Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - The Bengals Still Have TOO MANY Holes IF They’re Done Adding in Free Agency

Starting point is 00:00:00 We've reached that point in the free agency process where we have our first report that indicates a Bengals might be done. Are they done? Really? The Bengals? Done? Adding talent and free agency? 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. Well, up Bengals fans. And welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day, and the number one sports podcast network in the land. He's James Rapine. I'm Jake Liscoe.

Starting point is 00:00:39 We're your host of the Lockdown Bengals podcast covering your Cincinnati Bengals every day going all the way back to 2016, and we sure have seen this team do some stuff in that time. We would have liked to have seen them do more stuff over the last week as there's a report from The Athletics Paul Danaer Jr. That says the Bengals are done making big additions. And if you listen to all the way to the end of the show yesterday, you heard where I think they're at in terms of how they see their cap,

Starting point is 00:01:08 how they see their cash budget, why those things make sense. They haven't changed the way they do business as far as restructuring any contracts ever. They still have never done it. If there was ever going to be a time, it was Joe Burrow this year with all of the pressure that was heaped onto this offseason. And the way we started yesterday's show was by praising the guys that they did at. We like the signings they made, but if this is indeed it, we just spent an entire show, James, on the guys out there that would still help this team. And believe it or not, you can still sign free agents.

Starting point is 00:01:39 It's Monday at 410 p.m. And right as we started recording, James of San Francisco 49ers signed Christian Kirk to a one-year, $6 million deal. So it turns out you can still sign guys. And would have liked him, by the way. There we go. Shocker. Why not? I mean.

Starting point is 00:01:56 Frenchman likes receivers. Kenchman likes Christian Kirk because obviously he's a great blocker and helps the trenches out. I don't know if that's true. I have no idea how Chris stretch the field. He can stretch the field to open up the running lanes. Yeah, the Bengals need that. They do. So we have this report, James, that the Bengals are done with big additions and free agency. That seems to align with where we see their cap situation right now with the caveat that has been there all along that if they actually wanted to spend more money this off season, They could still, and they could have structured the contracts differently for Boy A. Mafei, for Brian Cook. And we haven't seen Jonathan Allen's details yet, but probably for Jonathan Allen too, when we eventually see that one. And they still have the restructure lever that they could pull, but no indication that they will. Unless it's for something totally unforeseen.

Starting point is 00:02:48 Like maybe they are actually talking to the Raiders about Max Crosby, and that's what they're holding on to right now. I don't know. But if they are done, that would be pretty short of, I think, the expectations in the building and certainly our expectations, again, liking the guys that they've done, the guys that they have gotten done, the guys they have signed. But we just talked about all these things that they haven't done. And that was only the beginning of the list. It's believable like when you look at history.

Starting point is 00:03:24 But, man. if you look at like where they're at what they could be risking it is far more risky to take this approach this oh my goodness let's not push any cap into the future even though we have a ton of it approach where we don't restructure anyone where we don't really push the envelope like there's a real scenario jake and we know this and so we can say it where they would have ended up with the number one safety and the number one linebacker in free agency. Like, assuming you thought Devin Lloyd and Cook were the number one at the respective positions.

Starting point is 00:04:03 Like, that's not that outlandish. And when you look at the contracts, not that outlandish to think, oh, well, they could have done that. And that wasn't necessarily my preference from a, this is what you should target because I am trench man. And trenches do matter. And that's where my focus was. I wanted three additions to the trenches.

Starting point is 00:04:23 they've gotten two so far. But, like, that could have happened. And they could have realistically done that. And so to think that they could be in on a Devin Lloyd after adding Mafe, after adding Brian Cook, the number one safety that was certainly in our rankings, but I think number one safety available in free agency, like, that would have felt huge. and this was the time, this was the offseason, this was the free agency to do that. Because this isn't just reloading.

Starting point is 00:05:01 Like last year was the time to reload. This was like completely revamping. And oh my goodness, like you just need a complete facelift overhaul. Trey's gone. Obviously, DJ's been long gone. Jesse Bates has been long gone. Mike Hilton's gone. Like all these guys, Cheeto is now plays, now the enemy.

Starting point is 00:05:21 Like all these guys that were. part of that Super Bowl foundation, that Super Bowl core, you got BJ Hill and you got that I want to not include Logan Wilson or Jermaine Pratt, but you get my point. It's like it's reload. No, it's rebuild. You had to rebuild the defense completely. And so this really doesn't say much about their additions. Like I like Boya Maffa.

