Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BURROW'S LIST | Cincinnati Bengals checking boxes on Joe Burrow's to-do list

Starting point is 00:00:00 Joe Burrow, let the world know that he's pleased with the Bengals' efforts to extend Jamar Chase and T. Higgins. And that's important. Got to keep that guy happy if you're Bengals ownership. Let's break it down. You are Locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. What up, Bengals fans, and welcome to another episode of the Locked On Bengals podcast. I'm your host, Jake Liscoe.

Starting point is 00:00:32 He's your host, James Rupin. And we are Locked on Benkles. Bengals on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. We're on YouTube and we're everywhere you get your podcast. So if you're not already in every day or, well, you might as well be, hit that subscribe button, hit the bell on YouTube. And you won't miss an episode of Lockdown Bengals as we have you covered all offseason long and, of course, into the season.

Starting point is 00:00:52 But we're still in offseason mode here, James. Still thinking about Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, T. Higgins, what's left to do in free agency, how to get to the draft if you're the Bengals without having dire needs that force your hand to go certain ways and certain rounds and all those things. But Joe Burrow talks with Jeff Hobson after T. Higgins and Jamar Chase had their press conferences on Tuesday and expressed his appreciation for Bengals' ownership in getting these deals done. I don't think that he's necessarily satisfied, James, but I think that this is important pieces of tangible progress that he's pleased to see. Well, there's,

Starting point is 00:01:34 the Carson clock was lingering and it was creeping up. And it's one of those things that you don't want to come to. And I think what the Bengals did and Bengals ownership did is they made sure that they're not going to get anywhere near that in the near future. Does it mean they're done with free agency? It doesn't mean they can be done with free agency. We've made that very clear on I think every single episode we've done over the past week. But keeping Jamar and was crucial. Joe Burrow made that clear publicly a bunch of times. And so you can imagine what he said privately when it came to T. Higgins and getting that done. When it came to T. Higgins making the decision to switch agents, full disclosure, you make that decision to try to stay in Cincinnati.

Starting point is 00:02:27 That was the plan from the jump when you make that call. And so if you're Joe Burrow, and you would have watched the Bengals not get a deal done, or if you watched the Bengals not get a deal done with The Higgins, when T set the table for them, when they didn't have any other star players to pay, that were entering their prime, and I think that's how you could realistically view T. Higgins, then, yeah, I think that that Carson Clock would have sped up something.

Starting point is 00:02:57 So, yeah, we're not going to see that. I think anytime soon, getting these deals done was an important part of it. They can't be done with things, but you look at just what Joe said and Joe talked to Jeff Hobson. And the getting the T contract done was so important. He said, I think everybody was confident we'd get Jamar done. But to be able to get T done along with that speaks volumes about ownership, Duke, Zach, and their ability to get those things done.

Starting point is 00:03:31 I think that's really important, Jake. Yeah, and we'll see if it is the forbearer to future change and future guarantees in year two for players that aren't at the very, very peak of the NFL, i.e. Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase, both of whom have guarantees deep into their contract. And we'll see what exactly the guarantees look like for T. Higgins. We still don't have full contract details as of the time of recording this about 4 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday for either Jamar Chase or T. Higgins. We did get some other contract updates, but neither of those yet. So don't know exactly what everything looks like. in terms of how the guarantees work and where the cash flows are and what the cap hits look like. We're waiting to update you on those things. But Joe is talking about go back to the Radio Row interview where he invoked the Eagles and the way that they paid everybody and doing guarantees in year two for T. Higgins.

Starting point is 00:04:19 Like those are the things that he's paying attention to with speaking volumes about their ability to get these deals done because the things that they've never done before. Now, the question that we have going from this point, at least I have, Maybe you don't have it, James. Maybe the people listening don't have it. I don't know.

Starting point is 00:04:36 I think you probably should. And maybe this is me projecting. But is, will they do this then going forward? Will they be forced to do it going forward? This is something that Rocky Arsenal talked about in his interview with Kelsey Conway, talking about how it was probably difficult for the Bengals to give up that year two guarantee for T. Higgins and how that might be something then that other players ask for in the future. But as we've talked about on this show, James, many times.

Starting point is 00:05:01 It's just the way the NFL is going. And so the willingness to pay year two guarantees to high-end players, not the Sheldon rankings of the world, not the Gino Stones of the world, not to take anything away from those guys, not that, you know, Sheldon worked out in Cincinnati or anything. Not those deals, but we're talking about like the top end deals, right? The T. Higgins, the Jamar Chases, and obviously like the Joe Burroughs of the world, those players, the Jesse Bates of the world, right?

