Will the Bengals spend their remaining cap space on a solid veteran? Plus, breaking down the punter battle and looking for year-1 rookie imp

Episode Transcript
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Bryce ferries based on product and subscriptionplan. We haven't talked about the

(01:11):
Bengals remaining salary cap space for quitea while. Let's talk about what they
could do with that space to finishup their offseason. You are Locked On
Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network,

(01:33):
your team every day. Well notBengals fans, and welcome to another
episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast.I'm your host, Jakelsco. He's your
host, James Rapeen. We're partof the Lockdown Podcast network. Here on
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will make it very easy to seewhen we upload our content every day and

(01:55):
keep you informed on all things Bengalswith the latest and greatest. Today,
for example, we're going to catchyou up on the Bengal salary cap position
and a lot of people are askingabout will they sign an offensive lineman,
will they sign a corner, willthey sign a running back? What about
Samaj p Ryan reunion. We'll talkabout those possibilities. We'll also get into
the punter battle. That's coming thisyear in training camp and look for impact

(02:19):
in year one from this year's draftclass and where that's going to come from
how likely it is to occur,James. Let's get started with the salary
cat situation. According to overthecap dotcom, Cincinnati Bengals have about twenty three
million dollars in salary cap space.I'll let you know where I have that
number. But Will Lou had aquestion about this is we're gonna do this

(02:44):
mailbag style. The Bengal still havetwenty million dollars in salary cap space.
Are they going to use it forextensions or will they sign at least one
more quality free agent like Elias Campbell, Zavian Howard or Steve Nelson and some
others like Cee Santa Diista on Twitterwas also wondering, well they bring in
a veteran into your offensive lineman backuper to compete. He's thinking of Dalton

(03:05):
Reisner. So a lot of questionslike this corner inter your offensive lineman running
back. Where are they going tospend that money? Well, they should
spend it, and let's start here. The Bengals are going to nestle away
a good amount as I come outof the hood on YouTube, and they're
going to nestle a good amount ofthat away for Jamar Chase might not like
it. I promise you that's ontheir mind, and that's high on their

(03:29):
priority list, more more so thanprobably any veteran that they could sign.
Now, watch between now and whenwe oppost this, which there is going
to be a few hour gap,they'll sign someone Jake and make me eat
my words. That doesn't mean theyshouldn't, because I think they should.
And of all those names that youmentioned, I think there are two that
stand out that I would sign.Like if Duke Tobin called me, or

(03:51):
Katie Blackburn called me, or heck, if Mike Brown called me and said,
James, who should we sign?I would say, well, thirty
eight year old Calias Campbell's still gotsome juice left. And thirty year old
twenty nine year old Zavian Howard,well, he could probably shore up that
secondary. Give Loua a couple morepieces here, and give yourself a they're
probably one year deals, but giveyourself two veterans that have been there,

(04:15):
done that that are looking for aring. So those are two names.
The other when I think of runningbacks would be Jerck McKinnon. I think
Jack McKinnon some when they were opento signing last year didn't come together.
Maybe that could happened this year.But there isn't much out there running back
wise, So where do I thinkthe money will go? I think it's
extensions number one Jamar Chase, andthen a much much smaller extension for Evan

(04:39):
Moneymack macpherson, and then after that, I think it'll trickle down to maybe
an extension for one of these otherveterans. I don't want to get into
that today because who knows if itactually happens. But could they sign someone
else? Could they bring in anexternal free agent? I wouldn't rule it
out. I don't think it willbe three like I named, but I

(05:00):
could see them signing a corner atsome point. I could see them adding
one running back at some point becausethey didn't draft one. It wouldn't shock
me if they did that. Youdid not mention interior offensive line depth.
They did draft Matt Lee. Ofcourse, they drafted a player that plays
one interior offensive line positioned are weare you suggesting they're just happy with their

(05:21):
interior offensive line depth behind their starters? How many picks did they have in
this year's draft? Jake, Ithink as many as I have fingers?
All right, so they had tenpicks. We talked a decent amount.
We spent a lot of time talkingabout a man rounds three through five.