Starting point is 00:05:42 I think Cook is a huge upgrade over Gino Stone who just whiffed in Buffalo. He tried to tackle a chicken wing and missed 10 seconds ago. It's play by play there. And I get, even with the Jonathan Allen deal itself where we still don't have the numbers, but it's like, man, that's still a lot of money for declining Jonathan out. I get the fit. I understand the fit. And I'm okay with it.

Starting point is 00:06:07 It's just not enough. It's just not enough. And when you think about, man, they could have had a Devin Lloyd. And if you just throw Lloyd in and it's like a top tier free agent, well, then yeah, okay, maybe you could get by with foreign. instead of five. Maybe you could sell me on that. And you just signed an edge, a lower end edge that doesn't have some upside. But now like, all those dudes are gone at linebacker. There are no difference makers. And they wanted one. And I want to make that clear to our audience. Like,

Starting point is 00:06:37 this was not something that people in the building were okay with. They did not want to sign some complimentary piece at linebacker. They want a real dude. And they didn't get a real dude. And that's a problem. Everyone you heard from at the combine acknowledged that line Backer needed an injection of veteran talent, a leader. Leadership was underlined numerous times in that room. Maybe that's where Bobby Wagner still makes sense down the road. I don't know what Bobby Wagner's asking prices, but if he's in their price range, if he doesn't have a market, he certainly has the leadership qualities you would be looking

Starting point is 00:07:11 for in that room. The thing that makes it, you know, a little irritating is that the Cincinnati Bengals are doing this thing more than ever, by the way, because people get honest sometimes. are like, why did you expect any differently? Well, I think this is pretty unprecedented for the amount of cap hit inflation in year one that we've seen with these external free agents. The Boye-Maffei deal, $17 million year-one cap-hit on a $20 million annual per year number is, and Joe Goodberry put this together, 85% of his APY is the cap hit in year one.

Starting point is 00:07:47 That's the most in the NFL by 6% ahead of Brian Cook, who's second in the NFL for any free agent in terms of inflating that year one cap hit, his cap hit is just under 80% of his APY. The next biggest are Tennessee contracts and Las Vegas contracts, guys that aren't paying quarterbacks or teams that aren't paying quarterbacks in the low 70s, high 60s. The Bengals previously lived in the 60 to 70% range for the most part. And if they did that on Boye Maffei and Brian Coney,

Starting point is 00:08:21 We would be talking about the Bengals having another player, most likely, or certainly the cap space for another player, a starting level player on this defense. And so that's why we talk about stuff like contract structure. That's why this stuff is important to us. That's why when Duke laughs it off, it's really irritating. And it's really hard to see that as any other spin then because it's the same cash, right? It's not changing the cash just to get that clear. these players aren't getting paid more in year one.

Starting point is 00:08:53 It's just that the Bengals are accounting for more of that money in year one. And so if they would save those couple million bucks, that's four or five million dollars that they could have saved against the cap this year, which is enough for another player. If you were to use that 60% of APY model, that means you can get a solid starting player at linebacker or a solid rotational edge. The Arnold Ebikati deal would have fit really nicely into that. And I'm not sure if it's because ownership has a reputation for playing hardball,

Starting point is 00:09:27 if they're just playing hardball with all of these agents and all of these players trying to get the deal they want to win the deal. But if they're done, they really don't have any excuses. Other than they fail to secure some players that perhaps they wanted. And maybe this is where the comp pick came into things. And we said numerous times, all can't be playing the comp pick game. And maybe they started playing the compic game.

Starting point is 00:09:54 Maybe that started to be a factor the further into free agency we got. They signed John Allen after he was cut. It doesn't count against the comp pick formula. So some evidence there, right? But I don't think that's the entire story. If they are, in fact, done, we'll continue that conversation coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Indeed. And look, workplace chaos, deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing,

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Starting point is 00:11:07 Again, that's Indeed.com slash podcast, Indeed.com slash podcast for that $75 sponsor job credit. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. That's a job for Indeed, sponsored jobs. Yeah, Joe, let's get to this comp pick thing because this was my stuff. Joe. I'm thinking of, oh, my goodness. I was thinking to Joe Burrow.

