Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - CAP CRUNCH?! Bengals Facing MAJOR Contract Decisions, Including Joe Burrow Restructure

Episode Date: April 27, 2026

The Cincinnati Bengals have spent a lot of money this offseason, and adding Dexter Lawrence had Duke Tobin talking about a cap squeeze in his post-draft press conference on Monday. Jake Liscow and James Rapien break down the cap situation after Tobin drew attention to it Monday, including a potential Joe Burrow restructure, how Myles Murphy's 5th year option fits into their plans, and whether a veteran linebacker is a priority for a late offseason add.  Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengals Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Find and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-bengals-daily-podcast-on-the-cincinnati-bengals/id1159723162 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0lh0WmQl5fJVgtajs Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbG9ja2Vkb25iZW5nYWxz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwio_sXtj8nuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAg Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-bengals Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! 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. Rugiet Get 15% off your treatment → https://rugiet.com/lockedonnfl Rugiet. Performance medicine for men. 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.

Duke Tobin was very pleased with the Bengals draft, but the way he's talking about the Bengals spending situation might mean they're done with significant spending. Let's get into it. 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 Lockdown Bengals podcast. He's James Rapine. I'm Jake Liscoe. We are your host of the Lockdown Bengals podcast covering your Cincinnati. Bengals daily for years and years and years and years.

We've been covering this team for a long time and excited to do it after what was a fun draft weekend back with you. And Duke Tobin has met with the media for about a 40-minute presser following the Bengals draft. He had a lot to say about where the Bengals are in terms of spending and limits and challenges and where they've put all this money into the team. and acknowledging that the locker room doesn't care and all these things. They just want the best team out there.

Talked about how free agency went. And the Dexter Lawrence edition and the draft itself was asked about the linebacker position, of course. And I think that linebacker position is a question that's looming large for a lot of Bengals fans, James. And we will talk about that for sure in this episode. But one of the things that really stood out was the perhaps change tone about a potential. Joe Burrow restructure from Duke Tobin and the conversation around the restructure for Joe Burroughs contract and the possibility of freeing up some cap space by using that avenue. The conversation around Miles Murphy and the fifth year option for Miles Murphy,

those stood out a little bit to me, James, as I was listening to Duke Tobin on Monday. Yeah, the spending theme was very, very clear in are they done spending? to done spending for them. I wonder, I think it's something looking at this Bengals team after everything they've done. And they have spent a lot of money. They have made some significant additions, obviously, one, six, four, three hundred and fifty pound edition. That feels like it's changed everything. And so my question now is how much are they willing to spend moving forward from fifth year options to contract extensions to potential contract restructures?

which cost money. It costs money to restructure, but it gives them space. Will they use said space, even if they had it with the money that they have to take to restruct. There's layers to this, and I think it was really interesting

that during the 40 minutes, which, by the way, I want to praise the Bengals for, one, putting Steve Radissivik, putting Mike Potts, and putting Trey Brown in front of us. I thought that was really cool, and it was really cool for the fans,

because fans realized they have assistant GMs, and they've had to, that for a year now. I forgot about the title change for these guys, but they've had it for over a year now. Or right about a year. It was right after the draft last year. But the other element here is Duke Tobin talking after the draft. I loved it. And this was decided like a month ago. It's just, it's better because we can get him to talk about what they did, why they did it, the free agency and the draft and reflecting on the entire big meat of the offseason. And so that was good. But to me, I do wonder how much more they're going to spend.

And naturally with the borough restructure, you and I know that means you have to spend to clear that space. Yeah, they would have to take the salary for borough and convert it into a signing bonus, essentially. That doesn't necessarily mean that Burrow gets all that money right away. A lot of times these conversions come with a pay schedule that is akin to salary and it's simply accounting. Sometimes they do have a little bit more money paid up front. And so what exactly that would look like for the Bengals from a cash flow point of view remains to be seen if that is a bridge they choose to cross. But one thing Duke Tobin said that I don't agree with necessarily, but he's not entirely wrong.

