I don't know how you wouldn't be annoyed if you're in his shoes with those things.

but I also think that bottom line is what's going to happen on Sundays. You still got to play the games. Any given Sunday is a saying for a reason, right? You still got to play the games. And so while you talk about talent acquisition this time of year, this time of year, and it's important. And I think it's good to be critical when they don't do the things we want them to do. You still got to play the games.

And I think that's probably the larger part of their mindset than anything else. Coach, how worried about are you? about the national narratives that's around Joe Burrow with the Bengals free agency period so far? Tremendously. You know what? Joe often injured comes in, things on the line. Believe me, every player on the team on the opening 53 understands where their weaknesses are. They know.

pro football players know who's good and who is suspect. And when you go out and you're hoping that they build a scheme around those players to hide their warts, to make themselves better. And when you're somebody like Joe Burrell who understands defensive talent, having faced it from college all the way through, and you know that there are weaknesses and to ask him with his window closing

to go out there and play when you haven't given him a chance to be arguably the goat because that's what he's capable of doing and you haven't surrounded him with other people either offensively, defensively, or in the kick. game, he's not having fun. And when you play on Sunday, you expect, you want to go into every

game knowing that you can win. And when you're not given that, then you become not happy. And because they don't give you the tools, they do on certainly on offense. But on the other side of the ball, it's been neglected for a long time. And it makes you very, very, very frustrated. And you saw that last year in, you know, Jamar Chase, having an out-of-body experience and got suspended for a game. And that was just the frustration. And it happens all the time. That's one thing about NFL players. They know when they're coached poorly. They know when they don't have the talent. And so they try to do extra. And that's when they're not in position to make plays because they're trying to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Because they all certainly when you when you show up on Sunday, you want to win. Do you want to win or are you really prepared to win? And they understand that. And then they're just playing for the money and not for or what they're in for is to win. And that's bottom line, I think. Yeah. I don't think Joe Burrow is going to ever request a trade from the Bengals. I think it means too much to him, regardless of what's going on to be here.

Does he want to win? Absolutely, he wants to win. He's a maniacal competitor. We know that. But I think he also understands how much this means to him to be the quarterback of the bangles being from Ohio. Like, I know that, and I make this comparison a lot in my mind, LeBron, when he was with the Cavs in the late 2000s, 2010, he left to go ring chase in Miami.

I don't think he understood the gravity and the magnitude of the situation and what he represented to that community of northeast Ohio, the same way that Joe Borough does in Cincinnati. But I will say this. and I thought about this a lot, you know, really since he got injured this past season. Ever since he hurt his wrist in Baltimore, and I was at that game, by the way, in 2023, something hasn't been the same with Joe Burrow. I haven't seen that confident swagger that we can win every game, we can win here in Cincinnati.

I still believe he thinks he can. but like you hear his press conferences ever since that injury. He's been more reflective. He's been more sentimental. You haven't really seen that, you know, I'm trying to figure out how to say this. You haven't seen that guy that stands up there and you're like, oh, we're winning this game. I don't care who we're playing. The Bengals are going to win this game.

We have not seen that from Joe Burrow recently. Again, I don't think he's ever going to request a trade. but I think he's probably thinking right now, okay, we got three starters. What else? Nothing? Okay. It comes down to winning to me. Yeah.

Last year, he, and not last year, I guess, anymore, two years ago, 24, he played an MVP-level season, and they were nine and eight. Correct. That's going to take a toll on anybody. To go through another injury last year, I think it was pretty tough. I think the injury stuff has added up. I think the way that the team around him hasn't been able to close games. He hasn't been able to close games at times. I think that's what it is more than anything.

They just need to win. Winning, as Mike Brown says, cures all. And it just comes down to whether or not the team will be good enough to do that this year. And they have a chance. They will always have a chance because of Joe Burrow and because of this offense. The offense looks like it should be good. no reason to expect major regression there unless you get major injuries there. But we'll see what the defense looks like in a month or so, or I guess two months now,

after the draft and going into the season. Again, you got to play the games. Got to see how these guys develop and all these things that are all these things we don't know and we can't predict entirely right now. There's always surprises every year. The Bengals are 3 and 1 through 4 games. we're not having this conversation in early October. Therefore, no, we're definitely not having a two and two, maybe one and three.

Oh, heck, yeah, we are. I mean, that's what it all comes down to. It comes down to winning. But I just think about coach in 2024, the bang will start 0 and 2, but the defense played well enough at Kansas City to make you believe, okay, the offense is rounding into form a little bit. The defense is still playing good. They're going to be able to come back from this 0 and 2 start.