Starting point is 00:11:30 Because can you imagine of what? I literally, during the Indeed sponsor jobs, I'm like, can you imagine what Joe Burrow thinks of a comp pick? Like, like, dead serious, like going to Joe being like, all right, Joe, that's where that comes from. We have secured a potential comp pick for Trey Hendrickson. We'll be able to use that. That's a nice asset. we're not going to target Joey Bosa or Judevian Clowny, the guy that's hit the hell out of you as a member of the Ravens and the Browns

Starting point is 00:12:03 and the Chargers, we're not going to target him. Dante Fowler, former top five picks could give us some juice there on the edge. We're not going to target him and insert whatever linebacker you think is still good. We're going to be able to address these things in the draft, Joe. I always come back to that because that's where this should be a factor. If Andy Dalton's your quarterback and it's 2017 and you're trying to reload, I get it.

Starting point is 00:12:35 This is kind of the free agency that you're probably doing. This is what they should have done then in 2017 because there really wasn't a window. Right now there's a giant window and it should be wide open with a bunch of metal, not wood two by force, metal two by four is holding it open because they have Joe Burrow at quarterback. That championship window should always be open.

Starting point is 00:12:59 No one should be able to shut it. And that's what this offseason should have been about. And free agency should have been about. And we just haven't gotten enough in the comp pick part of this, the fact that Paul mentioned it in in his article, I think it's one of our biggest fears is, oh, hey, we got this comp pick for Trey Hendrickson, who gives us going to get me in trouble? Who gives a damn if you're getting a comp pick for Trey Hendrickson? Clearly that's at least on their radar. I don't know if it was initially. I think at some point in the week it became a thing that they started thinking about.

Starting point is 00:13:34 Hate it. I'm not justifying it. I'm just adding more of my belief into this because the players that we thought they were in negotiations for and maybe it's the timing that we don't have right. Maybe they pivoted from one of these guys to another one of these guys when one of the deals fell through. But we know they wanted to add edge and pass rush and they added two guys there. We know they wanted to add a lineback. They haven't figured it out, but we know they talked to numerous linebackers. At least three or four of the linebackers that were available. And they didn't get those deals done.

Starting point is 00:14:06 So like at some point, the comp pick idea to them must have outweighed the benefit of signing another guy that qualifies for the foreman. which yeah i mean when you say it out loud like that and and you think about the stakes for this year hey joe it sounds pretty crazy and then it sounds crazier when you look at their history of drafting players in the mid to late 90s which is where the cop pick would be and i'm including their picks at the end of the third round from the years they picked at the end of the third round they have the 95th pick a couple times the last cop pick they had in the third round was mckinley jackson before that at 95 the pick jordan battle you could call Jordan Battle, a successful pick. Before that, it picked

Starting point is 00:14:48 95. They picked Zach Carter, who was cut in year two of his rookie deal. Before that, we would have to go all the way back to it's a while. I'm scrolling. Paul Dawson, P.J. Dawson, Paul Dawson,

Starting point is 00:15:04 linebacker from TCU. That was perfect. That was the next perfect. He was supposed to be so good. He ran my Jake Liscoe. In 2015, did he even make the team? He did it for a year, I believe. But it was rough. And then toward the end of the third round in 2012, they picked Brandon Thompson.

Starting point is 00:15:23 That wasn't a comp pick, but it's kind of in that range. The Bengals do not have a history of drafting very well late in the third round where these cop picks land. They've been, and that's probably noise, right? Like they drafted Carl Lawson 116 in 2017. That was a great pick. So, you know, there's probably a little bit of noise there. They drafted a Keene Davis Gaither in the fourth round in 2020.

Starting point is 00:15:48 I think that was a good pick. Fine. Yeah. Cordell 136, end of the fourth. It's a solid pick. You know, like, it's not like they can't draft at all there, but like it's not a sparkling track record at the end of the third round, even if there is some noise kind of cluttering this picture up. It's, I brought this analogy up and it's, you can't worry about the cost of a comp pick at this.

Starting point is 00:16:13 at this point when you're trying to make your team better to compete for a championship. And you're right, maybe we have our wires crossed where they were in on, in on Lloyd and also in on Mafei and in on Quay Walker, in on Cook, in on JFM. But the plan was, all right, well, JFM didn't take it. We're pivoting to cook and we'll get that deal done. And Moffey took it, so we're not going to go after Lloyd anymore. And that's it. Like maybe it was like that.