Starting point is 00:05:27 Where Joe watched those guys leave, guys that wanted to be in Cincinnati. and we're watching this sort of painful situation play out with trade hendrickson right now a guy who clearly wants to be in cincinnati but they got the deal done with t who again clearly wanted to be in cincinnati which hopefully is the beginning of that trend reversing and not seeing players who want to play for the bengals leaving because the bengals won't play in a fair sandbox contractually speaking yeah it's it's big for that to happen and now it impacts Trey Hendrickson. It does, because you better believe Trey's looking at that and saying,

Starting point is 00:06:06 well, I just led the league in Sacks. If you're going to give me an extension, why wouldn't I want guaranteed money in 2026? I want security. And so that's going to be the first player that we see. Can they get something done or not? He saw Jamar and T get guarantees. So, of course, T. is going to want the same thing.

Starting point is 00:06:24 I think one more note here on Burrow. is the fact that he pointed this out, and this applies, I think, to the Jesse Bates's, to the DJ readers. But certainly to Jesse Bates, he said, quote, when you can resign guys like that and keep them around for an extended period of time, that gives you the best chance to go out and win Super Bowls and win a lot of games and win division championships. We've got two of our best players resigned. That's a big deal. Plus Mike G. Another Mike G. He said, we're doing the right things.

Starting point is 00:06:59 And so that is Joe giving his stamp of approval. He didn't say satisfied. He said, these are the right things. And so I do think that during this window, which should still be wide open, two months from now, a year from now, two years from now, Joe is probably going to want them to dip their toe into the guaranteed year or two pool again. That might be for Amarius Mims. that might be Orlando Brown Jr. might be an all pro this year. And then he's got one year left. And Joe's like, all right, we'll keep Orlando.

Starting point is 00:07:36 Like, I'm not sure who it is. But at some point, this is going to come up again. And so if you're the Bengals, you need to find that balance. And finding that balance is fine. I don't think they need to guarantee money to your point for all these guys in your, you don't want that. You want the flexibility. But for guys that you know are worth it, for guys that you know are in their prime or about to be in the prime or are just really high-end players at their positions, what does it hurt?

Starting point is 00:08:05 Instead of giving them a huge roster bonus on the third day of the new league year the next year, you don't just guarantee that salary because you know they're probably going to be under contract anyway on that third day of the new league year. And I'm kind of thinking back to Trey Hendrickson's initial deal where there was uncertainty with him. And I understand why they didn't have to do that with him then. now it could be a different story. And moving forward, I think it will be a different story with some of these guys,

Starting point is 00:08:31 assuming they draft well and add pieces that are worth playing, which is obviously something worth paying, which is obviously something that they need to do. The draft is a huge element here and development too, right? Like, do we see Miles Murphy take a step? Do we see Daxil overturn to form? Do we see Cam Taylor Britt bounce back? And Dax coming off the injury, of course.

Starting point is 00:08:51 Do we see D.J. Turner take a step? because those guys are the guys you're talking about being extension eligible after next year. The guys that we don't see right now as commanding big money. But if they can show that they can take steps to be worth that money in the future, then where do these conversations happen as far as keeping your own players that are good? Because what they need to avoid the mistake of repeating is getting so in their head about, uh, Jesse hasn't been a pro bowler. Jesse hasn't been an all-pro.

Starting point is 00:09:23 Everybody knows what Jesse Bates is on the football field. So got to be very honest with yourself about who your great players are. Get out ahead of it. Instead of waiting until the last minute like they did, even with your warranty, costing themselves money, saving a million dollars last year to spend $5 million more this year, which is going to cost them in the future a player or two. But a step in the right direction here in getting these deals done,

Starting point is 00:09:50 and breaking structure. And if that can lead to them getting deals done more easily in the future, then we'll reflect on this moment as a pivotal one in the history of this team. Coming up next, James Moore on Joe Burrow, who is set to appear on Netflix's quarterback. What do we think of that? We'll get to that topic next. Scaling your business requires the right expertise at the right time. With Upwork, you can find specialized freelancers in marketing, development, design, and more.

Starting point is 00:10:23 experts ready to help you take your business to the next level. Upwork gives businesses flexibility by connecting them with top freelance talent across multiple industries, including IT, AI, web development, and marketing. You can find the right talent with Upwork if you need help with a marketing campaign. Upwork can connect you with a freelance expert who has delivered incredible results. And instead of hiring full-time, Upwork can help you find affordable, top-tier free freelancers to scale your business efficiently. Visit upwork.com right now and post your job for free. That's upw-w-r-k-com.

