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Cincinnati Bengals News & Rumors

Bengals To Sign Ted Karras

March 14th, 2022 at 12:48pm CST by Zachary Links

The Bengals have agreed to sign offensive lineman Ted Karras (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). Once finalized, it’ll be a three-year, $18MM deal to keep Karras under club control through 2024.

[RELATED: Bengals To Sign Cappa]

Karras, best known for his time with the Patriots, returned to New England on a one-year, $4MM deal last year. Before that, he spent the 2020 season with the rival Dolphins. In 2020, he started in all 16 games and played on all 1,067 of the ‘Fins offensive snaps. Last year with the Pats, Karras wasn’t quite as active, but still appeared in all 17 games with 13 starts.

Karras will be joined by former Buccaneers guard Alex Cappa, who agreed to a four-year, $40MM deal with the Bengals on Monday morning. Cappa appeared in all 19 of the Buccaneers’ games last year (including the playoffs), showing that he’s now well recovered from the ankle fracture that kept him out of Super Bowl LV.

Bengals To Sign Alex Cappa

March 14th, 2022 at 11:17am CST by Zachary Links

The Bengals have agreed to sign Alex Cappa (Twitter link via Adam Schefter of ESPN.com). The former Buccaneers guard scores a four-year deal, helping to solidify Cincinnati’s offensive line.

Cappa’s contract maxes out at $40MM, but Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets it is actually a four-year, $35MM pact. The ex-Bucs blocker will collect $20MM over the deal’s first two years, with $1MM in Pro Bowl incentives being the escalators that would drive the pact toward its max value.

The Bengals have long been searching for solutions on their front five. Now, they’ve got a proven veteran that can stop the interior rush and open up rushing lanes. They’ll likely continue to target offensive line help over the next few weeks, however, taking extra steps to protect quarterback Joe Burrow.

Some had speculated that Tom Brady‘s un-retirement would help sway Cappa to stay. That wasn’t the case, and it’s unlikely that they’ll be able to tug at the heartstrings of fellow lineman Ali Marpet. Between Cappa and Marpet — who still intends to retire at the age of 28 — the Bucs have some serious holes to fill in free agency. On the plus side, they have successfully retained center Ryan Jensen with a three-year, $39MM deal.

A third-round pick in 2018, Cappa did not miss a regular-season game during Brady’s two Tampa seasons, but he did miss Super Bowl LV after suffering a fractured ankle. Cappa rebounded to play all 19 Bucs games last season. For his career, Cappa has suited up for 52 games (46 starts) across the last four years.

Bengals Targeting Multiple FA O-Linemen?

March 12th, 2022 at 4:21pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Bengals‘ Super Bowl LVI performance made their offensive line need known worldwide. While the team is not traditionally known for big-ticket free agency splashes, it has spent to fortify its defense over the past two offseasons. O-line reinforcements may be coming, too. At least, a growing expectation exists the Bengals will try to add multiple blockers in free agency, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports notes. Cincinnati still has Joe Burrow tied to a rookie contract through at least 2022 and holds nearly $35MM in cap space, as of Saturday. The Bengals have not been much for spending on guards, letting both Evan Mathis and Kevin Zeitler leave in free agency during the 2010s, but they may need to deviate from that blueprint soon. Cincinnati has been connected to centers ahead of the market’s opening, being mentioned as interested in Ryan Jensen and Bradley Bozeman. Not usually a closely monitored team in free agency, at least nationally, the Bengals will see their O-line strategy spotlighted soon.

Minor NFL Transactions: 3/11/22

March 11th, 2022 at 9:33pm CST by Adam La Rose

Here are today’s minor roster moves around the NFL:

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Dallas Cowboys

Houston Texans

Las Vegas Raiders

New York Giants

Pittsburgh Steelers

San Francisco 49ers

RFA/ERFA Tender Decisions: 3/11/22

March 11th, 2022 at 5:52pm CST by Sam Robinson

The deadline for teams to extend tender offers to their restricted free agents and exclusive rights free agents looms next week. We’ll keep tabs on the latest here:

RFAs

Tendered:

ERFAs

Tendered:

Non-tendered:

Bengals Use Franchise Tag On Jessie Bates

March 7th, 2022 at 8:11pm CST by Ely Allen

MONDAY: The team made it official, announcing a tag for Bates. The fifth-year safety will be tied to a $12.911MM salary if he plays the season on the tag. Bates said last month he would be disappointed if tagged, but he and the Bengals now have four-plus months to negotiate an extension.

SATURDAY: Despite working over the past two years towards a contract extension, it appears Bengals’ safety Jessie Bates is destined to play out the 2022 NFL season under the franchise tag. Bates and the Bengals won’t give up on attempts to reach a long-term deal, but they will do so with the tag acting as a failsafe, according to Tyler Dragon of USA Today. 

