BillsShredder83

Same plays I had in mind. At minimum we need to get some pick plays set up for him on slants, find other ways to get him the ball when up to speed. That long speed is crazy impressive, and once hes firing he looks like a bull to tackle.

Sign me up as interested in Keon getting some returns!! dudes electric in open field

Hoping our DL development pays some dividends. Rousseau, Basham, Carter, Solomon, Epenesa, are all the DL we've taken in the last 5 years (not counting '25 class). Groot- has played well, but ton of meat on the bone Basham- barf Carter- rough year 1 Solomon - wait and see Epenesa - not awful for bottom of 2nd, but not a game changer Oliver- (2019 pick thrown in); flashes, but hasnt met expectations either Its probably scheme and development, but its been underwhelming. I knew, and am glad we did it, but drafting so heavy on the DL this year is a bit of a gamble that we can make use and develop these players. Its absolutely crucial that this class hits year 1 and develops overall, at a better return than we've previously seen. Have we had the same DL Coach through all these? Without knowing much, it was a spot I was really hoping to see a Coaching upgrade come in... guy gets a major nod of confidence with this draft class. McD, Babich, and unknown DL Coach, absolutely have to make this class work/excel!!

What an absolute waste, sad on all sides. Heinous act.... followed up by the most inept crisis management on his part (thankfully, or he never would've been caught). Truly makes me wonder how much this has happened in the NFL and we'll never hear about it. Dude handled it on a whim, in writing (derp). Dude low-balled like crazy, ($1k against all the leverage in the world?!?). Tone deaf way of "presenting" his remedy. 0 remorse, low-ball, belittling equivalent to "shooo fly". Hopefully he never plays; but my point is heinous act, followed up by the absolute dumbest/tone-deaf response imaginable. $1k offer leveraged against AT LEAST A ~4year/$17m deal. I hope a lawyer advised him that 2 sentence Instagram message cost him anywhere from $17M-$100M+. Picking up pennies in front of a steam-roller, one he put into motion.

Good catch! I put the same number in twice, but its 4.52 Ray, 4.42 Cook****

There was an arrest already. Anybody heard anything on DA Decision to try and prosecute or not? How long can a decision like that hang in limbo? Indefinitely?

That smirk 😆

Im in the dont pay Cook a 2nd contract circle as of now. I TRULY believe Ray could end up being an ever better fit for our offense. Dudes a banger, and do NOT let that stear you into thinking slow. Ray was 4.52 vs Cook @ 4.42 , certainly not the same but Ray is fast and a more well-rounded player than Cook. Speed + Power + Pass Block + Better Hands. Not a knock on Cook, just feel like Ray is a more complete back and either of these guys can run behind this monstrous OL... but one is cheaper than the other! People might not like it but make way for the Trubisky era. Allen held the line ok enough, but when you have a guy taken #2 overall these things are inevitable

Weird. I thought he was supposed to be pretty stiff competition this year? Maybe its a quick roster juggling move with an agreement to stay in the parking lot

Agreed. I do have some "concern" though that Samuel will look fully healthy, leaving Moore to look redundant, and they end up dropping him to roster one of the bolded. I am curious to see what Shavers brings to the table... can he go to PS to start the year if needed still? Isnt there some type restrictions on keeping someone there too long or something?

Ive seen these, more than once... and these excite me! Far from a sexy pick, but the thought of Cook running off-tackle behind Brown & Hawes leaves me with 23h:59m until I need to call a doctor!

During the last season at the Ralph this is a tough sale for me. Bust it out at some color rush gimmicky night game, ON THE ROAD, hell bust em out next season idc.... but going full Oregon (who i find usually look awesome), seems like a bad look in the send-off year

I think it was Michigan last year worse these fake leather looking helmets that I freaking loved!! So dang cool, whoever designed them absolutely nailed it. They looked real

Awesome! Few thoughts, not to deep here: 1. Those team building drills early kinda scare me lol maybe its just cause im getting old myself but the 4-way tire one scared my hamstrings 🫣 2. Wonder if Poyer and Keon bumped into each other at golf thing lol 3. Having Carter and T-Mac (i only knew about vince ownership not McG; apparently theyre cousins) around is a great resource. Vince put on a master class of longevity (22 year in NBA). Both a physical and mental feat. To be signable and see minutes later on in age is a testament to hard work, film and preparation. Most of these guys probably aren't old enough to remember him; but hes folklore, im sure they all know about him. 4. Bandits are a dynasty lol if you've never been the game atmosphere is dope! I saw them win a championship clinching game probably ~2017. Really cool thing to see for like $50

Told on yourself here lol

We can. We won't. Theyre too conservative, and thats ok, but thats what it is. Cap has been booming year to year. We've retained our own and shelled out $$ to do so, but we've been incredibly reserved with our spending. Diggs is off the books completely, so is Von. The reality is we invested heavily in the defense and are going to hope we maximize our rookie talent. I believe that will work some.... but also believe we could find the $$. Lining him up across Groot not only makes Hendrickson a better weapon, but it amplifies Groot. We'd trade off some of our long term stability to do it, but thats what you save money for. A true difference maker. Me thinks Bengals are dumb/desperate enough to do it too!! (not saying we'll get him, but theyre dumb enough to send him to a conference rival [same with a certain red/yellow team])

I know a Hawes & Lee Smith joke was made upstream.... but seriously if we can get him up to that level (not a hugeee ask), Hawes and Brown run blocking out to the right is going to be so much freakin fun to see!!