Starting point is 00:11:02 Upwork.com to connect with TopTown and grow your business today. This episode of Lockdown Bengals is sponsored by GameTime, who knows how exciting it is to get to watch your team in person, the energy of the crowd, the unforgettable moments, to walk off victories. And there's just nothing like experiencing a big game in person. And March is one of the best times of the year to watch college basketball, whether that's in Dayton or Indianapolis.

Starting point is 00:11:30 If you need to get some tickets for some basketball game, perhaps in the near future of some level of import in March, well, game time is there for you. And they know that it shouldn't be stressful to get tickets. That's where game time comes in, making it easier than ever to grab last minute seats at unbeatable prices. Make sure you check out game time picks in the GameTime app because their curation makes it easier than ever to find better value for tickets to sports,

Starting point is 00:11:57 concerts, comedy, theater, and whatever live event you're looking for. Can't be easier than it is with Game Time to find deals on tickets to live events. And they've got a lowest price guarantee. And they'll credit you 110% of the difference if you find a better price. Download the GameTimeout today and create an account. Use code locked on NFL for $20 off your purchase. That's L-O-C-E-D-O-N NFL for $20 off. your first purchase. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price. Guarantee.

Starting point is 00:12:28 All right, Jake. Let's get to quarterback, reality TV star Joe Burrow, not just star quarterback Joe Burrow. Reality TV star Joe Burrow is going to appear on Netflix's quarterback. And first thing's first here, Joe Burrow in 2023, before he signed his contract extension, just to give you an idea of the timeline. On July 26th, 23, I asked him, hey, were you asked to be on quarterback? And he said yes. And he admitted that he declined it. I think a lot of people are getting that confused with last year because he did not lie to us. He said no in 2023. Well, it turns out after doing one year of receiver, because all the quarterbacks turned it down, they brought quarterback back last year. And Joe Burrow will

Starting point is 00:13:17 be one of three quarterbacks, Kurt Cousins, Jared Gough, the other two that are going to be featured. on this show. And let's be honest here, Jared Gough was on a really good team. Feels kind of boring. Kirk Cousins was already on it. And I think that helped his profile a lot. Honestly,

Starting point is 00:13:34 I think people like Kirk Cousins much more now than they did before the first edition of quarterback. But Joe Burrell is going to be the draw here. And I think it's going to be exciting. Not that the season went the way he wanted to from a win-loss perspective, but just seeing all of the D-Ds, of what he went through wrist-wise, recovery, all of the things we were covering from

Starting point is 00:13:58 training camp on, I think it's going to be pretty cool since he did do quarterback last season. I just remember watching the first version of quarterback, which I did not watch in its entirety. Quarterback is not made for people like me. I am not the target audience of quarterback. I don't care about some of the stuff they're talking about. And if someone wants to put together a super cut of all the Joe Burrow parts of this season of quarterback and send that to me so I don't have to watch the rest, that would be awesome. But one thing I did find fascinating about it was I was watching it to see Mahomes react to losing to the Bengals, which I enjoyed watching personally. But beyond that, you also got a window into the way Mahomes was attacking the ankle injury and all of the mobility and strengthening work he did around that high ankle sprain.

Starting point is 00:14:44 And that was really interesting to me. So when you're talking about the stuff with the wrist for Joe, I think that'll be pretty cool to get that behind this. scenes and the behind the scenes of like, I don't know how deep we'll get or how much we'll see that we didn't see in the regular season. But with the Mahomes stuff, I feel like there's stuff that we did not see and did not know about, would not have known about otherwise because of the access that those guys had to Mahomes behind the scenes. So if you get that with Joe, I think that could be really fascinating to see how he's reacting to the way things are going early in the season and late in the season and in that final week when they didn't get the break they needed to sneak

Starting point is 00:15:20 into the playoffs. Yeah, I think there's a lot of interesting layers to this if they do it right. And from the body maintenance to the day after when you see all the hits Joe takes, and I've seen him a few days, like the day after games, 12 hours after games when we're scheduled to be there. And it doesn't look like Joe necessarily. And so how much of that do you see? I agree with you. I thought that they pulled back the curtain at a pretty high level with Mahomes where it was like, it was interesting just to see everything that was baked into that. Marcus Marietta wasn't necessarily that intriguing. I thought Kurt Cousins and the Vikings, they were really good that year. So I thought that that plus the family life and his balance there was pretty cool to see.