(05:41):
Interior, you get that guard centerflex. I just there's no way they
didn't like some of those guys.There's just no way right where it didn't
line up. I find it veryvery hard to believe where that was the
case. And obviously they get MattLee, someone that you are really really
really really really bullish on. Butyour point, yeah, I mean it's
it's Cody Ford and Jackson Kirkland.Now they may feel really good about Cody

(06:04):
Ford the guard, and if theydo, Matt Lee replaces Max Sharping as
your backup center potentially, and thenthere you go. You know, I
do wonder do they think Marius Mimshas a little flex there? I don't
know, but yeah, I meanwould be open to adding one. Of
course, I would have drafted oneplus Matt Lee. But again, Duke

(06:26):
didn't call me to hit hammer thepoint home. It seems like they're pretty
comfortable with their interior. Offensive linedeft is what we're getting at here,
even though both of us think thatit would make sense to bring in a
veteran piece that has a bit ofa higher history of performance than what they've
got. You said, Jackson Kirkland, maybe you met Jackson Carmen. Maybe
you met Jackson Kirkland. Jackson Carmenalso in the mix for backing up I

(06:50):
guess four different offensive line spots,and I still think we expect Jackson Carmen
to be on the roster this year. But outside of that, the depth
on this offensive line unit right nowdoes leave me asking questions, even after
adding a Marius Wims of Matt Leein the draft, mostly because Lee,
even if he does win the backupcenter job, it's probably a center only

(07:14):
with his size being just north ofthree hundred is what he played at in
college, even though he was downto two eighty eight at the East West
trianbal So I would be open tothat, but it doesn't seem like to
me the Bengals are the type ofteam that makes these moves. These are
the kinds of moves that you knowthe Baltimore Ravens make. This is a
point of criticism for the Cincinnati Bengalsbringing in the high quality, low dollar

(07:39):
budget older players that are looking fora chance to win. And those are
the players we've talked about, theColias Campbell's, Aavian Howard's, Steve Nelson's,
Jack McKinnon's, Dalton Reisner's, allthese players that have been named in
the mailbag that you've brought up,James. The Bengals typically don't make those
moves, and I would like theBengals to make those moves, but until

(08:00):
they start doing that, it's veryhard to predict that they will. They
took a couple of risks in thisyear, this year's draft, they went
against the grain a little bit withwhat they do from a character standpoint,
right in the third round and inthe third round of the draft. Yes,
but that's different from, you know, spending a million bucks to them

(08:24):
a million millions. Look, Iknow how silly it sounds, but think
about that. That that's what thisteam is, That that's what this team
cares about. I'm just I'm justsaying what their perspective is is. They
don't like to spend money on agingfree agent depth. They haven't done it.
When they do it, we'll talkabout it more. I think and
it's so worth it. It's thisand the trade deadline thing are really frustrating.

(08:48):
M hmm, because you in thiswindow. In the window is his
career, but you have Joe Burrow. They should be really, really good.
And maybe maybe they do change andthey add someone here. They've changed
a lot over the past five years, would not shock me. But until
they do it, to your point, we can't say, oh, well,

(09:09):
they're going to do it. Butwe do remember a time like this
podcast is old enough to remember atime where they did zero in free agency
and they waited until now it waslike the fifth wave of free agency,
and then they'd added like a linebacker. Yeah, so who knows, James
Harrison come on down. So allwe're asking for is to get that that

(09:31):
level. By the way, JamesHarrison still could have played well for you
if you used them right. Getthat level of player much much later where
you're going to get good value.So who knows, Maybe they'll do it.
I'm not going to completely dismiss it. Let's let's keep a little hope
a lot. I'm not trying todismiss it. I'm just saying it's hard
to expect it because they haven't doneit, that's all. And to your

(09:52):
point, the window is his entirecareer, like you said, but the
window is different. It's going tobe, you know, a bay window
right now, maybe a little bitof a bigger window while he's still a
little bit cheaper, and then it'smaybe gonna get a little bit smaller,
but the window's still there. Asyou can let Joe know. I'll be
sure to let Joe know how youfeel. It's nothing to do with Joe.