I know the "McBeane doesnt play rookies" thing has been debunked, and we probably trend in middle of the pack with rookie playing time... but investing at IDL is nice, because we know theyre absolutely going to get snaps. Good for their development and motivation! (and keeping this place from b-wording non stop)

This doesnt seem like crazy money for a DE in 2025. Looks like it fits him as a middle of the pack#1.high end #2, with a reasonable expectation of still having moderate-upside. I like Groot more, because he's so new to football still & has unteachable size. Karloftis has the higher floor, and lower ceiling to Groot. Guys that arent going to kill you if they're your #1, and if you can pair them with a high-end #1, could be an absolutely lethal #2

Honestly this will move in such a uniformed way across the league (well 31/32; looking at you Cinci), that there wont be any competitive advantage to how we handle it. We'll follow the market... and if thats the case, then I say good for the players. Its easy to point to the successful players' contracts in the NFL and say "what you werent making enough before?". However the average NFL lifespan is something like ~3.5 years'ish. Those juicy contracts are the exception, not the rule. CTE is very real, and a serious risk; but how about the lesser extreme more common risks the average player sees? Loss of mobility, loss of cognitive function. Missing out on their young kids early development with a busy schedule/traveling. Joint pain. I'm the last guy to feel bad for these guys, but they EARN it a lot more than we'll ever fully know & see. For the homies that are out in 2-3 years; they'll have a helluva head start in life if theyre smart with the money. Dropping even $500k-$1m by the age of 25 into a retirement account will really jump start a retirement investment!!! Most of these owners do this for the LOLZ along the way. While the players certainly do some of that too, their high income years (in the NFL) are so short that it can really mean a lot to them and their families.

This. I don't get all the belly aching from our side on this. If a dude like this (severe injury last year, barely played, career high is 938yards) is the sole difference between beating them or not, that's on us. We NEED some crazy criminal court thing to win in the post-season versus them? The dude who went 4/4 47yds, 0 td's against us in 2024 divisional? I get he's a very good talent, but id say the same thing if they cloned and had 2012 Megatron (Moss, Julio, JRice; he's none of these guys). JFGID! Theres a million ways to offset his talent. We can get/develop someone to cover him. Double team. We can have a lights out performance versus the other 10 and force them to be 1-D. We can beat them in a shootout. Hell, we can even BountyGate him, and it'd be less embarrassing LOL Acting like the single only scenario we can beat the Chiefs/win a SB, is to rely on criminal/civil courts to remove him? Weak. The single most pathetic viewpoint. Has there ever been a single SB winner who didn't have to find a way to neutralize a top-10 WR in one or multiple post season games? What are we even talking about here?!?! I sure as hell hope theres not a single/player or coach that holds that viewpoint.

LOL bravo for even entertaining this and being cordial oOpS tHeReS tReNboLoNe iN mY sMoOtHiEs!!! 🤯

My main reason for taking Stewarts side (besides it being the Bungholes), is the vagueness. Thats a huge problem. List out a bunch of specific scenarios? Sure. But not some open ended excuse for the Bengals to try and pull guaranteed. The weirdest part to me, is doing this to a guy with 0 off-field issues... but now that I think about it, its probably the exact reason they picked him to try. If you try and break this clause out with a, say, Mike Green type character. Of course youre going to get a fight. Hes a dirtball, and dirtballs do dirtball stuff. So a character clause isnt going to go-over well. But if you try and set precedent with a squeaky clean dude, hope the kid says 'sure whatever, i wont be getting in trouble, lets go ball'. Then you can argue down the road with future troubled talents "hey we made Shemar sign it." Precedent is what's important. If thats the case, I get what theyre trying to do here.... but they should've just pulled it quietly behind the scenes, instead of instigating a full blown public brawl -- then proceeding to double and triple down. How is this team planning to field FA's next year? L-O-L! How many draft prospects are going to tell their agent, Im not even interviewing with Cinci? How are they even going to field a team???? You think squeaky clean players are going to want to be subjected to that? How about the Tyreek dudes of the world? Absolutely the dumbest crap I've seen since --- well --- Hendrickson L-O-L!!

Id imagine Players Union, Agents, and NFL Reps are all working to try and find some type of general framework that gets everybody in the same ballpark... then teams and players can take it from there. Its not a real concern of mine. A whole class/round Isn't going to forgo the biggest and most needed payday, right before the finish line.

The most likely scenario aside from them resolving this, IMO is a trade (hilarious for a disagreement on a theoretical scenario)... What do we think a trade compensation would look like? Would be limited to a DE needy team, outside of division, and out of conference if trading team is a serious contender. Acknowledging the above probably puts us off limits, id give them Epenesa + 4th (maybe 3rd)