Starting point is 00:16:09 So there's definitely a lot there. Like I get it. You don't want to relive nine and eight an 0 and three start and four and eight at one point. But I also wonder if this is going to give us, and hopefully it does, a look inside the mind of Joe Burrow, who went through what I would call the most trying season of his football career where he's playing, down in and down out playing, because he's playing at such a high level. And it wasn't resulting in wins. Like year one at LSU, he wasn't playing at that level. and they still went to a bowl game and they were still good, they weren't great. And then since then, anytime he's played at a really high level,

Starting point is 00:16:55 he's won the national championship, he's won the AFC, he's won two division titles, he's ended up in back-to-back AFC championship games. And so to match that and then to not get the results from a win-loss perspective, hopefully we get that we can see what it was like, because I do think it was the most challenging season of Joe's career. and that's kind of wild because it was also the best season of his career when you look at the statistics and how he was playing

Starting point is 00:17:22 and what he was doing to keep the Bengals in games. So I'm excited for that element. I wish it was here now. I hate that it's July. That would be the thing. Like can it drop in May? Like May to July? That would be the time to do it.

Starting point is 00:17:37 But obviously they're going to drop it when football is ramping back up and training camp's ramping back up and people are interested. Got to catch the hype of preseason. but I would like to take issue with the announcement video. It's like an April Fool's joke that they release in the middle of March. What are we doing Netflix? Get it together marketing team. And the quarterbacks just aren't good actors,

Starting point is 00:17:56 which actually is interesting because have you seen the thing where Jared Goff goes to like a community college or something? He's like supposed to be a walk. Yeah, like golf is pretty good in that. I think golf could be funny. Like you mentioned, you know, he's not obviously the level of quarterback that Burrow is and Cousins is neither, but Cousins is returning.

Starting point is 00:18:13 But golf, golf's a pretty funny guy. That was a pretty entertaining thing. So it could be cool to see some of that stuff too, I guess. Golf could help his profile the way Kirk did, I would say. Like I just, when Netflix had season one of quarterback, I mean, Kirk was really well, like. It was like, oh, man. Like, not that no one didn't like him, but I think they just understood him more.

Starting point is 00:18:38 And so, yeah, Jared, he could help his profile that way. It makes sense there. I also just going back to Joe turning it down and so he turned it down essentially two years ago it'll be two years in July And weren't there rumors before the season last year That he was on quarterback

Starting point is 00:18:55 I feel like I remember that at training camp People were talking about rumors about it Well so I heard I heard a couple times during the season That it was happening And but I like I What am I gonna do get the big scoop that Joe Burroughs on quarterback? Like I was just like all right Well like if he's on it he's on it he's on

Starting point is 00:19:12 I didn't notice like any extra cameras obviously they had hard knocks there very I didn't maybe they were like anything extra and I don't go out of my way to pay yeah I so I I do wonder also a lot of the quarterback stuff could be in his car could be going home could be going to and from and in that's you know at the at the at the facility inside behind closed doors when things aren't like that's what we want to see anyway like the the stuff that I see that's not why you're you're watching quarterback anyway. So hopefully that means that some juicy stuff and just pull back the curtain stuff.

Starting point is 00:19:49 It's coming our way starting in July. Yeah. Some of the off-field stuff, the reactions, that's what you want to see, the way he's living, get a little bit more of that personality. Not that we're lacking it with Joe, but you know what I mean. Anyway, let's get back to football here a little bit, James, off of Netflix and talk about trying to prioritize what we're hoping to see the Bengals do between now and the draft. as I talked about earlier in the show,

Starting point is 00:20:12 so they're not so desperate. Come draft time. We'll finish the show there coming up next. The NCAA tournament is here, and so is the Bracket Breakdown. Locked-on Podcast Network and Amazon Fire TV channels are teaming up to deliver NCAA tournament coverage

Starting point is 00:20:29 like never before. Watch studio shows featuring former players and Locked On's local experts as they guide you through every upset, buzzer-beater, and bracket matchup. Stream it all for free on Amazon Fire TV channel. Search Bracket Breakdown to see it all for.

