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Bengals Planning Zac Taylor Extension

By | at February 8, 2022 2:25 pm

In charge of one of the longest-odds Super Bowl entrants in NFL history, Zac Taylor has transformed his career this season. The third-year Bengals HC has gone from the hot seat to extension candidate.

The Bengals are indeed preparing to give their young coach a new contract, with Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com reporting the surprise Super Bowl team is planning to extend Taylor soon after Sunday’s game.

The ex-Sean McVay disciple was 6-25-1 as a head coach coming into this season and had only a partial year of NFL OC work (with the 2015 Dolphins) under his belt. Rumors about Taylor’s firing emerged, but Mike Brown opted to keep his play-caller for a third season. Taylor’s offense took a significant step forward, and Joe Burrow‘s ACL recovery went historically well — despite the burgeoning-superstar quarterback leading the NFL in sacks taken — to the point the Bengals have reached the third Super Bowl in franchise history.

Taylor’s offense features Burrow and near-lock Offensive Rookie of the Year winner Ja’Marr Chase, with Tee Higgins taking a step forward as well. Burrow and his skill-position troops compensated for Cincinnati’s below-average O-line, which the AFC champions will surely aim to bolster in the offseason. Cincinnati’s offense ranked seventh in scoring this season — the team’s highest mark since 2015.

At 38, Taylor is one of the youngest coaches in Super Bowl history. The Bengals, of course, have a track record of patience with their head coaches. Most notably, Brown gave Marvin Lewis 16 seasons — far more than most expected — after the latter turned the team around in the 2000s.

Cincinnati is also planning to keep most of Taylor’s staff. Extensions are in the works for several assistants, per Wilson, who notes wide receivers coach Troy Walters, linebackers coach Al Golden, D-line coach Marion Hobby and tight ends coach James Casey are among those set to receive new deals. Re-ups for DC Lou Anarumo and OC Brian Callahan should be expected as well. Each received moderate interest on this year’s coaching carousel, with Anarumo interviewing with the Giants and Callahan with the Broncos — former employers for each — and no other teams.

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NFL Reserve/Futures Contracts: 2/7/22

By | at February 7, 2022 2:42 pm

Today’s Reserve/Futures contracts signed around the league:

Buffalo Bills

Cincinnati Bengals

Green Bay Packers

Jacksonville Jaguars

Kansas City Chiefs

New York Giants 

New England Patriots

3 comments Buffalo Bills Cincinnati Bengals Green Bay Packers Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs New England Patriots New York Giants Transactions

2022 NFL Head Coaching Search Tracker

By | at February 6, 2022 10:15 pm

Last year, seven NFL teams opted to make a head coaching change. Sean Payton stepping away from the Saints created nine full-time vacancies available this year.

Listed below are the head coaching candidates that have been linked to each of the teams with vacancies, along with their current status. If and when other teams decide to make head coaching changes, they’ll be added to this list. Here is the current breakdown:

Updated 2-7-22 (1:45pm CT)

Chicago Bears

Denver Broncos

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New Orleans Saints

New York Giants

63 comments Arizona Cardinals Buffalo Bills Chicago Bears Cincinnati Bengals Dallas Cowboys Denver Broncos Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Houston Texans Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs Las Vegas Raiders Los Angeles Chargers Los Angeles Rams Miami Dolphins Minnesota Vikings New England Patriots New Orleans Saints New York Giants PFR Originals Philadelphia Eagles San Francisco 49ers Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Bengals WR Auden Tate Reverts To IR

By | at February 1, 2022 7:51 pm

Despite returning to practice ahead of the Bengals’ wild-card game, Auden Tate will not be in uniform when the team takes the field for Super Bowl LVI.

Tate’s practice period expired Tuesday without a roster move, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. This means the veteran wide receiver will revert to IR, a move that ends his season. Tate has not played since Week 7.

A thigh injury led to Tate’s IR placement in early December. The fourth-year wideout had battled that issue in the weeks leading up to that move, but the former seventh-round pick did not play much of a role this season. Tate caught three passes for 39 yards and a touchdown this season.

A shoulder ailment ended Tate’s 2020 season, and an MCL sprain in December 2019 wrapped his most promising season. After catching 40 passes for 575 yards in 2019 — during a season A.J. Green did not play — Tate has compiled just 189 yards since.

The Bengals have invested significant draft capital in the receiver position, taking Tee Higgins in the 2020 second round and adding likely Offensive Rookie of the Year Ja’Marr Chase fifth overall this year. Tate, who is set for free agency in March, will likely attempt to bounce back with another team next season.

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Updated 2022 NFL Draft Order

By | at January 31, 2022 8:54 am

Championship Sunday has come and gone, and with it, we now know the matchup for Super Bowl LVI. The Rams’ win on Sunday guarantees that the Lions’ other first round pick will be in the bottom two, slightly devaluing it relative to if they had lost. Still, it is one of the bargaining chips they hold if they were to attempt to move up into the top spot, from their current position of second. As one of four teams with multiple picks in the opening round, Detroit will certainly be a squad to keep an eye on in April.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order is determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record.

