7 minutes ago, nkypete said:

I'll go one step further and say that it will tough to even make the playoffs inside the AFC North.  I think the Bengals got the other three teams at slightly less than their best this year.  Everyone will be looking to improve.  The Bengals will not surprise anyone anymore.  I'd love to have the Bengals always qualifying for the playoffs, but part of me is not so sure.  This was a wonderful year where a lot fell in place.  Eventually these young players will want to be paid substantially more than they are now. 

The division is definitely tough. The thing we all need to remember though is that it is no longer man we have to play the Ravens, Steelers, Browns twice a year. Those teams now also will be saying the same thing about having to play the Bengals twice. We do have a good young defense and offensive skill guys, plus the best QB in division. If they truly do fix the line, the Bengals are the best team in the division. It still is going to be tough, but they would be the best. However, this year we were lucky in regards to injury. Just never know how injuries will change things. 

33 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

They have the cap space to do it. And now they are a preferred destination.

Exactly. Possibly could even see some good lineman possibly take a little less than they could get elsewhere, just so they could come here. 
 

 

Early odds to win 2023 Superbowl. 

 

Jason McIntyre on Colin Cowherd really dissed our Bengs last week, just kept going on about how lucky they were to be in the Super Bowl, predicted a blowout and said his first bet for next year would be that our boys wouldn’t make the playoffs, gave us no credit at all, must have lost some money betting against us during the season!!

Read where we had the 2nd worst rated O line to ever make the Super Bowl!!  Gosh, wonder who was THE worst??  Anybody know??

19 hours ago, futurecoach said:

It’s easy to think that this should be the start of a great run. We are young, very talented, and have Joe Burrow. So easy to think fix the line and this could be a magical run. With that said it is so dang hard to even make the Super Bowl. Then when you factor in injuries, even some luck being needed, and just how loaded the AFC is. It’s going to be a dog fight every year just to get out of the AFC. 

100% agree.  If fans go into a season with the expectation of winning a Super Bowl they are setting themselves up to be disappointed.  31 fan bases are unhappy every year.  Parity makes winning in the NFL extremely difficult.  I just enjoy watching them play meaningful football in December.   Everything after that is gravy, 

Good news on Joe Burrow, his injury in the game is being called a knee sprain that will only require rehab and not surgery. 

From Bengalswire/USA Today.

11 offensive linemen the Bengals should target in free agency to help Joe Burrow:

G Brandon Scherff

OT Terron Armstead

C Ryan Jensen

OT Trent Brown

G Laken Tomlinson

G Mark Glowinski

G James Daniels

G Connor Williams

G Austin Corbett

OT Orlando Brown Jr.

G Andrew Norwell

The article gives a brief summary of each player:

https://bengalswire.usatoday.com/lists/bengals-free-agency-offensive-linemen-targets-brandon-scherff-terron-armstead-help-joe-burrow/

2 hours ago, theguru said:

From Bengalswire/USA Today.

11 offensive linemen the Bengals should target in free agency to help Joe Burrow:

G Brandon Scherff

OT Terron Armstead

C Ryan Jensen

OT Trent Brown

G Laken Tomlinson

G Mark Glowinski

G James Daniels

G Connor Williams

G Austin Corbett

OT Orlando Brown Jr.

G Andrew Norwell

The article gives a brief summary of each player:

https://bengalswire.usatoday.com/lists/bengals-free-agency-offensive-linemen-targets-brandon-scherff-terron-armstead-help-joe-burrow/

A nice list, but I got to think some of those are just pipe dreams.  A lot of it, I believe, will depend on the salary cap situation of their existing team, and I think some of it will be who they'd be playing in front of (QB). 

Armstead would seem to hit both of those categories, as the Saints are waaayyy over the cap, and have not only a question mark at QB, but also a new coach.  Scherff or Norwell could possibly be another.  But to expect Jensen to leave Tampa, Corbett to leave the Rams, or Brown to leave the Chiefs is a little bit of a reach.

Just now, CincySportsFan said:

A nice list, but I got to think some of those are just pipe dreams.  A lot of it, I believe, will depend on the salary cap situation of their existing team, and I think some of it will be who they'd be playing in front of (QB). 

Armstead would seem to hit both of those categories, as the Saints are waaayyy over the cap, and have not only a question mark at QB, but also a new coach.  Scherff or Norwell could possibly be another.  But to expect Jensen to leave Tampa, Corbett to leave the Rams, or Brown to leave the Chiefs is a little bit of a reach.

I agree it is a wish list for sure but I am glad to see so much attention being paid to the OL no matter the source. 

2 minutes ago, theguru said:

I agree it is a wish list for sure but I am glad to see so much attention being paid to the OL no matter the source. 

Oh, absolutely.  The question is, will the team short-arm the offers, knowing that players may want to play with Burrow?  Last year, the Riley Reiff signing was a home run (money-wise)...I just hope they don't expect everyone to take that type of deal.

Speaking of Reiff...is there any chance of him coming back to the Bengals?  If we could re-sign him, get another big name free agent to sign, and draft well in the first round...that could go a long way to having an improved line.

2 minutes ago, CincySportsFan said:

Oh, absolutely.  The question is, will the team short-arm the offers, knowing that players may want to play with Burrow?  Last year, the Riley Reiff signing was a home run (money-wise)...I just hope they don't expect everyone to take that type of deal.

Speaking of Reiff...is there any chance of him coming back to the Bengals?  If we could re-sign him, get another big name free agent to sign, and draft well in the first round...that could go a long way to having an improved line.

I have my popcorn here waiting to see how everything shakes out. 

Zac Taylor signed a contract extension that runs through the 2026 season.

My guess is we go hard after a C and RG in free agency. Unless Jonah Williams (24) moves to RT (which he played in college), he is as good or better than any LT that will be hitting free agency. I think Spain (30) keeps his spot at LG and we may look to add some depth with somebody like Dan Feeney (27). There are a lot of C who would be an upgrade from what Hopkins gave us this year which is why I think we will go hard after a C. A pipe dream would be getting Jason Kelce (34) to come home for another Superbowl run, but I would also be very happy with Ryan Jenson (30) or Ben Jones (32) I also think RG is a position we go after hard and I am hoping that we can get either Alex Cappa (27) or James Daniel (24). Hopefully Rieff is able to come back on a team friendly deal and we won't have to worry about RT at least for next year.

4 hours ago, theguru said:

Zac Taylor signed a contract extension that runs through the 2026 season.

No big surprise there.   Some stability after a super bowl run is always a good thing.