As he said, the Bengals are at the top of the league in spending. And that's not exactly true, but it is true in the sense that they have the most active cap spending in the NFL, which includes $10 million of dead money, which isn't a ton. I mean, compared to the rest of the NFL, it's near the bottom, probably in the bottom 10 for dead cap hits this year. But there are $299 million in active cash or active cap spending. If you're going to look at cash spending, they're in the top 10. They're at eight right now, which is actually quite a lot for them. That is the highest they've ranked. And we'll see where the draft picks fit in, how that might change things because it well,

especially for teams that have multiple first-round draft picks. The Giants, for example, will spend a lot more cash once. those are accounted for in cash spending with two top 10 picks in particular. But right now, Bengals are eight in the NFL in cash spending, which, like I said, quite high for them. But I think what Tobin is talking about here are the cap challenges that the team has and the tight to cap issues that the Bengals have if they're looking at this year adding any additional players, any additional player that they add that's a veteran minimum is essentially free.

They can add veteran minimum guys to their heart's content. The only thing that sticks if they add guys to veteran minimum deals is whatever's guaranteed. So if they guarantee some signing bonus, signing bonuses are typically 100% guaranteed, then that would stick on the cap. But if they're just signing guys, so, you know, $1.1.2 million deals that are come in and see if you make the team kind of deals, they generally have a very, very minimal cap impact because it pushes somebody else off the roster. So when it comes to what the Bengals can do and why we're talking about this and why the borough restructure fits into this is say they wanted to go spend $6 million on a player. Say it's a linebacker just to pick one.

Say it's a swing tackle. Pick a different one, right? Like some positions where you can see them potentially spending a little bit of money, then they would have to restructure Joe because they would need that cap space this year. As of today, James, I'm actually uncertain whether or not they need to restructure Joe Burrow before the regular season arise. They're cap compliant all the way up until week one right now. And they might even be cap compliant in week one with no moves whatsoever right now. It would be really close. But as soon as they start making some in-season practice squad elevations, that's where they will have to probably do some maneuvering to remain cap-compliant.

So in that sense, Duke Tobin is correct. They are pretty inflexible, especially for them right now, in terms of where they're, they are against the cap this year. So when you're looking at adding a linebacker, when you're looking at adding a Noah Fant size deal, not necessarily a Noah Fant player, tight end, but that size of contract, that sort of thing might require the Bengals to get creative

and continue to, I think Duke used the words, like address challenges and be up to the task to maneuver within the cap to continue to add players here as the offseason continues. Yeah, I just hope that the design, the willingness from ownership. Like I get it. I understand that what they've done,

and they've done a lot and knowing how they think, like trading the 10th pick and adding a year to Dexter, after doing everything they did in free agency, and like it's a lot. I get it. But those extra moves, that extra move, think about what.

what Eli Apple meant, right? And it didn't cost a lot. Maybe that's it. Maybe you find the Eli Apple of linebackers. Or the Dalton Reisner of linebackers. No doubt. But don't wait until August. And I think that's it. And what they would say is, oh, well, Reisner's price was this or that, like maybe they would say that. Fine. But I also think that the perception, it's not just us that views the Bengals differently now than we did 10 days ago, 12 days ago, however you want to look at it. It's pre-decks and post-decks. And I think there's a real belief. There's a real jolt to the entire organization.

The NFL feels that too. It's not just us. It's not made up. In free agents, what is well? I mean, you got Jason Kelsey and Travis Kelsey talking about it on new heights. I mean, people pay attention when you take that kind of slink, for sure. No doubt. The locker room, most importantly, noticing it in a big way.

And so if you're a free agent and it's, X amount here, X amount there, and you have plenty of money at this stage of your career and you either want to ring or you want to win, that might be a leverage play that if you're the Bengals, you can use. And that's what I hope. I hope they're willing to spend enough to still get those type of deals done because those deals could go a long way. Yeah, they're back in the conversation for Jersey, or Jersey chasers, ring chasers for sure, like those guys at the end of their careers that are trying to put themselves in position to win one last time. Like they're squarely back in that conversation right now if they, if they left it.

I mean, they're always in that conversation, I think, because of burrow and the offense, but taking the serious steps they took on the defensive side of the ball this year, I think, makes it a more serious consideration for any player that is looking for those kinds of spots as they try to figure out where do I fit, where do I have a good opportunity, where can I help, where can I win as those veterans were making those decisions in the post-draft window. but what should we expect? What should we expect is next for the Bengals as they're considering their various options as the off-season program gets started here, it rolls on.