Here is the updated order after this weekend’s results:

  1. Jacksonville Jaguars: 3-14
  2. Detroit Lions: 3-13-1
  3. Houston Texans: 4-13
  4. New York Jets: 4-13
  5. New York Giants: 4-13
  6. Carolina Panthers: 5-12
  7. New York Giants(via Bears)
  8. Atlanta Falcons: 7-10
  9. Denver Broncos: 7-10
  10. New York Jets (via Seahawks)
  11. Washington Football Team: 7-10
  12. Minnesota Vikings: 8-9
  13. Cleveland Browns: 8-9
  14. Baltimore Ravens: 8-9
  15. Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)
  16. Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)
  17. Los Angeles Chargers: 9-8
  18. New Orleans Saints: 9-8
  19. Philadelphia Eagles: 9-8
  20. Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7-1
  21. New England Patriots: 10-7
  22. Las Vegas Raiders: 10-7
  23. Arizona Cardinals: 11-6
  24. Dallas Cowboys: 12-5
  25. Buffalo Bills: 11-6
  26. Tennessee Titans: 12-5
  27. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 13-4
  28. Green Bay Packers: 13-4
  29. Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)
  30. Kansas City Chiefs: 12-5
  31. Cincinnati Bengals: 10-7*
  32. Detroit Lions (via Rams)

* = Remaining playoff teams

6 comments 2022 NFL Draft Arizona Cardinals Atlanta Falcons Baltimore Ravens Buffalo Bills Carolina Panthers Chicago Bears Cincinnati Bengals Cleveland Browns Dallas Cowboys Denver Broncos Detroit Lions Green Bay Packers Houston Texans Indianapolis Colts Jacksonville Jaguars Kansas City Chiefs Las Vegas Raiders Los Angeles Chargers Los Angeles Rams Miami Dolphins Minnesota Vikings New England Patriots New Orleans Saints New York Giants New York Jets Philadelphia Eagles Pittsburgh Steelers San Francisco 49ers Seattle Seahawks Tampa Bay Buccaneers Tennessee Titans Washington Commanders

Latest On Bengals’ C.J. Uzomah

By | at January 30, 2022 5:41 pm

The Bengals are headed to the Super Bowl. Still, it remains to be seen whether they’ll have tight end C.J. Uzomah on the field when they arrive.

[RELATED: Inside The Dolphins’ Pursuit Of Joe Burrow]

The initial belief is Bengals TE C.J. Uzomah has suffered an MCL sprain (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Uzomah will undergo an MRI later today to determine the extent of the damage and his timetable for recovery.

Uzomah went down with a left knee injury in the first quarter, forcing him to the sidelines. After doctors took a closer look, he was carted off to the locker room and officially ruled out for the remainder of the game. Without him, the Bengals still managed to pull off a thrilling overtime upset, beating the Chiefs 27-24 and earning their first Super Bowl trip in decades.

The 29-year-old has been outstanding so far in the playoffs, notching a total of 13 catches for 135 yards and a touchdown against the Raiders and Titans. He did not register a catch before his early exit on Sunday and it remains to be seen whether he’ll get the opportunity to play two weeks from today.

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Dolphins Were Prepared To Trade All Three 2020 First-Round Picks To Bengals For Joe Burrow

By | at January 30, 2022 1:19 pm

The Dolphins’ pursuit of the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 draft was well-documented. Though the team was connected to Alabama passer Tua Tagovailoa for much of the 2019 season — Tank For Tua, anyone? — Joe Burrow‘s transcendent 2019 performance with LSU and Tagovailoa’s injury troubles made Burrow the top-ranked QB in his class on big boards across the NFL.

The rebuilding Miami outfit was supposed to be bad enough to secure 2020’s No. 1 pick — and, by extension, Burrow — without having to make a trade, but a surprising 5-4 finish to the 2019 season resulted in the club landing the No. 5 overall selection (and as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk posits, then-head coach Brian Flores‘ refusal to heed owner Stephen Ross‘ alleged mandate to tank may have marked the beginning of the rift that eventually led to Flores’ dismissal this year). The Bengals, meanwhile, stumbled into the top pick and found themselves in pole position for Burrow.

Still armed with three first-round choices (Nos. 5, 18, and 26) thanks to myriad transactions emblematic of a rebuilding club, the Dolphins did their best to acquire the No. 1 pick from Cincinnati. That gambit included trying to prise the No. 3 overall pick from the Lions, which Miami intended to trade to the Bengals, along with its own No. 5 selection, in exchange for the No. 1 choice.

While acquiring the No. 3 pick without giving up the No. 5 always seemed like a longshot, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com wrote this morning that the ‘Fins were willing to give up all three of their own first-rounders — and potentially more — to jump up to No. 1 and nab Burrow. However, Bengals brass had no interest in entertaining any offers, regardless of how tempting they might have been, and quickly rebuffed Miami’s overtures.

In hindsight, it’s hard to argue with that decision (though Florio faults Ross for not calling Bengals owner Mike Brown directly to make a pitch while also faulting Brown for not even listening to what the Dolphins were putting on the table). Burrow rebounded from a torn ACL that cut his rookie season short and enjoyed a tremendous sophomore campaign, leading the league in completion percentage (70.4%) and yards per attempt (8.9) despite being sacked a league-high 51 times. Most importantly, of course, is the fact that he has his team on the brink of its first Super Bowl appearance since 1989.

Although it’s possible to envision a scenario in which the Bengals acquired Miami’s three first-rounders and still made their current postseason run — perhaps with Justin Herbert, selected by the Chargers with 2020’s No. 6 overall pick, under center — Burrow’s success has Bengals fans perfectly content with the way things worked out. The Dolphins, meanwhile, ended up with Tagovailoa after all, and are hopeful that whomever they hire as their new head coach will help him find the consistent professional success that has thus far eluded him.

12 comments Cincinnati Bengals Miami Dolphins

Minor NFL Transactions: 1/29/22

By | at January 29, 2022 10:52 pm

Today’s minor moves before Championship Sunday:

Cincinnati Bengals

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

San Francisco 49ers

0 comments Cincinnati Bengals Kansas City Chiefs Los Angeles Rams San Francisco 49ers Transactions

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 1/25/22

By | at January 25, 2022 3:04 pm

Today’s taxi squad moves:

Cincinnati Bengals

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Rams

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