(10:13):
It's all to do with how muchmoney the Bengals have to spend around
him. And that's why this draftis so important. Just for the record,
Will did mention twenty plus million incas space I mentioned over the cap
number. When you account for thepractice squad expenses as well, that number
is closer to about fifteen million inreal cap space that the Bengals are working
with us. So if they doextend one of those veterans, maybe Trey

(10:37):
Hendrickson, maybe Ted Carris, Idon't know, striculates whoever you want.
Well, Trey Hendrickson wants an extension. I'm just I'm just saying to say
it, maybe t Higgins. Theyfinally get over the finish line, which
is maybe part of why they're reservingthe money just in case. No matter
how Landersy's possibilities are, that fifteenmillion could be eaten up somewhat by extensions

(10:58):
for those guys in Evan McPherson,I think I'm more likely to get signed
by the Bengals than Trey Hendrickson isto get an extension. We'll continue the
conversation in this episode by shifting gearsand talking about this punter battle expected in
training camp, the Bengals spending someof their undrafted free agent money on a
punter. Coming up next, it'stime to tell you about Monopoly Go.

(11:20):
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(12:05):
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(12:28):
Google Play or the app store.Game on with Monopoly Go, James,
A lot of folks are wondering aboutAustin Magnamara, the Bengals undrafted free agent
punter. The question comes from theBengaloian the Bengalorian on Twitter. Who's winning
this punting battle? James to you, Wow, straight to me, I

(12:50):
see, I know you have numbers. I'm gonna toss it back to you.
I'm gonna toss it back to you. You go ahead, you give
me your thoughts on this, andthen I will I will share what I
think about Brad Robbins versus Austin mcnauereally throwing a wrench in the normal format.
Here. Austin McNamara, according tothe punt Analytics the punt Runts on
Twitter, was the second best punteravailable in this draft class. A big

(13:16):
legged, big legged punter that hasa history of needing to be a little
bit more consistent, but stylistically orwhen you think about the strengths of punters,
Austin McNamara's strength is open field punting, meaning you're punting from your own
twenty, your own thirty, andyou want to really flip the field.

(13:37):
He is not a bad directional punterby any measure, but the strength of
his game seems to be the openfield punting ability, according to the punt
Runts. The punt Runts also saidthat their top four punters in the twenty
twenty four class would have been rankedahead of the top punter from twenty twenty
three. So to them, theonly people I know that really study punters

(14:01):
in a great deal of depth,and if there's others out there, feel
free to comment them. I thinkthere's a YouTube channel as well. Well.
Of course, for teams there areemployees I knew you did, of
course, of course, like whatare we doing? But what are you
doing? The point is is thatthey saw this as a very strong punter

(14:22):
class. You dive into the individualnumbers, and Brad Robbins last year,
of course, had a pretty prettytough year, averaging forty four yards per
punt, and Austin mcnamarre did haveone year in his collegiate career where he
also only averaged forty four yards perpunt. The net for Austin mcnamaray and
college forty two yards to Brad Robbinsforty yards last year. Similar hang time

(14:48):
for both players between college and theNFL game, but as Brad Robins mentioned,
there is some adaptation required when goingto the NFL game. Things speed
up a little bit when you're puntingin the NFL, and there can be
an adaptation period. It's also whysometimes you see punters kind of emerge a
little bit later, where they've bouncedaround and then they sort of figure things

(15:09):
out later. Statistically, from amost recent year perspective, I would not
rule out Austin McNamara winning this job, but he does not have the NFL
experience and he does come with abit of inconsistency in his game according to
the punt runs and whether the touchbackissue or directional punting is a concern for

(15:35):
this team or not. I thinkit'll just come down to how these players
perform in camping in the preseason.I think it is a true battle.
But James, you think that BradRobbins has perhaps a leg up here.
Maybe that's just experience. He's thefavorite. I checked the James Orpene Fandel
odds. Brad Robbins is the favorite. And it's pretty simple. You mentioned
it. The experience element here ishuge. Now, a couple things about

(15:58):
Austin McNamara. He looks more likeJoe Burrow than he does Brad Robbins six
four to two ten, And Idon't mean physical appearance, I mean build
six four to two ten. Imean if he throws about seven pounds on
he gets in that Black Sheep fitnesstraining and starts trending with Dak and boom,
there we go. We have aQB three or QB four here.