We'll continue the conversation with that conversation coming up next. The NFL draft, well, it's came and went. And when preparation meets opportunity and every decision matters, it's all about being ready when your moment comes. And that's a mindset applies off the field, too. And that's where Ruggiat comes in. Rousiette offers treatments designed to help you feel ready and confident when it matters most. Their top option, Rousiet Ready, is a mint that dissolves under your tongue with clinically proven ingredients.

It works quickly, often in about 15 minutes, can last up to 36 hours. And they also offer go-long, designed to help with both performance in control. It's all about showing up at your best or whenever your moment is. Head to Ruggiet.com slash locked on NFL and get 15% off your ED treatment. That's RUG-I-E-T.com. rougiette.com slash lockdown NFL for 15% off. Ruggiette, performance medicine for Matt. All right, Jake, let's keep the conversation going here.

And Duke Tobin discussed a bit of, there were layers to it. The Joe Burrow Contract Restructure, I think we should hear from him on that real quick. The idea that they would potentially could do it. Paul Dana Jr. asked about it. And you mentioned Duke's tone feels a little different. And I agree. I was in the room at the combo. when we asked this.

And he was like, yeah, if we feel like we need it, but we have plenty of resources, this feels just a bit different. Have you approached Joe Burrow about a restructure? Is that something you would do? Oh, those are things that we're working through after the draft. And again, we've layered in challenges,

but we're up to them. And we do it because we got the opportunity to add the right people and the right players. And those are challenges. that the locker room isn't interested in. They're interested in having the best team possible. And that's what we're trying to give them is the best team possible. So there's an acknowledgement here from Duke Tobin, I think,

that when it comes to adding really good players like Dexter Lawrence and putting together the best roster you can, despite his insistence that he tries his hardest every single year and is always trying to put the best team on the field, I think it's undeniable that this year is different and that something has changed. And he doesn't really want to acknowledge that in as many words. But the post Dexter Lawrence Impact has him discussing, yeah, well, that's what we're talking about now.

We're talking about this week now that we're through the draft. We're taking a look at our cap situation this year, next year. How does it tie into extension possibilities? Because they want to keep Dex and DJ. But Dax and DJ, sorry. But do they feel like they have the resources to do that? you know, and these things are all part of the conversation as they're looking head to next year's cap situation and projecting what their cap expenses will be next year. Next year, the Bengals still

have a ton of cap space. As of today, it's actually significantly less than I thought it would be about $58 million, but in effective cap space, more like $37.5 million because of the number of players under contract next year. So they do have to figure out the future cap implications for the Joe Burrow restructure because they've added significant future expenses with Dexter Lawrence. And that has a direct relationship to the Miles Murphy fifth year option as well, because that's not nothing. Miles Murphy fifth year option, I think I saw $24 million roughly for that.

And that is straight against the cap as well. That's a one year. It's like a transition tag or franchise tag and a lesser number, essentially. is what the fifth year option is. It's guaranteed single year money. So big cap allocation there for Miles as well. I do think that becomes a real discussion, not just a box to check now for the Bengals as you look forward. And part of that is, well, how do we handle the rest of this season and where we want to account the cap dollars for Joe between this year and future years? Yeah, I think that the Miles deal felt like a lot. Like I was asked about that like a week ago, by the way. It was funny because we talked about this months ago. It feels like years ago, but it was just a few months ago, Jake.

And in the deal, the discussion about the fifth year option. And I kind of just resigned myself, oh, it's going to happen. I still think it's going to happen. I don't know why you wouldn't. Here's what I wonder. He said, hey, we want him to be part of the long-term plan. Do you think they just try to extend him now and do it before that fifth-year option date? like literally this week and try to have that conversation right now.

I know you can extend them after the fifth year option. But if they just say, Miles, we're not sure on the fifth year option, but we're going to offer you three for 40 or something. I don't know. I don't know. I'm just throwing out a number.