Starting point is 00:16:40 but if it's like that, then you guys are idiots because it shouldn't have been like that. Like even if that's what it was, it's ridiculous. And I do think it's important to point out that the desk that kind of settled on Monday and you get into Tuesday and then Trey signs Wednesday morning or agrees to his deal Wednesday morning

Starting point is 00:16:58 and the talent is kind of gone and they're looking like, oh, we have a comp pick now, like a real, like a real third rounder. Obviously Cordell impacted it too. And that's what I'm saying. about the midweek change is like once he signs and they and they and they kind of look around and see who's still out there and like are any of these guys really worth giving that up and that could be their thought for us not that there's pros and cons to it we don't agree with it this year especially

Starting point is 00:17:23 there are benefits to getting complex having draft picks is good don't get me wrong but like how this isn't the time you know there's a time in a place that's it it's one thing if you're so talented you have so many so many guys that you can't keep all of them that is not the bangles like I promise, like, this is, and we'll get to grades, but like, any objective person is going to look at the Bengals and be like, oh, well, yeah, they, their additions are pretty nice. Like, they all make sense. And then they're going to be like, am I really buying into that team, though? It is, how golden better be the best defensive coordinator in the league if this team is the team that you're charting out there with. and Duke and all these guys who can say, you know, and Katie will say this too if she's,

Starting point is 00:18:15 oh, well, our team isn't complete. Obviously, we had the draft. And I just look at it, Jake, and I'm like, why? There's a lot of guys that I would be interested in still enough to not worry about the 100 second pick of the 27 NFL draft. When you don't know what Mr. L.A., Joe Burrow, is going to be feeling, what Jamar is going to be feeling, how many healthy years he has, let's just say he wants to be in Cincinnati forever. Okay, well, what if he is super healthy this next year, but you just don't have enough on your roster,

Starting point is 00:18:51 which is a very real scenario. For the X straight year, third, fourth, you know? Yeah. Like, by the way, if they had enough on the roster last year, he returned in time for that to be a real thing and for them to go on a run in a wide open AFC, where Drake May somehow got to the Super Bowl when he had one of the worst four game stretches

Starting point is 00:19:11 in the playoffs that probably any quarterbacks had that somehow went three and one. It's up there. Yeah. Yeah, it's unbelievable. And this isn't to mention, again, this gets buried, has been buried, doesn't mention interior offensive line depth, tight end depth. They lost their tight end two

Starting point is 00:19:29 and Noah Phant. They lost Lucas Patrick. That was their veteran interior offense, and they didn't do anything to upgrade on Cody Ford. They have lost a corner. They are down to defensive end right now because they lost two. They got way better at safety. They got better on the defensive interior. Boy, my favor, replaces Trey Hendrickson.

Starting point is 00:19:46 And Cedric Johnson, I guess, goes into the role that Cam Sample had, or at least that's the depth chart right now. And they still have time to add, obviously, in the draft. And there are some guys that they have signed around this time in free agency. So we'll go through that list as well. But when you lay it all out, they were never going to do everything, but they could have done more. They still can do more. So if they're in fact done, it's going to be a little bit grim when we talk about grades. And then we'll regrade, of course, if they do more.

Starting point is 00:20:16 And time always is the ultimate arbiter of who wins free agency. But we'll make sure we cover the history of additions in this time range and wrap up the show with our remaining thoughts coming up next. Today's show is brought to 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 just you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You can buy or sell your positions live all game long.

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Starting point is 00:21:30 Event contracts are offered by Robin Hood derivatives LLC, a registered futures commission merchant in swapfront. James, the Bengals history of signing players around this time in free agency is actually pretty solid. A bunch of guys that were relatively happy with on pretty small deals. So you go all the way back to 2020 and on day eight of free agency, which we determined is today, right? As of the time of us recording, this is day eight on Monday. That's Josh Binds in 2020. The next day they signed Von Bell in 2020.

Starting point is 00:22:05 So a couple of good additions late in the process there. McKenzie Alexander was also day eight that year. We found a little slot corner help. And that was a guy that we were pleased with, them signing at that point in time. You go to 2021, quit in Spain on day nine of free agency. I like it. We had the LC, Lyle Collins, Kenwood Town Center saga on day seven of free agency in 2022. In 2023, it was a number of late additions.