As a second-round pick out of Wake Forest in the 2018 NFL Draft, Bates has been everything the Bengals have asked for and more. He quickly earned a starting role as a rookie and recorded three interceptions in each of his first three NFL seasons, ending the 2020 season as Pro Football Focus’ top ranked safety. His play dipped a bit this past year, but, when his team needed him in the playoffs, Bates stepped up recording two interceptions, one in Super Bowl LVI.

Now Bates is set to extend his current contract, play the 2022 season under the franchise tag, or hit the open market. Franchises patiently waiting for him to become a free agent will likely be disappointed. Bates and Cincinnati both intend for the safety to stay long-term.

Bates has shown much frustration over the past two years, fearing the unpredictability that comes with a franchise tag. “Hopefully, I’m not under a franchise tag,” Bates said in an appearance on NFL Network. “That’s something that needs to be discussed as NFLPA a little bit. Some of the top guys got hurt under a franchise tag. It’s tough; you only get one shot at this.”

With three days until the franchise tag deadline, the Bengals are playing it safe and making sure that they have a bit of extra time. After the franchise tag window closes, the team will have nearly five more months to finalize a deal with Bates. The tag is expected to pay around $13.54MM for the 2022 season.

Bates has long said that he is not overly concerned with “the ego part of being the highest-paid safety.” The highest-paid safeties currently are Jamal Adams, Harrison Smith, and Justin Simmons. Adams is a strong safety that plays all over the field and gets compensated more in the realm of a well-paid linebacker, making him the top-earning safety in the league at an average of $17.5MM per year. Smith is a strong safety that plays a more traditional safety position than Adams. He signed an impressive four-year, $64MM deal averaging $16MM per year at the ripe old age of 31 years old. Simmons is the league’s top-earning free safety. After playing out two consecutive seasons under the franchise tag, Simmons signed a four-year, $61MM deal averaging $15.25MM per year at 27 years of age. Bates is likely aiming for the $15-16MM per year range or is maybe willing to take $14-15MM per year for an extra year or two under contract.

At 25, Bates is in a similar position as Simmons was when he received his first franchise tag. There’s no doubt that Bates could absolutely increase the value of his deal after playing under the franchise tag like Simmons did, but Bates’ concerns over the lack of security provided by the tag aren’t unfounded. Both sides will continue working towards an agreement that keeps the safety in Cincinnati long-term with the compensation and security he desires. Until that time, though, Bates will have the franchise tag hanging over his 2022 season.

AFC East Rumors: Bills, Jets, Douglas, Jackson

March 6th, 2022 at 5:33pm CST by Ely Allen

On Friday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul made comments that all but guaranteed that an agreement for a new stadium for the Bills will be made soon, according to Mike Florio of NBC Sports.

Highmark Stadium (previously Rich Stadium, Ralph Wilson Stadium, and New Era Field) has been the home of the Bills since 1973. The Bills’ current lease on Highmark expires in 2023 and the franchise has been pushing with many government entities to build them a shiny, new stadium. The team has used the very real looming threat that there are plenty of other markets in the country that can support an NFL franchise.

Hochul commented on that threat saying, “That’s why we’re negotiating very intently, to make sure we have the right outcome for this community.” The new stadium will partially be funded by the public to the tune of about $850MM. The Governor claims that a deal will be done by April 1, in time for the annual budget.

Here are a few other rumors from around the AFC East, starting with a couple of notes that keep us in the Empire State:

  • The Jets are planning to use this offseason to add some weapons to the roster for quarterback Zach Wilson. They currently have Corey Davis and Elijah Moore sitting atop the depth chart. They would love to bring back Braxton Berrios as a fourth-receiver/gadget player and they haven’t yet given up on Denzel Mims. Still, New York will have ample opportunity to add a potential No. 1 receiver to the roster, according to SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano. The free agent market is home to many household names like Chris Godwin, Allen Robinson, Mike Williams, and, potentially, Amari Cooper. Players like Calvin Ridley and Cole Beasley have been rumored to be available via trade. The 2022 NFL Draft is also so rich in talented receivers that many believe some first round talent could fall to the second round where the Jets have two high picks, if they don’t choose to take a top prospect like Garrett Wilson or Drake London with the 10th overall pick.
  • That being said, Vacchiano also reports that, despite their vast spending ability, general manager Joe Douglas has been preaching the maintenance of financial flexibility. Though the Jets rank in the Top 5 in the NFL in salary cap space, Douglas rejected the notion that their $50-60MM in cap space will be dedicated to big spending in free agency. Douglas acknowledged free agency as just one of “a lot of different tools to improve your roster” and pointed to the Bengals as an example of responsible free agent spending. “I think Cincy did great in free agency last year,” he said. “They didn’t blow the doors off in terms of signing super high-priced guys. They brought in guys who fit exactly what they wanted to do.”
  • According to Mike Giardi of NFL Network, Patriots’ cornerback JC Jackson is likely headed for free agency with some lofty expectations. While Jackson still likes the Patriots, money is a big factor for the 26-year-old. Giardi claims that Jackson is strictly seeking compensation similar to Jalen Ramsey. New England won’t bring that money to the table and it sounds like they won’t be utilizing their franchise tag on Jackson, either. That information could lead to a tag and trade situation if other teams aren’t willing to shell out for Jackson in free agency.