Do you think that's part of it? Because it really doesn't make, like, I get it. But it's not like they're starving for cap space next year. Like they'll be okay. Yeah. I think it is tight. Like I said, they only have 28 players under contract.

track next year and projected around $59 million in Capspace, give or take, because Dexter Lawrence has $24 million next year. And that's a big difference between Dexter Lawrence and the first round pick, the first round pick that would have been at 10 instead of Dexter Lawrence would have a much, much smaller cap hit in 2027 than Lawrence well. Mafei has a $21 million cap hit next year. And then they'll probably have to look at some cap cuts, right? And we'll talk about that in the future, but there are some guys that they might end up cutting, depending on how they play this year. And I think I'm mistaken about the dollar number for Murphy.

I saw 24 somewhere. And I think that's more of a transition tag number, actually. Looks like the fifth year is like 14. 14.4. So maybe it's a typo in whatever I read that said 24.4. I must have misheard you. Yeah, it's 14.4. I swear I read 24.4 today.

And I thought in the last. minutes that seems high so i double checked it 14.4 um and so they're going to do it right i would think at 14.4 you do it but the 14 yeah i mean 24 24 is good a little bit different but at 14.4 then you're at 14.4 then you're at up to 29 players under contract and you're down to roughly 64 in cap space sorry other way 44 in cap space so you got to figure out your other, you know, 30 or so players that are going to play for you throughout the season with injuries and whatnot on a $34 million budget.

So it would be a less active, especially if you're talking about extensions for Dax and D.J., it'd be a less active period for adding external players next year. And that's what they're talking about. That's why Duke's talking about this stuff because adding Dexter Lawrence did have an impact, like a real actual impact in some ways, for how they're going to be able to maneuver with the cap.

Yeah. Yeah, I get it. Worth it. You can't find guys like that. They don't grow on trees. It's, uh, it impacts things. Also, you know what? It's probably the reason why you do the, the restructure with Joe. You can always roll over that cap. You don't have to use it all. Do it now. Roll it over if you need. And then that's it. And then you're flexible. That 40, whatever million, if you roll over all of it with Joe, which I don't think they would do. But it gives you another, what, 18, 19. million. So yeah, I lean that way anyway. Plus it might be backer time, which would be nice.

Like right now? Backer time? Backer. Backer. Backer. Like linebacker. Yeah, like right now. I would love it. I would love for it to be right now. I, you know, I, not that they need to do that. They don't. But I think they're always more leery and cautious about the captain. average. So you have to take that into consideration. Like they've really pushed it for them. Oh yeah. Right now. You know, but Duke Tobin is standing up there praising Katie Blackburn for the way that they were able to layer in spending and address all these challenges and those sorts of things that they really feel that from the outside looking in, we might see it a little bit differently, right? That for them is as pushing it big time and really feeling the impact of, paying tea, paying Jamar,

extending Orlando, paying Boye-Mafé, paying Dexter Lawrence, paying Brian Cook, adding Jonathan out. Like they're feeling those things, I think, when they're looking at how this thing projects them to next year. So it would be very interesting to see how they decide to approach cap management

for the rest of this off season and how that plays in with the potential need to add depth at tackle, to add depth especially at lineback. And that has been one of the most, frequently asked questions to Bengals' leadership since the draft ended in, the Bengals chose not to add a linebacker. A couple of undrafted free agents are on the list that we're expecting to see arrive in Cincinnati at the linebacker position. We'll see if those guys can make the team.

And that's, you're talking specialists, unless it's like guys that take huge unexpected steps. You're not counting on undrafted free agents to help, right? And so, well, they look externally for veteran health at linebacker. What did Duke have to say about the linebacker position? What did we hear about the linebacker position over the weekend? Let's dive into what might be next at linebacker coming up next. James, you were in all of the post-pick pressers with Steve Redisovich, like you said, and Mike Potts and Trey Brown, and you heard Duke Tobin today. And the most noteworthy quotes and discussions around linebacker, my mind came from Redisovich. And then again, today, from Duke. Where do you think the team is right now?

as far as linebacker outlook goes. I think that they are very much, if you go back to right before free agency, and we were kind of laying out the plans and what we preferred, I said I would prioritize safety and defensive line, like pass rush and safety. You got to fix safety because Gino Stone missed eight tackles

since we started recording today. And I just can't have that anymore. And pass rush is, King. Like, Duke Tobin is right. It is king. You need pass rush. You need to make quarterbacks feel you. You need to be able to stop the run. All of those things. Like, your defensive front just needs to be much better. And so if there was one thing that I was willing to not spend on, not address, it was linebacker because I wanted to prioritize those things. And they did that. That doesn't mean they weren't in on linebacker. And I keep trying to say it because there's so many people that are like, oh, well, they just turned a blind eye to linebacker. And I know for a fact that it's not true. Like for a fact, they were willing to draft linebackers. If the board fell a certain way, that didn't happen. And you mentioned Radisivik and what he said, that was part of it, is, yeah, it just didn't fall that way. But they were in onto free agent linebackers.