Starting point is 00:22:34 We had Max Sharping on day eight, Sydney Jones on 14, and Irv Smith on day 17 well into free agency. Some less exciting players, but yeah, I mean, none of those guys made a big impact. And then in 2013- Irv. Irv specifically.

Starting point is 00:22:52 Like he's the one with a tight end. It's huge width, yeah. 2024, it was Trent Brown on day eight. So they find a swing tackle that year. A guy that if he had been healthy, might have delayed him Mariusman's getting on the field, but he has played good. of football since then.

Starting point is 00:23:08 He still has something in the tank when he's on the field. Wish he was on the roster now. Wish he was on the roster now. Of course, in 2025 Dalton Riser very, very late. Noah Phant, very, very late after he was cut. The Bengals have made those kinds of additions recently in those couple of guys. But the reason I wanted to illustrate all these guys and list all these guys is that they do add some guys when they can get them at an advantageous price tag at this part

Starting point is 00:23:32 of free agency. So there's a guy that they look up and they're like, oh, yeah. So and so, so, so often. we really like that, then they might be on that. Bob Bill was 26. McKenzie Alexander was 27. So for the most part, the bigger contract has been on younger guys. Josh Binds was 31, though.

Starting point is 00:23:47 Quentin Spain was 30. Elsie was 29 and Trump Brown was 31. So some shorter term deals for some of the older guys on this list. Yeah. It's a decent, decent options overall. I think, can you find that in the answer to me would be yes. Like I think like Jadavia and Clowny could easily be that. If you wanted to go a tier lower, fine.

Starting point is 00:24:16 But I also wonder if the Bengals are like, yeah, we could just wait until that window where a lot of these veterans are just out there until you don't have to, these veterans don't count against the compensatory pick formula and go that route. The problem is a lot of these guys are going to be gone then. And I just think with the talent at edge, you should be able to add some juice there because it's not enough. Like a lot of people are viewing Edge like, oh, well, they didn't have Trey anyway. And it's like, Trey was on pace for 10 sacks last year.

Starting point is 00:24:46 Do the math, four and seven, right? It's like 0.57 sacks per game. I already did the math. It would have been 10 sacks if he played all 17 games. I think he would have gotten more. But you're still losing that. Now you don't have that. We don't know what Shamar Stewart is.

Starting point is 00:25:01 Like, get some more juice. It's not like we got to, Murphy is. Didn't get a big vote of confidence in Shamar's, from Jerry Montgomery on Jeff Hopson's article either. Like he has to have a big off season. He has to show up, ready to go. He has to love football. You know, that's what we heard from Jerry Montgomery, Bush, Mark Stewart.

Starting point is 00:25:19 And that's, I haven't talked to Jerry. But if I'm Jerry, I'm pissed. If I'm Mike Hodges, the linebackers coach, I'm pissed. If I'm out golden. Like, I haven't talked to any of them, right? I'm just, I would be so mad. And yet I would look and say, hey, look, there's still guys.

Starting point is 00:25:40 Like, we, we can still make this happen, make this work. And so just tying it all together, I wonder what Tyson Anderson gets. I know there are teams interested in him. Joe Flacco does a team sign him? Because if so, it will count against the comp pick formula. Cam Taylor Britt, probably not going to count in the comp pick formula. Like, I think this is the problem with the comp game is if you do this, if you put yourself in it, then it really gets,

Starting point is 00:26:10 oh, well, this versus that and that versus this. And it may be the reality here where, oh, the Bengals are more comfortable signing an edge of Tyson signs elsewhere. Or if Flacco gets picked up, and I think it's more likely than ever after the Kansas City Chiefs trade, that Flacco returns.

Starting point is 00:26:28 And there's just less and less spots where you could see Flacco going. Now, maybe he just goes to Pittsburgh, and that's a moot point, but there's not many out there. So, yeah, it's, it's tough. I hope that they

Starting point is 00:26:41 add one of these day nine, day eight additions that were looking back like, man, that was a game changer. Because they can, to your point, following their history, you can add someone that matters in a big way at this stage of free agency,

Starting point is 00:26:58 even if it's not something that we're holding in as high regard as they might behind the seats. Yeah, I mean, even Jonathan Allen, I mean, he got paid a lot. this isn't exactly fit, but Jonathan Allen kind of fits in this mold of like the veteran on a short-term deal who wasn't option A, but certainly has something left in the tank. And maybe you get him in a better scheme fit.