(16:19):
He could throw a pass or twoon a fake. But McNamara did hold
on extra points and field goals atTexas Tech, and that's probably that's going
to determine how close this battle isdoes it go down to the wire.
I think I don't really question McNamarathe punter, and I think Brad Robbins
certainly has a lot to prove theregoing into this year. I know he

(16:42):
knows that firsthand. And so ifMcNamara comes in and does what I think
the Bengals think he's capable of froma punning standpoint, well he may have
the edge there. But the otherelement in the honestly, quite frank as
big as it is important as punningis, the more important element is holding.
Because you have one of the bestkickers in the NFL who was awesome

(17:03):
last year, and Evan McPherson.You're going to pay him this offseason,
so you want to make sure onemate, you find the right guy and
give him some stability because he's hadabout fifty two holders in his short three
year career. But the other elementhere is is making sure you don't disrupt
that because it's the cow Adamitas.Brad Robbins Evan McPherson trio worked really well

(17:26):
last year and that is a hugefactor. I know people hate to hear
it. They want to think aboutthe booming punts and all that, but
that's a huge factor. And sowhen I look at Brad Robbins the holder,
he was about as good as youcould imagine or expect or want.
And so that's why I think it'sfifty nine percent if I had to give
it a percentage, and it leansjust slightly towards Brad Robbins because of that.

(17:51):
Austin McNamara may average fifty plus yardsper punt and just dominate in camp
and also be great at holding becausehe did it at Texas Tech. But
until you do it and you're rightthe mechanics, something's changed. Daron's going
to get him and say, allright, this is what you have to
do now, and Evan's going towant him to tweak things like it's just
part of it. But if hecan get the holding part down, I

(18:12):
think it will go a long waytowards with him winning the job. And
that's what he should be working onright now. So Foston's listening rookie Minnie
camps this week, I'd be workingon holding just as much as anything,
because that's a huge, huge factorin determining the winner of this position.
Battle mentioned the averages for just thepunting yards just straight up Brad Robbins was
thirty first in the NFL last yearfor punters that had, you know,

(18:34):
at least thirty eight punts, andthat was at forty four yards per punt.
The players below him, Presley Harvin, Lou Headley. Headley was a
part timer. Presley Harvin with Pittsburghdid not keep his job. Austin McNamara
only cleared that number in three ofhis college seasons. Significantly, his collegiate

(18:57):
average forty five point nine yards perpunt, which would put him, you
know, twenty sixth in the NFL, or so last year his collegiate average
in general. So it's not likethey've got a guy here who's averaged forty
eight plus fifty plus yards per punt, which is where the top of the
NFL is, Ryan Stonehouse, BrianAnger, aj Cole, Michael Dixon all

(19:21):
fifty plus yards per punt. It'snot like it's that kind of big leg
that they've brought in with McNamara,and they didn't have that with well,
any punch they've had in the buildingin quite a long time. So whether
he does have that consistency that youneed, because he clearly can hit big
punts, his long punt in everygame in the last year for Texas Tech

(19:45):
was over fifty yards. But it'sthe ability to do that on a consistent
basis. Then you did hit thateighty three yard punt that you can find
on Twitter against West Virginia at somepoint from his end zone to the other
end zone. But the ability todo that consistently, whether it's Shame,
whether it's Brad Robbinson, and youcan bind the holding aspect into things,
it's going to be the defining factorand who wins the job because both players,

(20:07):
I think come with some consistency questionsin different ways and in different parts
of their game, and I thinkthat is something that Darren Simmons is probably
pretty well over at this point.James is inconsistency from the punters, no
doubt, no doubt about it.You got to find the right one.
You got to find the one that'sconsistent and is going to give you the
precision you're looking for, the directionyou're looking for, but also have the

(20:30):
leg and that's where McNamara certainly couldshow that off. I mentioned the physical
attributes his build, and so howabout that ten minutes on the punter battle.
The sad part is Jake. Thisis just the beginning. Got a
lot more coming on the punter battleover the next few months ahead of the
twenty twenty four NFL season. ButAustin McNamara might make an impact. What

(20:52):
other rookies could make a year oneimpact? That and more coming up next.
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Let's talk some more about some rookies. James some questions that fit the
theme, where's a year one impactcoming from in this draft class? Jay

(22:18):
Bruce eleven sixty six asking does aMarius WMS have a real chance of winning
the right tackle job? And creasedball means asking, man, your footing
names are wild? Who is thefavorite a wide receiver? Three? I
can see a chase case for CharlieYoshi Burton or even Irwin so Jermae Burton,
Marius Men's year one impact? Either? Guy? What do you think?