It didn't go that way. And then they pivot and they go in another direction. And by the way, that's part of the off season. And this is my preference. If I'm going to prioritize something, I need to short up the back in and stop making so many darn mistakes back there. And you need to have a dominant front. Like, that's a lot of people would probably agree. but that doesn't mean that they don't want to get better at linebacker.

That also doesn't mean that they're going to throw their guys under the bus. And a lot of people struggle with that. They're not going to say, oh, well, Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight had a lot of tackles, but they can't play. Now, do they think that those guys are serviceable enough and nice enough people and hard enough workers to be serviceable with a better front? Sure, no doubt. But right now they don't have another option because the options that they were eyeing, for one reason or another, it didn't get done. And so that's really how I view it.

And that's why the money thing, it's all tied together, because how much are they willing to invest there, knowing everything else that's invested, and can they get one of these veterans that they feel like an upgrade? And I'm not sure how many are left that they still feel that way. I guarantee you it's not zero. So how they do that, how they navigate those waters is going to be interesting. Yeah, a lot of fans connecting them to Bobby Wagner.

We'll see. I would be very surprised. if it is Bobby Wagner. Come on. Come on, Jake. Don't do that. Don't do me like that. You not be surprised, James?

I hate that you. I love that you did that to me. I also hate it because you're right. It doesn't feel like they called Bobby Wagner today for a visit. Does it? Like it just didn't feel that way. I didn't get that vibe from Duke. I hope it's true, especially with the compensatory stuff lifting.

you're going to get your comp pick for Trey. Talk about a way to navigate the offseason, completely upgrade your roster. You cap it off with Bobby Wagner. I know he can run and tackle, and he'll be able to do that. Even if he's not as good sideline to sideline, he's going to be able to hit and tackle and do that at a high level, which the Bengals, by the way, they led the NFL and mistackles by 39 last year. And Gino Stone's gone, but Barrett Carter and Demetrius Knight's were big pieces of that as well.

That's such a big number. 39 more than the command were second. That's such a big number. And it should be better, but that's such a big number. Would you just listen to the number and think about, man? And that's just more than the second place. Yeah. I have a couple thoughts here.

And then I want to finish up with like what we think they might do. But first thought, I agree with you 100%. To say that they didn't want to add at linebacker is to look at what they actually got done and to ignore what they tried to do. And it's much harder to say what they tried to do because that doesn't become public. But we've talked a lot about the feeling both in the building and from us that their plan didn't get close to plan A in free agency. And they pivoted a number of times.

I think one of the significant late pivots was they realized they weren't going to get a linebacker that they were willing to pay starting level money to at some point. And then Jonathan Allen was. released and then they pivoted to Jonathan Allen and they went that way instead of paying big money to a linebacker. They decided we're going to go get a guy that can get pass rush from the three tech. And Duke talked about wanting to add pass rush from the three tech today on Monday when he was addressing you guys down at Paycor for his post draft presser. So I think that's part of it is they did try and they didn't succeed. They pivoted. They went elsewhere. I think they tried at

linebacker. They also, and Redisovich said it and Duke said it. We didn't go into it saying we're not going to add a linebacker. It wasn't the plan not to add a linebacker. It's just Duke said it's opportunities that come up. Duke also said probably the best thing we did for our linebacker room is what we know for the defensive line room. And that's fair.

