Contract Details: Joyner, Titans, Rams, Hart
Let’s take a look at the details of a few recently-signed contracts from around the NFL. Twitter links courtesy of Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, unless otherwise noted.
- Lamarcus Joyner, S (Raiders): Four years, $42MM. $16.7MM in full guarantees — all due next week, per Mike Garafolo of NFL.com (on Twitter).
- Adam Humphries, WR (Titans): Four years, $36MM. 2019 salary of $12.5MM fully guaranteed. Beyond that, it’s a pay-as-you-go structure for Tennessee. Humphries is due base salaries of $7.5MM in 2020, $7.25MM in ’21 and $8.75MM in ’22, according to SI.com’s Albert Breer (on Twitter).
- Dante Fowler Jr., OLB (Rams): One year, $12MM fully guaranteed. Another $2MM is available through incentives (Twitter link).
- Bobby Hart, T (Bengals): Three years, $16.15MM. $7.4MM is coming Hart’s way in the first year of the deal. With incentives and escalators, the deal can reach a max value of $21.15MM (Twitter link).
- Shamar Stephen, DT (Vikings): Three years, $12.45MM. Stephen gets $5MM in the first year of the pact (Twitter link).
Bengals To Re-Sign T Bobby Hart
Bobby Hart‘s second NFL team plans to reward him after his 16-start season. The Bengals are re-signing the fifth-year offensive lineman, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets.
Cincinnati’s full-time starter at right tackle last season, Hart will sign for $21MM over three years, Schefter adds. This marks a major step for Hart, whom the Giants cut on Day 1 of Dave Gettleman‘s GM tenure.
Hart did not fare well in New York, and Gettleman waived him in December 2017. A former seventh-round pick during the Jerry Reese era, Hart caught on with the Bengals and started every game last season. While Pro Football Focus graded him as the No. 69 tackle last season, this is starter-level money. It appears the Bengals are showing faith in Hart continuing to man the right edge of their front.
The Bengals now have three veteran contracts along their O-line, with Hart’s deal joining the pacts on which Cordy Glenn and Clint Boling are attached. Despite his Giants performance, Hart is now tied to a deal that places him seventh among right tackles, in terms of per-year earnings.
Bengals Re-Sign TE C.J. Uzomah
Tight end C.J. Uzomah has agreed to terms on a new deal with the Bengals. The fresh pact will be a three-year deal worth upwards of $18MM, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). 
Uzomah, 26, set new career highs in catches (43), yards (439), and touchdowns (3) in 2018. The Bengals aimed to keep Uzomah, especially with Tyler Eifert and Tyler Kroft also bound for free agency, and they got a deal done on the first day of the legal tampering period.
Eifert has missed an astounding 34 games since his 2015 Pro Bowl season, but the team reportedly still has some level of interest in retaining him. Kroft also lost time due to injury, but there’s reportedly a path for him to return as well.
ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/10/19
Here are today’s exclusive-rights free agent tender decisions:
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Bengals: CB Tony McRae, G Alex Redmond, DT Josh Tupou, S Brandon Wilson
RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/8/19
Here are today’s restricted free agent and exclusive rights free agent tender decisions:
RFAs
Second round tender:
- Bengals: OL Trey Hopkins
- Ravens: LB Patrick Onwuasor
Tendered at original-round level:
- Browns: WR Rashard Higgins
ERFAs
Tendered:
- Browns: DT Trevon Coley, DB Jermaine Whitehead
- Colts: WR Marcus Johnson
- Buccaneers: S Isaiah Johnson, OL Mike Liedtke
- Packers: TE Robert Tonyan
- Cardinals: TE Ricky Seals-Jones
Bengals Hire Ex-Bucs DC Mark Duffner
The Bengals have hired former Buccaneers interim defensive coordinator Mark Duffner as a senior defensive assistant, tweets Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com. 
Duffner, 65, has worked in Cincinnati before, serving as the club’s linebackers coach from 1997-2000 before taking over as defensive coordinator from 2001-02. After coaching LBs in Green Bay, Jacksonville, and Miami in the following years, Duffner joined Tampa Bay as linebackers coach in 2016. He was promoted to interim DC in October after the Bucs fired incumbent Mike Smith. For what it’s worth, Tampa Bay’s defense finished dead last in Football Outsiders’ DVOA but 29th in weighted DVOA, meaning the unit improved as the season progressed.