Starting point is 00:20:43 free. It's your team every day. What's left, James? Many things to do on the list. What are they going to do? How will we prioritize it? How are they prioritizing it? They largely sat out the early part of free agency, got a new nose tackle, got a new LB3 slash special teamer in Orrin, Berks, who had a great run in the playoffs for the Eagles. Those moves were fine in a vacuum. They re-signed a lot of their own guys. There's some pretty clear, glaring needs on this team, to the point where people are even people who have praised the Bengals for bringing the receivers back

Starting point is 00:21:20 and aren't making the silly arguments about paying T. Higgins are like, can they field a real defense? Or is this going to be the same nightmare that they had in 2024? And then there are guard questions. And those are probably louder than anything else. What do we think they're doing? There's Trey Hendrickson still lingering as well? What do we think they should be doing, James?

Starting point is 00:21:42 Well, this might be a take. I would be like if they really have to like be focused on Jamar and tea and in like Jamar kind of hit it at this like yeah we we got close and then I said focus on tea and like if they have to be that like all right let's focus on this then this then this then this then I'm making tray wait and tray it's not personal I promise I want to pay you I would have probably already paid you but the reason I'm making you wait is because these three agents can sign anywhere anytime and they can be gone and so if they have to to be so tunnel vision and not being able to juggle. And I'm not saying that's the way they are,

Starting point is 00:22:22 but kind of felt that way with your warranty, right? And I get it same agent. Okay, fine. So it took a little bit. But my God, you need to add a starting guard. And there's only a few left, I would say, that you, you, because like if they add, like, I would be fine with them adding Shaq Mason, and I'm a little higher on him than you. But if they do that, then now I want them to, like, that's the that's the flyer on a veteran but that isn't the starting guard that you need to get like if they get tevin jenkins well then yeah signing shack mason instead of brandon shirf like i would understand that because you're spending on tevin jenkins and you also plan on drafting one at one point and where where do you think they are on tevin jenkins because a lot of people have been

Starting point is 00:23:05 asking he apparently did not sign in seattle i don't know if he even officially completed the visit but seems like, okay, so he completed the visit, didn't sign there. I think it's more than just his back and little injuries since then. I think the league has some other issue, and he had, like I said, a tumultuous time in Chicago, but it seems to me that the Bengals have moved on from entertaining Tevin Jenkins. Do you think that there's a chance that they're circling back there? It feels like they've moved on, but he's still available, and I knew they were interested. I know they were interested in last week.

Starting point is 00:23:41 And so if you're interested last week, someone needs to blink. And maybe the Bengals have just moved on. Or maybe they should be bringing them in for a visit now and get your medical team to look at them. Things are moving slow. Unless something has been unveiled behind the scenes that is just so scary that you can't bring him in, why wouldn't you? Why wouldn't you do it now?

Starting point is 00:24:06 That's why I would bring him in for a visit now? Because it's like, why would Seattle do that? And then they also brought in Dillon Radens, Radens, Radens, Redens, yeah. Radens, yeah, it's been a while, pre-draft North Dakota State, I believe. But I saw that and I was like, okay, well, what's up with Tavon? So I would still be interested. Now, is it the Bengals offer just was way lower than the Giants? Because the Giants, Seahawks and Bengals were interested.

Starting point is 00:24:38 the Seahawks were the only one so far to bring him in for a visit. The Giants are kind of waiting on Aaron Rogers, and I thought that that was kind of the holdup last week, but you can't wait forever. And they're looking at other quarterbacks and stuff New York is. So it's like, all right, well, what's going to happen here? And if I'm the Bengals, I'd still be interested in Kevin Jenkins. And what I would do, if you could find a 27-year-old,

Starting point is 00:24:59 that could potentially be a building block of your offensive line moving forward, well, then at that other guard spot, the right guard spot, the one I would be looking at, just because it seems like there's more right guards available. Honestly, you could go with a guy that has to prove himself a little bit in a shack mason. And he battle it out with a rookie if you draft one and go that route. I think there are options like that. At the same time, there are going to be people that say, yeah, Tevin Jenkins isn't a perfect fit and all those things. I think he would be better than what they've had at left guard or right guard.