And that's going to elevate those guys. And that's my second thing is the type of players that they add in Cassius Howell and Boye-Mafé are a different type of player than Shamar Stewart. and Miles Murphy, where those guys are going to be your hard edge setters and probably playing on the strong side of the formation, probably reducing inside the tight end a lot more. Cassius Hal, when I watched him last night, James, one of the first things that stood out to me is how much he did drop

and peel with the lineback or peel with the running back on a wheel or just drop into coverage. And that's part of his game. And one of the things that they really emphasized with the linebackers, just not wanting to put Demetri's side on the line of scrimmage anymore. letting him play in a true off ball alignment. And the Cassius Howl addition could give them the flexibility to do just that with Cassius Howl. Maybe Boye Amafé they think can do some of that as well.

And some of these guys they think can just do some of those roles. Now, would I still like to see them add a true offball linebacker? Yeah, unambiguously, yeah, because of what we saw from these guys last year. Is it fair to expect them to take a second year step? Also, yes. When I looked at how linebackers progress from year one to year two, there's a pretty significant improvement across the league, according to PFF grades at least,

for guys to get significant playing time in year one and year two. So it's fair to say based on recent history that those guys should get better. But despite all that, I think it would be prudent for the Bengals to add a leader and a veteran to that room. And whether that's like Matt Milano or Bobby Akerichay, or even the other Bobby Wagner, who we earlier said we don't think is likely. Any of those guys, any of those guys kind of do that for you a little bit, right? And they provide that serviceable, even if they're limited in different ways, right?

And Wagner, you said he can run and hit. He can run downhill and hit. He can't really run. Yeah, I mentioned the sideline. Yeah. Yeah. But he can be a leader and hit and help get those guys in the right spot, you know. that's a doubt all the Bengals added a downhill thumper like if you just say it that way great like

it's a lot of what C.J. Allen would have brought him like like it's not the only thing I'm not but like that's a lot of it so yeah I I hope just just a tad more you're almost there you're at mile 23 of the offseason marathon you got to just you got to power through now you cramp it up a little bit don't stop now you can wait to use the bathroom just come on Did you see the news about the sub two-hour marathons that happened over the weekend? Big, biggest feat out of anyone over the weekend by far in athletics. It's unbelievable. It's crazy.

I have a friend who works for Nike on training teams and working with athletes and stuff. There is some suspicion around the times. I'll say that. That's what she told me. But pretty crazy regardless of what happened there. If it's accurate, if it's accurate, it is like it feels like it. impossible like it feels like a robot that's a four minute 30 second average for 26 miles man that's unbelievable like most people aren't touching a four minute 30 mile in their life

and these guys did it for the most like 99 percent like a very few people get to 4 30 mile I never did I got sub five and I felt great about it yeah my peak so should feel great about it Let's close on this thought. How would you handicap the odds with the Bengals had a veteran linebacker between now and say the end of the first week of training camp? Oh. Do you think it's likely? Yeah.

Yeah, I do. I do. I think that they, one of these guys will kind of put out feelers to them worst case, even if they're like, we're just done. Like if you're Matt Milano, you're going to look at that lineback room and be like, yeah, they think I can't play. let me go there and I'm show him. You know, like, and he needs a ring.

He doesn't have a ring. Like, there's going to be someone like that. Maybe it is okay or okay. Maybe it is. What about, uh, did Shaq, um, Thompson? Yeah, did Shaq Thompson sign? I don't know. We did talk about him when we were looking at the veterans that were still out there.

No, you're still out there, man. Like that's, wonder if some of these guys are going to retire to. That's always a question at this time of year. Yeah, you're right. Retire. Or get motivated by the four-minute-and-32nd mile guy and finish the marathon strong with a Super Bowl. Yeah.

There we go. Analogy all the way around. Boom, full circle, full orbit, because everything revolves around who? Sexy-dexy. Yeah, Joe Burrell. There's a, there's two-body problem. Yeah.

I'm thinking defense, man. Fair enough. We will get back to the draft a little bit here in the next couple of days. We're going to get into some draft grades. We're going to talk to the Bengals assistant GM, formerly director of college scouting. Mike Potts, a regular visitor with us after the draft and find out his thoughts about some of the guys they drafted. We'll ask a little bit about the process. I'm sure we'll talk to him about linebacker.

That'll be a little bit later this week. The next episode will be draft grades. Everybody's favorite right after the draft. everyone can yell at us about how no one knows how good a draft is going to be for three years. Because there's always somebody every year. Yeah. And I get it. That's not entirely wrong.

But that's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Until next time, thanks for listening. Who today? And have a good one.