Starting point is 00:27:21 Maybe you can play to his strengths a little bit more. Maybe you can rotate him a little bit more. Like there are two positions, and this is probably a conversation for tomorrow, there are two positions where to me they're unambiguously better. And that's safety and defensive tackle. I do think that they're much better at safety. I think they're deeper and better at defensive tackle. It's maybe not a huge upgrade, but I do think Jonathan Allen is an upgrade. And maybe they get more help from development.

Starting point is 00:27:46 Maybe they get somebody in the draft. Defensive end, you effectively went from Trey Hendrickson and Joseph Osai to Boyer Mafei and Sedric Johnson. And maybe a draft pick. If they can get Ruben Bain in the first round or David Bailey in the first round, then maybe you're feeling good about Edge. And maybe this is a conversation that we're having later this week, James. Like who are the ideal picks in the first three rounds of the draft,

Starting point is 00:28:09 given what they've done in free agency? Like who are the ideal players as of now? And it will probably change next month. Yeah. That would make them better now and into the future. But that they didn't substantially improve linebacker, that they didn't substantially improve or even replace the bodies on the edge, that they didn't replace the guys they're losing on offense,

Starting point is 00:28:31 at depth spots or try to improve death-wide receiver. And there's still time for them to do this, but like all these other little things that they didn't do, that's going to be a big impact compared to where our expectations were. And again, you go back to a week and a half ago for where we set the standard for this free agency period. We got it on the record before free agency opened. And they haven't hit that mark.

Starting point is 00:28:52 And so it's going to be a potentially grim picture here, James, barring further action when we get around to grading this group of free agents and this free agency period for the Bengals so far. And it sucks because I like their additions. Yeah. You know, like, well, that's what elevates it, right? That's what makes it better than it could have been. Some.

Starting point is 00:29:13 The crazy part is, is like I was thinking about 10 earlier today in the 10th pick, and it's like the Bengals draft for need. And it's like, yeah, their big needs are edge, nickel corner, linebacker. You can address any of those at 10 because Caleb Downs would do that. Like if you draft Downs 10, part of his role is playing that nickel spot at least a significant amount of time. And then obviously, Ed, you're talking about Rubin Bain or someone else, Falk, or people that you don't necessarily want.

Starting point is 00:29:40 And then defensive tackle with Banks's injuries, probably Peter Woods. But I don't think. Well, man. But, but man, by the way, I think I'm with you. We haven't even talked about that. I think I'm dead set with you. But that's wild to me. Like the corners are outside guys.

Starting point is 00:29:58 And what if they draft one of the outside? guys because they're trying to negotiate two extensions right now. They're like, ah, you know what? We'll pay one and we'll get another on a rookie deal. Like that would be very Bengals, you know? And it's probably not getting better. You're doing that Bengal slide. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:30:13 And guess who's not down to do that bengal slide? You know who's not down for that? Joe Burrow. Joe Burrow ain't doing the bengel slide. Only if it's in the end zone at the Super Bowl. That's, uh, end zone at the Super Bowl. Yeah, with significant additions. Free agency is paramount, Joe Burrow said.

Starting point is 00:30:30 the Bengals thinking about comps. Maybe or I hope I'm wrong. I mean, there's no good way to spend it, unfortunately. It's either comp picks or they didn't pay enough money or guarantees got in the way or you're playing hard ball or players don't want to come play in Cincinnati. Like any of the interpretations are not great. If they had signed Lloyd, let's just say they've done what they've done, but they also have Devin Lloyd.

Starting point is 00:30:55 How much different are you feeling? I feel much different. Totally different. Okay. I'm just making sure. Like that one thing, Katie, that one thing changes everything. Yep. And instead now, people are like, Sonny Stiles at 10, please.

Starting point is 00:31:10 He's more likely to go second than he is 10 probably. Goodness. Well, we'll talk to. I think that'll be a topic this week, barring further action from the Bengals is like the ideal first three rounds. And some of the players that would some of the combinations of players that would be the best first three rounds, we're also going to have to grade this group and talk about why we arrived at those conclusions. And if they sign somebody, of course, we will have you covered right here on lockdown Bengals. But that's going to do it for this episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast. Until next time, thanks for listening.

Starting point is 00:31:39 Ho-Day. Have a good one.

Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - The Bengals Still Have TOO MANY Holes IF They’re Done Adding in Free Agency

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