When they fell to 0 and 3, when Burrow played out of his mind on Monday night football against Washington. A team we all thought the fangles would beat by 20 that night. When they lost that game and Borough and Taylor had a closed doors meeting after that game, that should have signaled something was not right. Correct. I mean, you know what?

And Joe's had a tough time. I mean, physically, now it's working on him mentally because you hear some of his interviews and he almost sounds a loop. He's not that positive kid that. came out and it was in the Super Bowl in the AFC championship game before. And when you're on top of the

world, that's when you just keep patting your roster. And you're always trying to get better. And they slipped. And for whatever the reason, you know, and they've got a lot of potential on defense.

So they thought. But potential is only what's written down on paper. Like Jake was talking about. You still have to perform at a very high level on Sunday. And that makes a difference in the world. And whether you, if you have an injury, which you're going to sustain in the NFL, that next guy, it's that next guy up mentality. Can he take over the game where you don't skip a beat? And right now, they haven't been able to formulate that potential. to be that particular player.

And when you're cutting guys loose in the middle of the season, then you sign other free agents who are basically special teams players, you're going to suffer. And offensively, you know, and you're going through the draft, don't neglect offense. You know, I mean, they're rolling right now. And offensively, and they've got the potential to be very, very, very good.

Yeah. But you have a whole different side that you need to fix and you need to fix it fast, whether it be by trade, whether it be by restructure, whether it be by whatever means possible. Because all the fans listen to right now is they hear what came out of the people in the building have told them. and they haven't seen it. And so that right there makes some question.

And it gives us an opportunity to be able to reiterate what has been said. And the fan base either hears it or they don't, but they want to see it. And they don't know. And sign in a big name player, even though he may not be as good as he once was, doesn't satisfy it because they are hoping for more. on Sunday. And three seasons of missing the playoffs in a row in the prime of Joe Burrough's career is the reason why fans are frustrated. And I mean, look, I don't know if there's anything that Bengals can do that would completely

satisfy the fan base right now. It comes down to Jake, as you said, and coach, as you said, it comes down to winning. And the reason Joe Burroughs, Joe Burrow hasn't been the same quarterback. He was his first three years. The last three years is injuries and the fact that while he's been going through that and while he's entering the prime of his career in his life. late 20s, he's played really well, the Bengals as a whole have not. Winning cures all. It's the bottom line and a bottom line business to round out the show. Should Cam Taylor Britt be resigned? May not be

as cut and dry, as you might think. We'll get into the conversation next on the Bengals Squad show. I came into this off season thinking that Cam Taylor Britt was gone. Then I read Jay Morrison's article on Cincinnati Bengals on SI yesterday. And he's not making. He's not making a the case for him to be re-signed. But he is saying why it could be a good signing for the Bengals, or at the very least he says a splashy signing for the Bengals. Jake, let's go. Where do you stand on Cam Taylor-Rae, potentially being back in Stripes in 2026? If he wants to be quarterback four, he's going to take a $2 million deal. All right. It doesn't move the needle for me. I think Cam probably would be best served with a

change of scenery for his own career. I don't know how much interest there is in a return for him, even if it is, a very cheap contract, the way that they've brought back some guys in the past when their markets didn't develop on the free agency open market. And because of the familiarity, they've returned those guys on a one-year, prove-it deal kind of thing. I don't know if that's in the cards for the Bengals and Cam Taylor Britt, the way that the seasons have gone for him and the way that things have really gone since he's shown those

promising flashes early in his career. They do, however, need to add to the cornerbacker. One thing that we haven't even gotten to talk about is we haven't even gotten to slot corner. We're probably going to need to draft a guy. They don't really have a starting slot on the roster right now. Your cornerback depth is tested every single year.

So add it to the list, right? They add three players. I liked all three signing. again, just to reiterate that because it's been a pretty negative show. I think the players they've signed will be solid players or better for them. It's just everything that they haven't done. We're going to have to just wait and see. How are they going to address these things?

Where will the holes be on defense? How significant will the holes on defense be? Will they have strengths on that side of the ball that allow them to cover up some of those holes? And that's what we're going to need to keep watching here as the offseason unfolds. think that's a great point because they have signed three stars like i would say the bengals free agency so far has been good it's been what you hoped for well but again well players they've signed are players that we like and yes can do things but i mean we're probably grading the bengals free agency on lincoln's on bengals later today and uh it's the things they haven't done that

that make it impossible for you to say that it's good, in my opinion. That's what the Bengals, that's what the Bengals franchise has been, Coach, the last three years. It's like they've done a lot of good things offensively, but as a team, we always focus on what they haven't done. There's been a lot of losing. And gentlemen, here's this. Gino Stone, who just signed with the Buffalo Bills on why he picked the bills. This literally just came out.

