Bengals Re-Sign QB Brandon Allen
Brandon Allen is sticking around Cincinnati. NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero reports (via Twitter) that the quarterback is re-signing with the Bengals. It’ll be a one-year pact for the 28-year-old.
As Tyler Dragon of the Cincinnati Enquirer tweets, the Bengals were pleased with Allen’s performance both on and off the field last season, especially following the season-ending injury to starter Joe Burrow. Allen started five of Cincy’s final six games last season, and while the Bengals went only 1-4 in those contests, the quarterback managed to complete 63.4-percent of his passes for 925 yards, five touchdowns, and four interceptions. Allen initially signed a deal with the Bengals last offseason, and he landed on the practice squad after being cut at the end of the preseason.
The former sixth-round pick out of Arkansas had stints with the Jaguars and Rams before landing with the Broncos in 2019. He started three games that season, completing 46.4-percent of his passes for 515 yards, three touchdowns, and two picks.
Allen will likely serve as Burrow’s primary backup in 2021. The team also has former fourth-rounder Ryan Finley under contract.
Bengals Release B.J. Finney
The Bengals have released center B.J. Finney, per a club announcement. Finney came over to the Bengals in last year’s Carlos Dunlap trade but only wound up dressing for one game.
The Bengals are looking to remake their offensive line this year after watching rookie quarterback Joe Burrow get battered. Even before the season started, the O-Line was viewed as a major liability. Then, in Week 11, he suffered a torn ACL and MCL. Historically, they haven’t spent big on the front five, but you can expect that to change once free agency opens. Or, they could turn to the trade market, where high-priced veterans like Giants guard Kevin Zeitler and Jaguars guard Andrew Norwell could be up for grabs.
While most clubs are facing a cap crunch, the Bengals are well-positioned to spend. Even before the release of Finney, they were projected to have upwards of $40MM in room, depending on the final cap figure. Now, the center is free to go where ever he wants, and that could lead to a Pittsburgh return.
Minor NFL Transactions: 3/3/21
Catching up on some minor moves from what has been a busy day as we all gear up for free agency:
Cincinnati Bengals
- Re-signed: CB Jalen Davis, LS Clark Harris
Chicago Bears
- Re-signed ERFAs: OL Alex Bars, LB Josh Woods, LB James Vaughters, RB Ryan Nall, TE J.P. Holtz
Las Vegas Raiders
- Re-signed RFA: LS Trent Sieg (to three-year extension)
San Francisco 49ers
- Claimed off waivers from Texans: DB Mark Fields
Bengals Host S Ricardo Allen On Visit
The Falcons made longtime safety starter Ricardo Allen a cap casualty last month. The Bengals are exploring the prospect of bringing him in.
Allen visited the Bengals on Tuesday, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. Because Allen is a street free agent, he would be able to sign with another team at any point.
A starter for the Falcons in Super Bowl LI, Allen has operated as a first-string safety since the 2015 season. The former fifth-round pick saw his run as a key Falcons defender pause in 2018, with an early-season injury wiping out most of that season, but he bounced back over the past two years to play in 28 games. He would profile as a lower-cost option for a Bengals team that has made a few outside efforts to improve its secondary last year.
The Bengals added a few pieces to their secondary in 2020, signing safety Vonn Bell and cornerbacks Trae Waynes and Mackensie Alexander. Waynes, however, missed the season. While the team ranked 26th defensively, Cincinnati’s pass defense came in at 19th. Bell and Waynes remain under contract, while Alexander is a free agent for the second straight year. The Bengals’ $37MM-plus in cap space ranks in the top 10, with two weeks remaining until the legal tampering period.
A.J. Green Very Unlikely To Be Back With Bengals?
When he last spoke about his future, A.J. Green made it clear he knew there was a chance he was playing his last games in Cincinnati. It sounds like it’s no longer just a chance, it’s a foregone conclusion.
While going through the Bengals’ upcoming free agent class, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic writes that there’s just a ‘one percent’ chance of Green coming back. “The hope for all involved is Green can resurrect his remarkable career. It just won’t be in Cincinnati,” he writes. This isn’t exactly a shock, as this has been the direction things have been trending, and there was even some speculation back in October that he wanted to be traded although the wideout denied it.
If it is indeed the end, the fourth overall pick of the 2011 draft had an incredible run in Cincy. He’s set all sorts of franchise records while making seven Pro Bowls and three All-Pro teams. He had a reduced role this past season, catching only 47 passes for 523 yards in 16 games. Now 32, it’ll be interesting to see what kind of interest he gets on the open market.