Bengals, Jets, Jaguars Expected To Pursue Ryan Jensen; Bucs Want To Retain C

March 5th, 2022 at 4:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

It will cost the Buccaneers to keep Ryan Jensen. Despite this being the veteran center’s second go-round at free agency, he is expected to have a robust market.

The Bengals, Jets and Jaguars are among the teams expected to have interest in Jensen once he hits the market, Aaron Wilson of ProFootballNetwork.com notes. Meanwhile, the Bucs want to do “everything possible” to keep their four-year center, Wilson adds. This follows a report that indicated Tampa Bay wanted to retain Jensen and Alex Cappa, with Ali Marpet‘s surprise retirement putting pressure on the Bucs to hang onto their other top interior O-linemen.

With the franchise tag formula grouping all offensive linemen together, the tag is not a realistic option for the Bucs, who also have plenty of other starters headed for free agency. The O-line tag is expected to approach $17MM; the NFL’s highest-paid center (Frank Ragnow) earns $13.5MM annually. The demand for Jensen could give the center position a new top salary. That would be quite the development for the ex-Raven, who signed a center-record deal (four years, $42MM) when he was last a free agent in 2018.

Jensen, 31 in May, has not missed a game over the past five seasons. He earned his first Pro Bowl nod this past year. Jacksonville, Cincinnati and New York each are among the top five in terms of cap space. Tampa Bay is barely $2MM over the cap, residing near the bottom of the league in terms of offseason resources.

The Bengals obviously have needs across their O-line, and they appear to be committed to improving the center position. They are also expected to pursue Ravens center Bradley Bozeman, who looms as a cheaper alternative to Jensen. The Jets signed Connor McGovern just two years ago in free agency, giving him a three-year, $27MM deal. His contract is up after the 2022 season. Jacksonville has Brandon Linder under contract, but the longtime Jaguars blocker has run into rampant injury trouble. The Jags could save $9.5MM by cutting Linder.

NFL To Discuss Potential OT Changes

February 27th, 2022 at 6:49pm CST by Ely Allen

The NFL’s Competition Committee had their first in-person meeting of the offseason today and, according to Judy Battista of NFL Network, proposed changes to the league’s overtime rules are on the agenda. The Committee’s chair, Rich McKay, confirmed as much, claiming there was no question it would be brought up.

Battista continued her reports in a series of tweets. She claims that there will be proposals for the rules to change both for the playoffs only and for regular season and postseason games together.

The argument for changing the rule in the playoffs only are centered around the expectation that the league’s best quarterbacks will be the ones participating in these games, increasing the likelihood that the team that wins the coin toss will score on the first possession of overtime and end the game without the opponent getting a chance to touch the ball. An example of this occurred this past postseason when the Chiefs defeated the Bills on the first possession of overtime in the AFC Divisional Playoff round. Unfortunately for fans rooting for a potential rule change, an example of the opposite of the above example happened just a week later. In the AFC Championship game, the Chiefs once again won the coin toss and were granted the first possession of overtime. This time, the Chiefs were forced to go three-and-out by the Bengals’ defense, and Cincinnati went on to win the game on a walk-off field goal.

According to Battista, the Colts have submitted a proposal that would guarantee each team a possession in overtime that would apply to both the regular season and the postseason. The Colts didn’t make the postseason this year but had two regular season games go past regulation. Indianapolis lost both games. An overtime loss to the Titans on Halloween saw both teams possess the ball twice each in overtime, but an October loss in Baltimore saw Lamar Jackson and the Ravens dink-and-dunk their way to a touchdown in overtime that kept the Colts from ever seeing the ball after the fourth quarter.

Battista notes that there is still a ways to go in the discussions for a change to overtime rules. It won’t be discussed by the Committee for another two days. Even when it does come up, it’s not yet known how much support is out there for the potential change. In order for the rule to be adjusted, 24 owners would have to vote in favor of a change to the rule. That’s a high bar to pass, but something worth keeping an eye on as discussions proceed.

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