(22:44):
Yeah? I think ooh, Ithink you could get I mean it
depends on a marius but like hecould play twelve hundred snaps for eleven hundred
snaps, he could get all ofthem. If it goes that way.
I think there's a chance for himto win the right tackle job. I
don't think it's likely, obviously weknow Trent Brown's injury history. I think
Burton and Chris Jenkins right away havea role because you play more than two

(23:07):
receivers, you play more than twodefensive tackles, and so it's easier there
to see the path and so they'regoing to make an impact right away.
Whether it's a heck, could EricAll be in the mix? I think
he would be if he were healthy, but that's a question mark. There
are a lot of these guys Icould see making an impact right away.
I think Josh Newton certainly is goingto be there and taking reps on defense

(23:32):
and special teams and all of thosethings. So I just went through the
fifth round. Now, Amarus,it's more of about a health standpoint,
or can he beat out Trent Brownand just amaze the coaching staff, because
that's what I think he would haveto do. I think he'd have to
blow them away and throughout this offseasonprogram and training camp to beat out Trent

(23:52):
Brown, assuming Trent is playing atthe level we expect him to, but
it's still possible. Of all ofthem, though, I think Jenkins makes
the biggest impact. I think he'sready to go. I think he's going
to be a plus run defender rightaway and give them what they really did
need because they needed someone else thatcould defend the run. They were bad

(24:14):
against it last year, even withDJ Reader and so Sheldon Rankins, BJ
Hill, Chris Jenkins huge impact,and then of course Burton's going to make
an impact as well right away.Yeah. I think that the question as
to whether or not Mems can winthe right tackle job in camp. I
think that's a pretty tough ask forMems. And I said going into the
draft that whoever they draft at eighteen, if it's a tackle, should be

(24:34):
competing for the starting right tackle job. I still believe that he should be
competing for the starting right tackle job. But Trent Brown, when he's motivated,
when he's put together, when he'son the field, when he's healthy,
it's a really good player and areally unique player at his size,
being bigger than Orlando Brown, beingbigger than a Marius Mims. But if

(24:56):
Mems does put it together quickly andis up to speed and is executing the
way they want him to execute,and understands the offense the way they need
him to understand the offense and establishesthat quick report with right guard Alex Kappa
right away, there's a chance,because the ceiling is higher, he could
be a better player pretty quickly ifhe puts all those things together. But

(25:19):
more likely is that they go witha veteran to start and Amarus Mims can
pick up those mental pieces get thatexperience over time, because I do think
that the preseason rest will be invaluablefor Mims. He will need those Those
will be important for his development,and he'll need a lot of them.
So I think we will continue tosee a lot of that throughout the offseason

(25:41):
program and into the preseason. Theother question here, James, you talked
about the ability for Burton to makean impact, but you didn't address who
you think is a favorite for widereceiver three, and that's kind of part
of the theme here. You gotCharlie Jones, Andre Josebash, Jermaine Burton,
Trent and Irwin all solidly in themix there for for different reasons.
Do you think Burton Mike Asiki that'sa fair point, and like also also

(26:07):
in that mix, like he shouldbe mentioned because he's going to play a
factor in it for sure. No, absolutely, I mean Gaseki will play
at least a couple hundred slot snapsfor this team this year as essentially a
wide receiver. You might technically callit twelve personnel because he's still listed as
a tight end, but he's goingto eat into the slot snap rotation.
And I think that's what it is, is that it's a rotation. And

(26:29):
you might see all of these guysdeployed in different ways. But who do
you think uh is the leader inthe James Rapeen probability calculator for the most
snaps or how would you handicap mostto least snaps for that group? Yeah,
it would be it would start obviouslyit would be Jamar t and for
a full season, it's going tobe Jermaine T. Higgins once upon a

