NFL Draft Rumors: Vander Esch, Steelers, Bills
The latest NFL Draft news:
- Linked to Leighton Vander Esch for several weeks this offseason, the Steelers met with the Boise State outside linebacker on Monday night, Tony Pauline of Draft Analyst reports. Pittsburgh has used first-round picks on either inside or outside ‘backers in four of its past five drafts. Three of those players remain on the team, but only two will be able to play this season. Ryan Shazier has been declared out as he attempts to recover from his frightening spine injury. Pauline wrote in March that Vander Esch won’t get past Pittsburgh at No. 28.
- Next up for Vander Esch met the Cowboys on Wednesday morning, James Palmer of NFL.com tweets. After that, he has the Cardinals and every team picking between No. 12 to No. 24, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Aside from the aforementioned clubs, the teams picking from No. 12-24 are the Bills (twice), Redskins, Packers, Ravens, Chargers, Seahawks, Lions, Bengals, Bills, Patriots, and Panthers.
- LSU pass-rusher Arden Key met with the Saints and Lions before his pro day on Wednesday and will visit with the Bengals on Thursday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. Due to injuries, key only started in eight games last year, but he still finished out with 33 tackles, 5.5 for loss, four sacks, and a forced fumble. He is widely projected to be a first round pick later this month.
Rams Pursued Bengals TE Tyler Eifert
Tyler Eifert is back with the Bengals, but he garnered interest elsewhere in free agency before re-signing. Eifert’s decision ultimately came down to the Bengals and the Rams, Jim Owczarski of The Enquirer reports. 
“But at the end of the day I knew where I wanted to be, which was with the Bengals,” the tight end said. “From the beginning, I told everyone that it would take something pretty special for me to leave. It would have to be an obvious decision.”
The Rams made Eifert a strong offer, but the Bengals pounced on their opportunity to match. The tight end’s new one-year deal is worth $5.5MM, but performance incentives could allow him to earn roughly $8.5MM in 2018. If Eifert plays in all 16 games, something that he has not done in his career and hasn’t come close to doing since 2015, he can add $1MM to his bank account. He can then earn an extra $3MM via receptions, receiving yards and touchdown incentives.
“I felt like I owed that to the organization, to Mr. Brown, to coach Lewis and to the fans, especially the way the first five years of my career have gone; up and down,” Eifert said of rejecting L.A.’s overtures. “I felt like (I had to) to keep them in the loop. I knew that’s where I wanted to be, so I’m happy about that.”
Eifert would have been a risky, but potentially rewarding, addition for the Rams. Of course, L.A. is not lacking for star power after adding notables like Ndamukong Suh, Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, and, most recently, wide receiver Brandin Cooks. Tight end remains a need for L.A., but they can find support for current depth chart topper Tyler Higbee in the draft later this month.
Bengals Notes: Atkins, Dunlap, Ross
Defensive tackle Geno Atkins is near the top of the Bengals’ wishlist of players to extend. The six-time Pro Bowler is entering the final year of a five-year $55MM extension and though he turned 30 earlier this week, he’s not showing signs of slowing down.
Atkins has tallied nine sacks in each of the last two seasons without missing a game. In fact, he hasn’t missed a game since 2013.
The Bengals have indicated his extension will certainly be a priority.
“In our football business, you pay for high-end talent and Geno has been at the top of our industry for a long time and we think he can continue to do that and that’s why we’re trying to see what the opportunities are going forward,” said Bengals vice president Troy Blackburn to Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cincinnati Enquirer.
Atkins set the market for defensive tackles back in 2013 but has since been upstaged by the likes of Gerald McCoy (seven years, $98MM) and Ndamukong Suh (six years, $114MM — with the Dolphins). Suh most-recently signed a one-year, $14MM deal with the Rams.
Here’s more from the Bengals:
- The Bengals have another defensive lineman nearing free agency in Carlos Dunlap. He’s also entering the final year of his deal — a six-year, $40MM extension signed in July 2013. The 29-year-old two-time Pro Bowler hasn’t logged less than 7 1/2 sacks in a season since 2013 while not missing a game since 2012. Blackburn said “That’s right” to Dehner Jr. when asked if Dunlap was viewed in the same scope as Atkins. But excess talent at defensive end in Carl Lawson and Jordan Willis could complicate matters. “At the same time, we’re going to be looking at the young guys we have coming up,” Blackburn said.
- John Ross had an abysmal rookie season with the Bengals, fumbling on his only touch of the year. But his lack of production didn’t have to do with a fractured relationship with coach Marvin Lewis. “He wasn’t in my doghouse. I don’t have a doghouse,” Lewis said to Geoff Hobson of Bengals.com. “I think he’s all the ability we wanted. That’s why we drafted him. He had to get fixed. We knew he was injured going in and he got nicked up a couple of times in his lower legs and the other shoulder was bothering him. He’s all fixed now.” The Bengals took the speedster out of Washington with the No. 9 overall pick of the 2017 draft.
- Earlier this week, Bengals president of player personnel Duke Tobin acknowledged that building around a player like Vontaze Burfict hasn’t been “ideal” but the team plans to stick by him and his recently-signed three-year extension for the time being. Burfict is suspended for the first four games of the upcoming season for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
Bengals Won’t Re-Do Andy Dalton’s Deal
Andy Dalton is set to carry a $16.3MM cap number in the coming year, which is on the low end for a starting quarterback. Don’t look for them to renegotiate his deal, however. 