Starting point is 00:25:34 So if you can add that for a reasonable number, I would still be in. Yeah, it's hard to argue that they can't get better than they were last year with the guys still out there. But as we've talked about these guys for the last, I don't know, week, they're all still available. Like, nobody's really signed in the last four days. Maybe one guard has signed. But of the guys that we've talked about, Kevin Jenkins, Brandon Sheriff, Dalton Reisner, Will Hernandez, is. Matt Pryor, another guy you could throw into the list as you get down the list, but those guys are still out there. And the Bengals sat out the Kevin Zitlers and the Patrick

Starting point is 00:26:15 McCarys and the James Daniels and Mackayette Bectins and Will Frize that were in free agency. Aaron Banks getting paid a ton of money. And now they're back at a spot where they just don't have a starter. So that takes me back to a rant that I went on last week, James, about hiring a GM somebody else at least so that they can try to work on more than one thing at once if that's truly what it is. But you cannot go into the draft with the current situation at Guard. And I argue further that you can't go into the draft, even if they bring in a low-end guy, like finding a real starter before the draft at Guard remains the top priority to me. Trey Hendrickson right there too.

Starting point is 00:27:03 I don't differentiate too much in priority between those guys, but if you had to pick one to do first, like you said, one is time limited, and the other one, if you need to wait a little bit, like a couple of days, it's potentially okay, although we should give an update, James, if we have one, on Trey Hendrickson, who we haven't heard about now for a couple of days, really. A couple of days ago was a lot of national report that the Bengals were getting back to the table with Trey Hendrickson

Starting point is 00:27:28 and opening those talks back up again. I don't know that there's been a ton of movement since then. The last update we gave was that this could still take a little bit of time unless the Bengals really up their offer and that brings it together. But is that still the sense you have, James? Yeah, these things can come together quick, but I haven't heard anything that was imminent. And there's been rumblings, I would say, on social media,

Starting point is 00:27:51 that things could happen. But I just don't get the sense that they're there yet. And this could have been, like the national stuff, it might have been like, all right, well, there's anticipation now. The Bengals lowered their, the salary cap hits of T. Higgins and Jemar Chase with these deals and they're going to make a run at Trey. And maybe that's happening right now as a recording. Like, this stuff does not have to take forever. And maybe they were strictly waiting to up their offer to Trey or the construction of that offer to Trey based on what happened with Javis. based on what happened with Jamar and T from a salary cap standpoint.

Starting point is 00:28:29 Maybe that was part of it. And I think this part is fair to say. The trade offers they've gotten were not, I don't even think they're close to getting them to consider, like seriously consider dealing trade. And they value them a lot. And so now it's about finding that value money-wise. It may be guaranteed money-wise. And yeah, I want to hammer this point.

Starting point is 00:28:55 home, I would prioritize Trey Hendrickson. But if waiting a little bit means you have a true starting guard or guards or another pass rusher and a guard, well, then I'm okay waiting a little bit because you need to improve your roster more. That Duke Tobin line from the combine, you don't want to just pay more for the same team. Feels pretty much like the same team right now. And just because you keep Trey, the same team. So now's the time to add.

Starting point is 00:29:22 and I really need to see them add soon. And the powers that B have to feel that way. I don't know how they couldn't deep down feel that way. So it's time to continue to push forward and add to this roster. Yeah, guard, Trey Hendrickson, and like pick a spot on defense. I don't actually really care which one at this point. Pick a spot on defense and inject a little bit of talent there. There's some good players, man.

Starting point is 00:29:50 Ideally, two spots. Multiple spots. Yeah. ideally more than one spot. But if you start with one, I'll start to feel better about it. Because I feel like we've been at this point in free agency the last few years. And there's been another move or two. Don't get me wrong.

Starting point is 00:30:02 But we've been at this point and we've kind of been expecting the one more thing to happen. And then it hasn't happened. And that can't be the story this year. That would be a failure on the part of the front office where they've done some good things in the last couple of days. Getting T and Jemar done doesn't take away. anything from getting those deals done that I'm still complaining about these other things. That's great.

Starting point is 00:30:26 Don't get me wrong. But there are legitimate questions about the defense and how much Al Golden is going to be able to do and how much is going to be on Al Golden's shoulders and will be his responsibility to turn this team around with the same personnel and how much is going to be on Scott Peter's shoulders to get Cordell Volson and Cody Ford into potentially starting guard shape.

Starting point is 00:30:47 Like those could be the stories we're talking about. I hate it. I hate this story. In addition to the idea of having to pigeon your hole yourself into drafting positions in places where I mean you're on Twitter today draft players not positions. You're out there screaming it from the rooftops. But we'll have plenty of time to talk about the draft as that comes in to clear focus as we get closer to the NFL draft.

Starting point is 00:31:11 And that's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Until next time, thanks for listening. Ho-Day. Have a good one.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - BURROW'S LIST | Cincinnati Bengals checking boxes on Joe Burrow's to-do list

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.