(26:52):
time didn't play much his first NFLgame, and then by mid game two
he was out there and then boomtakes off and that's how it went.
And that might be that way withJermaine Burton where and it might take more
than two weeks, but you maysee him out there for fifteen snaps week
one and Trent Nuura went out thereand Charlie Jones andre yosse about all these

(27:12):
guys getting reps, and I dothink that they could, and they're confident
in all of them. And sothe reason I'm bullish on Burton though,
is he gives you something vertically thatthese other guys don't, and so as
he gets more familiar with the offensemore comfortable, it shows that he can
one win downfield still at the NFLlevel, but two pick up some of

(27:34):
the nuance of the slot snaps.That's part of it. But I will
say, what if Charlie Jones comesin and shows he can be a slot
and be the guy they thought hecould be, then it gets interesting too,
right, So I do I agreewith you. I think it's going
to be a rotation. It isn'tgoing to be a big three, so
to speak. Yet. I thinkBurton could by mid season or a little

(27:57):
later, start to get more andmore snaps. But it's going to be
a rotation where I think Burton isstill the favorite for a season long to
get the most snaps there, butthey trust Trenton Irwin. I think there's
an opportunity for Charlie Jones to showand earn that trust. And if so,
heck he may start Week one.That wouldn't shock me. Obviously.

(28:18):
They really like Irwin and Josevash aswell on the outside, and maybe one
of those guys starts that first snapand you have Chas in the slot snap
one of week one. Who knows. But I do think all of these
guys are going to get a realchance to play, and Burton ultimately I
expect his talent to win out andtake over by midyear. Yeah, you
can see all of these players havingdifferent roles in different spots for different kinds

(28:44):
of route concepts, for different routesthat they're running for different strategies in the
game as far as where they're tryingto attack on the field in the passing
game, as far as where theyare is rum blockers. Which of these
guys is going to be the rumblocker that they trust the most because that
is a big factor in getting onthe field. As much as we talk
about receiving ability for these guys,which of these players between Jones, Josebash,

(29:08):
Burton, Irwin is going to bethe one that they default to when
they want to present a mixed lookon a mixed down where it's not just
a passing down, because on apassing down, you probably want your most
talented receiver out there for the mostpart, right in terms of receiving ability
straight up, But on the mixeddowns, on the base downs, you
need to have a guy that youcan trust to run block because a lot

(29:30):
of these plays are going to bealerts or run pass options where you need
guys that are able to do both, or you'll have Joe Burrow dictating traffic
at the line of scrimmage. Sothat run blocking ability, I think is
something that we will have to watchthrough the preseason because I think all these
guys are going to play in thepreseason, and their willingness and ability to

(29:52):
execute and be in the right placeat the right time is going to be
a factor certainly. And I justthink back to when I was watching some
wider receivers for the draft, andsome of these guys just really did not
look interested in rum blocking and widereceiver the effort was entirely locking. So
that will be a factor for surein this rotation that we're going to see

(30:12):
developed. It's similar to the holdingelement, where it's not as big of
a factor. Of course that's halfof the punter's job, but where it
goes under the radar. But it'ssuch a factor, and I'm sure there
was frustration there last year, nodoubt. Oh yeah, especially for coaches.
It's a big factor more so thanno doubt, is it. Well,
that's what I mean. Yeah,And it's such a frustrating thing when

(30:33):
you know they're capable. And so, by the way, if you're Jermaine
Burton, I mentioned all the routerunning stuff, but you want to find
another way to get on the field. If you're Charlie Jones, you want
to show that you are the slotof the future, which he still could
be. I know, it feelsweird, like could we not see him
be the slot of the future Ifhe pops this year, he could absolutely

(30:55):
do that. So I think blockingis certainly an element that all of these
guys are going to have the show. Like you said, we'll see how
that plays out Rookie Mini caamp laterthis week, and of course we'll see
how these start to develop in trainingcamp in a few months as well.
This week, though, we've gotBrandon Thorn joining us in a couple of
days to talk a little bit aboutthe Bengals offensive line and their additions to

(31:15):
that unit. Until then, thanksfor listening to this episode of the Lockdown
Bengals podcast. Who Day, andhave a good one. A Prime members,
you can listen to this Lockdown podcasta free on Amazon Music. Download

(31:36):
the Amazon Music app today.

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