Duffner will fill two voids on the Bengals’ defensive staff. The first is familiarity, as Duffner worked with both new head coach Zac Taylor and new defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo on the 2014-15 Dolphins staff. Second, Duffner is now the most experienced coach on Cincinnati’s staff, on either side of the ball. Aside from quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt, Duffner is the only coach on the team that has been a full-time (non-interim) coordinator.
In addition to hiring Duffner, the Bengals also finalized their roster by hiring four other coaches: Nick Eason (defensive line), Tem Lukabu (linebackers), Brad Kragthorpe (offensive assistant), Jordan Kovacs (defensive quality control).
Jake Fisher Attempting Move To Tight End
The Bengals’ tackle-tackle start to the 2015 draft, which produced Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher, did not pan out. Both are free agents coming off mediocre tenures in Cincinnati. The latter, however, is planning an interesting rebranding strategy.
Fisher has been running routes with NFL quarterbacks this offseason, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (Twitter link), and is trying to start anew as a blocking tight end. Teams have shown interest and want to put him through workouts come free agency, RapSheet adds. Fisher, 25, has dropped down to 285 pounds.
This sounds like a wild experiment, but Fisher does have a tight end background. Prior to his days at Oregon, he was an acclaimed tight end in high school. He was a full-time offensive lineman, going from guard to tackle, with the Ducks.
With the Bengals, Fisher only saw one season as a primary starter — 2017, which featured a season-ending injury after eight games. He ended the 2018 season on IR as well, which stands to limit his options in free agency. But it looks like the 6-foot-6 blocker will try to show teams another feature of his game when the market opens.
Bengals: We’re Not Shopping John Ross
Multiple reports indicate the Bengals are looking to trade John Ross, but the club says that’s not accurate. On Wednesday, Bengals Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin called those rumors “fake news,” and added that the club has no plans to trade the wide receiver. 
“We have had no discussion about [Ross],” Tobin said (Twitter link via Eric Edholm of Pro Football Weekly). “That’s from the ‘ready, fire, aim’ school of journalism.”
Just two years ago, Ross turned heads as an ultra-speedy prospect out of Washington. Unfortunately, injuries sidetracked him as a rookie and his usage was inconsistent in 2018. It seems unlikely that Ross is a major part of the Bengals’ plans moving forward, so Tobin’s denial should be taken with a grain of salt.
Instead, Tobin’s comments at the combine could be a last ditch effort to salvage Ross’ trade value. After investing a top 10 pick in Ross, the Bengals do not necessarily want to trade the speedster for pennies on the dollar. This year’s free agent wide receiver class is lackluster, so the Bengals could be holding out hope for an OK return via trade.
Bengals' Approach To Free Agency Unlikely To Change
- The Bengals have historically been pretty conservative on the free agent market under owner Mike Brown, and Katherine Terrell of ESPN.com does not believe that will change going forward, even though Cincinnati has a new head coach for the first time in 16 years (Twitter link). That is in keeping with a piece that the Cincinnati Enquirer published several days ago.
Bengals Shopping WR John Ross
The Bengals are hoping to trade receiver John Ross, according to Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com (on Twitter). The club plans to field offers during the combine this week. 
Both Ross and the Bengals are looking forward to a fresh start, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. That makes sense, given Ross’ injuries, lack of production, and inconsistent usage. Two years ago, Ross turned heads with a 4.22-second 40-yard dash at the combine. Since then, he has amassed just 21 catches for 210 yards, though he did have seven touchdown catches in 2018.
Ross, 24, missed the bulk of his rookie season after having both of his shoulders operated on and suffering a groin injury. He appeared in most of the Bengals’ games in 2018, but he was held to one catch or less in six of his games.
Other teams may view Ross as a speedy deep threat with potential, but the Bengals will not recoup the first-round pick (No. 9 overall) they used to draft Ross in 2017. But, given this year’s so-so market for free agent wide receivers, Ross could net them a mid-round pick.