Although he doesn’t treat it with nearly as much certainty, Dehner also doesn’t think cornerback William Jackson III is too likely to return. He thinks one or more teams will be willing to give him a big contract and “the Bengals won’t be one of them.” Jackson has started at least 13 games in each of the past three seasons, and had 11 pass breakups in 2020.
Browns Lead NFL In Salary Cap Carryover
Earlier today, the NFL Players Association announced (via Twitter) the salary cap carryover amounts for all 32 NFL teams for the 2021 season. Effectively, teams are able to rollover their unused cap from the previous season. So, when the 2021 salary cap numbers become official, they can be added to each team’s carryover amount to determine that individual club’s official cap for 2021.
This follows news from earlier today that the NFL has raised its salary cap floor to $180MM for 2021. This total could clue us in to the salary cap maximum, which could end up landing north of $190MM. The salary cap was $198.2MM for the 2020 campaign.
As the NFLPA detailed, the league will rollover $315.1MM from the 2020 season, an average of $9.8MM per team. The Browns lead the league with a whopping $30.4MM, and they’re the only team in the top-five to make the playoffs. The NFC East ($68.8MM) and AFC East ($65.3MM) are the two divisions will the largest carryover amounts.
The full list is below:
- Cleveland Browns: $30.4MM
- New York Jets: $26.7MM
- Dallas Cowboys: $25.4MM
- Jacksonville Jaguars: $23.5MM
- Philadelphia Eagles: $22.8MM
- New England Patriots: $19.6MM
- Denver Broncos: $17.8MM
- Washington Football Team: $15.8MM
- Miami Dolphins: $15.2MM
- Detroit Lions: $12.8MM
- Cincinnati Bengals: $10.8MM
- Houston Texans: $9.2MM
- Indianapolis Colts: $8.3MM
- Los Angeles Chargers: $8.1MM
- Chicago Bears: $7MM
- Los Angeles Rams: $5.7MM
- Kansas City Chiefs: $5.1MM
- Arizona Cardinals: $5MM
- Pittsburgh Steelers: $5MM
- New York Giants: $4.8MM
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $4.6MM
- Minnesota Vikings: $4.5MM
- Carolina Panthers: $4.3MM
- New Orleans Saints: $4.1MM
- Buffalo Bills: $3.8MM
- Green Bay Packers: $3.7MM
- Las Vegas Raiders: $3.6MM
- Tennessee Titans: $2.3MM
- San Francisco 49ers: $1.9MM
- Atlanta Falcons: $1.8MM
- Seattle Seahawks: $956K
- Baltimore Ravens: $587K
Bengals Planning Carl Lawson Tag?
- Carl Lawson is on the precipice of free agency for the first time, separating him from a few of this year’s UFA edge rushers. But the Bengals may not be willing to let him go. The Bengals are prepared to use their franchise tag on Lawson, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports notes. While some believe the team would rather tag cornerback William Jackson, more buzz has emerged about the team keeping the four-year defensive end cog. Although Lawson only tallied 5.5 sacks last season, his 32 quarterback hits ranked second in the NFL.
Coaching Notes: Kitchens, 49ers, Bucs
Freddie Kitchens will see his role expand in New York. The Giants are promoting the former Browns HC from tight ends coach to senior offensive assistant, according to ESPN.com’s Jordan Raanan (on Twitter). Earlier this month, we heard the Giants may be eyeing more responsibility for Kitchens. Derek Dooley, who received interest from other teams, will take over as the Giants’ tight ends coach, Raanan adds. Previously the Mizzou offensive coordinator, Dooley joined Joe Judge‘s staff last year. The Giants used Kitchens as their interim play-caller while Jason Garrett battled COVID-19 last season and will lean on him more in 2021.
Here is the latest from the coaching circuit:
- To replace Antwaan Randle El on their coaching staff, the Buccaneers will also turn to a recently retired quarterback. Thad Lewis will rise from intern to offensive assistant on Bruce Arians‘ staff, Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. Randle El left to become the Lions’ wide receivers coach. Lewis bounced around the NFL for nearly eight years; he was most recently with the Ravens in 2017.
- A day after hiring Jay Valai as cornerbacks coach, the Eagles will lose him. Alabama will instead hire Valai, according to ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg (on Twitter). Announced as one of the Eagles’ hires earlier this week, Valai will join former Texans HC Bill O’Brien at Alabama. Valai will replace Karl Scott as the Crimson Tide’s cornerbacks coach. Scott joined the Vikings’ staff this week.