He said, quote, getting back into a winning culture. I mean, that's a shot right there at the Bengals. Coach, when you hear that, what's your response? something's a miss in the building. Now, it's easy for him to say that because he's gone. Let's talk about a great season. And, you know, and it's going to be glass houses.

Yeah, he's just justifying the reason why he was poor. I mean, he played poorly. So you take it with a grand assault. But if he feels that way, how about the other ones? You know, Logan Wilson, what is he going to say? He's going to say the same thing because they cut him loose. to actually be in the building, which none of us are, to feel the culture, to feel how the direction's going, to relive what people say, and for it to either come to fruition or not, yeah, there's something to miss in the building.

And they're not a team. They don't play as a team. They play as an offense. they play as a defense, and they play as the special teams. And I think the only team that is really cohesive in that building right now and last year was probably special teams because they had a lot of special teams players that were on their roster. They were also asked to be contributors, and those defensive players that they were lacking are probably core special teams guys and had to go both ways.

And they just, they were good on special teams, but they weren't good. on defense. And when you cash guys off, yeah, they're never going to be happy. They're never going to be, they're always going to pop off and say things like that. But you need some winners in the building

and you need some winners on defense and yeah, you know what? It has been a negative show because of the fact that, yeah, they did get three good players. How about four? Yeah. How about five?

what they needed and that's the part that I think turns everybody off and makes it a negative show because you're thinking okay they said they were all in they know the cards they were holding well you either up the ante or you fold

and we were told that they were going to up the any and when they don't it's status quo. I'm going to keep the cards I got. And until they make that next move, then all of a sudden says, okay, it's going to solidify

the defensive side of the ball, whether it be two guys or one, there's big holes still. And from a coach's standpoint, when he says, I thought that we're going to bring in a, and they didn't, there's a big hole. And that's why this time of year,

coaches usually don't say anything. because you're going to coach the guys they gave you. Yep. And that's all you can do. But, you know, from the outside looking in, I don't know. I just was, I just remember what was told to the public. Yes. And it was all either coach speak or GM speak, but it hadn't come to be.

And that's all I have to. to rank that on. What Gino Stone says, let him go. He needs to change of scenery. He needs to do that. He needs to go. Now, if he ends up being a guy

for the bills, good for him. But don't bring him back to Cincinnati in three years. No. You know, you had him in the building. Don't let him out until you got a replacement. I think that bridge is burned, coach.

I got to take off here. I'm just very, amused by Gino Stone throwing rocks in glass houses. I mean, getting back to a winning culture, sure, the bills were in the playoffs last year, but you're part of the culture you're coming from, man. And a big part of that defensive tackling issue really boiled down to his tackling and safe. So to me, Stones and Glasshouses, I got to run, guys. We'll see you next week here. Alex, you can take people out from here. See you next week, guys. Jake, let's go. Thank you, as always, for joining us here on the Bengals Squad Show.

Catch Jake and James on lockdown Bengals throughout the week right here on the Lockdown Bengals YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcast. Coach, final point I'll make is this. You've missed the playoffs three years in a row. That alone, I mean, it shouldn't have happened after 2022. And in 2022, did the defense have weak links? Absolutely. You know what they didn't have? Liabilities because they had enough talent to overcome the weak links on the defense. Eli Apple maybe wasn't the best corner, but you know who you did have? Mike Hilton, Chobay Wuzier, and Jesse Bates. You had, excuse me, you had guys to overcome the weak links called insurance policies. Right now, I don't know if the Bengals do. That's going to do it today for this edition of the Bengals Squad Show.

Thank you all for listening on the Lockdown Bengals YouTube channel and wherever you get your podcast for more on how to become a member of the Every Day or Club at the Lockdown Podcast Network. number one sports podcast, number in America in the world, your team every day. Visit lockdown podcast.com slash every day. For Coach Art Valero, I'm Alex Franke, Frickie, Fricke underscore Natti, Jake Lisco, on Twitter. We are back tomorrow, quick turnaround with March Madness and NCAA tournament coverage for yours truly. We're going to do our show. We already did the show today. We'll do the show tomorrow.

Time to be determined. We'll get that to you posted on social media. He'll be yours truly coach and Mike Santagana. For coach for Jake, I'm Alex. Alex Frank, have a great rest of your day. Have a great start to the NCAA tournament. Tonight, you got two first four games. We will see you tomorrow right here on the Bengals Squad Show.

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