“We didn’t sign the Andy Dalton deal because we thought it was a good deal. At the time it was an expensive deal. It was a heavy lift,” Bengals vice president Troy Blackburn said (via the team website). “We did it because Andy was a winning starting quarterback in the National Football League, he had demonstrated that. We know statistically your best chance of success is by rewarding your own players and maintaining that quality core. That is what drove that. We are certainly aware quarterback deals have evolved since then. We know that at the right time we will have to evolve as well. We don’t think this is the time right now. What we are going to focus on right now is building the best team for 2018 we possibly can.”
The Bengals inked Dalton to a six-year deal in the summer of 2014 that made him the team’s all-time highest-paid player in terms of annual average value. The $16MM rate doesn’t look like much now, but at the time, it was a significant payout.
With Dalton under contract through 2020, the Bengals have little incentive to rework his contract at this time. His performance also hasn’t warranted a pay bump. Dalton earned Pro Bowl nods in 2014 and 2016 and quietly had a strong year in between, but last season he completed just 59.9% of his passes and threw for a career low 3,320 yards.
Bengals Have Considered Building Around Players More Reliable Than Vontaze Burfict
- Despite a flurry of off-the-field issues, the Bengals have stuck with linebacker Vontaze Burfict, keeping his three-year, $32,53MM extension signed last September on the books. That doesn’t mean the team hasn’t considered building around someone a little more reliable. Burfict was suspended for the first four games of next season for violating the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy and has missed 29 of 66 possible games over the last four years due to suspension. “Do we have conversations on that a lot? Sure, we have conversations on that a lot,” said Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin of cutting ties with Burfict, via Paul Dehner Jr. of the Cinncinati Enquirer. “But at the end of the day we are a player-oriented business and the players are the ones that win or lose for us. We try to collect as many players that can help us win. That’s our job.
Bengals Still Monitoring Safety Market?
- The Bengals may appear to be out of the running for the top safeties still on the free agent market — players like Kenny Vaccaro and Eric Reid — but Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer believes that the club is still monitoring those and other players to see if their price drops enough to make a move.
Bengals Were Well-Prepared For Vontaze Burfict Suspension
- The suspension of Vontaze Burfict for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances didn’t come as a surprise to the Bengals. The team was aware of Burfict’s failed test before the regular season ended on Dec. 31 and were waiting for an arbitrator to hear Burfict’s appeal, according to Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer. The NFL has yet to comment on Burfict’s suspension, including what he tested positive for and when his appeal will be heard.
AFC Contract Details: Crabtree, Williamson
Here are figures on some of the recent contracts signed around the NFL, with all links going to Twitter unless noted otherwise.
- Michael Crabtree, WR (Ravens): Three years, $21MM. $11MM guaranteed, $8MM guaranteed in 2018. $7MM signing bonus, $2.5MM performance-based incentives. $2MM roster bonus due in March 2019 (via Pelissero and NFL reporter Howard Balzer).
- Avery Williamson, LB (Jets): Three years, $22.5MM. $16MM fully guaranteed, $6MM signing bonus. Base salaries of $4MM, $6MM, $6.25MM, with the 2018, ’19 amounts being fully guaranteed. Cap charges: $6MM (2018), $8MM (’19), $8.5MM in 2020 (per Balzer and ESPN.com’s Rich Cimini).
- Matt Barkley, QB (Bengals): Two years, $3.35MM (via Ian Rapoport of NFL.com).
- Preston Brown, LB (Bengals): One year, $4MM. $2MM signing bonus, $1MM workout bonus (via Rapoport and Balzer).
- Tyler Eifert, TE (Bengals): One year, $5.5MM (via Rapoport).
- Donte Moncrief, WR (Jaguars): One-year, $9.6MM. Fully guaranteed plus $2MM in incentives (via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com).
- Caleb Sturgis, K (Chargers): Two years, $4.45MM. $1MM signing bonus (via Rapoport and Balzer).
- Johnson Bademosi, CB (Texans): Two years, $6.25MM. $3.25MM guaranteed, $1MM roster bonus. Fully guaranteed $1.25MM base salary in 2018, non-guaranteed $2.25M base in 2019, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle).
- Jarvis Jenkins, DL (Chiefs): One year, $880K. $500K guaranteed, $90K signing bonus (per Balzer).
- Travaris Cadet, RB (Bills): One year, $880K. $45K signing bonus, $790K base salary (via Wilson).
- Andrew DePaola, LS (Raiders): Four years, $4.27MM. $875K guaranteed, $580K roster bonus (per Balzer).
Bengals Likely Done Making Major FA Signings, Could Bring Back Russell Bodine
- Paul Dehner Jr. and Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer think the Bengals did very well for themselves during the first week of the new league year, and they believe the club is done with its major free agent additions/trades in 2018. One of the reasons the team was so successful is that it did not force itself into an expensive Russell Bodine contract. The market has not developed for Bodine, a four-year starter in Cincinnati, in the way that he thought it would, and he may have to settle for a modest deal. We heard earlier today that he will be making a visit to the Bills, and while the Bengals will have center options in the draft, they could bring back Bodine if his price falls far enough.
Latest On Vontaze Burfict Suspension
- Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict is expected to argue that his four-game performance-enhancing drug suspension should be overturned given that he was using prescription medications to recover from injury after he’d already been ruled out for the season, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN.com. If Burfict’s ban is upheld, the remaining $11.3MM guarantee on his contract will void, meaning Cincinnati could potentially move on without any financial consequences. As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk writes, Burfict is hoping an arcane section of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement will save him, but the league is unlikely to overturn his suspension.