- Hired recently after a one-year stint as Lions DC, Cory Undlin will serve as the 49ers‘ secondary coach and defensive passing-game specialist. Fellow former DC James Bettcher will be a senior defensive assistant and the team’s run-game overseer on that side of the ball. The 49ers are promoting Darryl Tapp to assistant defensive line coach and hiring former wide receiver Leonard Hankerson and Klay Kubiak as quality control assistants. Klay is one of Gary Kubiak‘s sons. Even after Gary’s retirement, there are still three Kubiaks in the NFL — Klay and brothers Klint (the new Vikings OC) and Klein (a Cowboys scout). Hankerson also has a history with Kyle Shanahan, having played with Washington from 2011-13.
- The Bengals hired Justin Hill as running backs coach. Hill will come to Cincinnati from the college ranks, having spent the past six seasons as Tulsa’s running backs coach. This will be his first NFL job. The Bengals are also promoting former NFL wideout Troy Walters to receivers coach. Walters served as Cincy’s assistant wideouts coach last season, working under Bob Bicknell.
- Robert Saleh made an interesting hire recently. The new Jets HC added Steve Scarnecchia as his chief of staff, per Brian Costello of the New York Daily News. The son of longtime Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, Steve spent the past six years as the Falcons’ assistant to the head coach. Steve Scarnecchia was part of both the Patriots’ Spygate scandal, working in the team’s video department from 2001-04, and was the Broncos staffer whose filming of a 49ers walkthrough in 2010 led to Josh McDaniels‘ firing in Denver. The younger Scarnecchia will accompany new Jets DC Jeff Ulbrich in moving from Atlanta to New York.
Bengals Gave Godsil $25K
- Reserve/futures deals are non-guaranteed pacts to keep unheralded players a part of a team’s offseason 90-man roster, so they usually don’t come with any bonuses or guaranteed money. When they do, that makes them a lot more notable, and Field Yates of ESPN.com recently tweeted out this cycle’s biggest. Cornerback Grant Haley got $35.7K from the Saints, safety Marqui Christian and cornerback Xavier Crawford got $35K and $31.3K respectively from the Bears, long snapper Dan Godsil got $27.4K from the Bengals, and tight end Tyree Jackson got $25.2K from the Eagles while punter Arryn Siposs got $25K from Philly. All these guys would seem to have a better than normal chance of cracking next year’s 53. Haley saw a lot of run his first two years in the league with the Giants, and was up and down from New Orleans’ practice squad in 2020. If Cincy is giving a reserve/futures long snapper $25K, you’ve gotta figure they think there’s a good chance he’s their guy next year. Jackson is a notable name since he’s the former University of Buffalo star quarterback who has since transitioned to tight end.
Bengals To Spend Big On O-Line?
The Bengals’ offensive line was a major question mark going into the 2020 season, and the fear was that poor blocking would jeopardize the health of rookie quarterback Joe Burrow. And then that fear became reality, as Burrow suffered a torn ACL and MCL in Week 11 and the silver lining of another lost season in Cincinnati was quickly tarnished. So, a year after Cincinnati committed significant free agent dollars to the defensive side of the ball while relying on its existing offensive linemen to develop, Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic says the team appears poised to reverse a long-standing trend and to spend big on the O-line.
Jonah Williams will remain the starting left tackle, but the other four spots are up for grabs. There is some hope that the return of O-line coach Frank Pollack will help left guard Michael Jordan, but after Jordan’s poor performance in 2020, it would not be at all surprising to see the Bengals pursue an upgrade (though the team has been historically reluctant to make major investments at guard).
The ACL injury that center Trey Hopkins sustained in the team’s regular season finale could mean that former first-rounder Billy Price will get one more chance to prove himself as a starting pivot, but again, after seeing Burrow writhing on the ground in pain, Cincy could seek reinforcements on the open market.
If the team does make a major free agent splash, it would likely come at right tackle, where Taylor Moton may be available. The Panthers might put the franchise tag on Moton, but if that doesn’t happen, expect the Bengals to be an active bidder for his services. Dehner also suggests that, if the team finally opens up its wallet for a guard, Joe Thuney would appear to be a perfect fit.
Whether it’s through free agency, the draft, or some combination thereof, Cincinnati has to do something. The club does want to re-sign Quinton Spain, who helped provide some stability at guard after he signed with the Bengals in October, and right tackle Bobby Hart is expected to be released, which will open up $6MM in cap space and a spot for a quality free agent. B.J. Finney, who came over from Seattle in the Carlos Dunlap trade, is also unlikely to return.
There is plenty of young skill position talent in the Queen City. With a couple of additions to the O-line, the Bengals’ offense could well be a serious threat in 2021 and beyond.