January 9, 2025 • 14 mins
Robert Weintraub writes a weekly Bengals column for Cincinnati Magazine. We talked about the Bengals offseason, which sadly, is underway.
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Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Orange bowlt tonight on ESPN fifteen thirty, with Notre Dame
taking on Penn State. The station down the Hall is
stealing the game tomorrow night from us, so we won't
have that one. Robert wind Trump is with us, writes
(00:20):
a weekly Bengals column for Cincinnati Magazine. You could hear
his or here. God, you could read his column post
Pittsburgh and post twenty twenty four season right now at
Cincinnati Magazine dot com. He's with us? Now, how's it going? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
You know, I think there is an audiobook version of
my column posted each week so you can hear it.
Perhaps I have one of those little translation devices. Maybe
do you read it?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Or is it AI based?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah? No, I bring it a celebrity Impersonator's it for me?
Somebody with a deep base for Fundo who sounds really,
really good. So you have that to look forward.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
I would like to hired that. I would like to
have that here replacing me. It'd be nice for everybody.
Do you have a Bengals defensive coordinator wish list?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
You know, I think it's tough for me to really
say that I have a wish list. I mean, it's
easy to go and say oh, Robert Sala. He was
a great defensive coordinator in San Francisco, you know, with
Nick Bosa and Fred Warner and Drake m On, all
those guys. I mean, yeah, he'd be a good hire theoretically,
but you know, I don't think that's very realistic. Really.
What I'd like to see is somebody who can come
(01:32):
in and you know, develop and relate to the younger players,
because that's the key to the future in Cincinnati. And
that's obviously a big reason why lu and Nimoy was
fired is because the guys that were drafted with all
the with all that draft capital over the years to
the last three years to you know, kind of remake
the defense never step forward. And it's tough to put
(01:54):
all that on Loot necessarily. But I do think that
a new guy who has a experience or a track
record of developing talent young talent, relates to young players,
might be able to get a little bit further along
than those results. I mean, you know, they know they
talked to Patrick Graham from the Raiders. You know, he's
off the Belichick tree. He played college ball himself at Yale.
(02:17):
He seems like he did a good job mixing and
matching with the Raiders this season, even though they didn't
have a great defense necessarily, but you know, they lost
Max Crosby for ahot of the Year and Christian Wilkins,
and they wound up playing a lot of kids who
took a decent step forward. And I think people run
the league really liked what he did there. So I mean,
you know, somebody in that ILK, I don't know that
(02:38):
he's necessarily my first choice. They could think about a
guy maybe like a Jim Leonard, who has a lot
of you know, Big ten background up there in Ohio.
You know, I'm sure people there are familiar with his
work at Wisconsin, and obviously he was in the league
for a long time and was considered sort of a
player defensive coordinator when he was with the Jets and
the Ravens Underrex Ryan. So, you know, doesn't get a job,
(03:00):
maybe he'll go on TV every day and pump for
his guy, Jimmy Leenard. I think any of those guys
who have shown that they can, you know, kind of
relate and develop new guys and not just rely on
a system like lou seemed to have, which was you
got to get veterans into his system and have them
get acclimated for a period of whatever, two seasons worth
of NFL football before it finally all clicks. You know,
(03:22):
he just can't afford that kind of time anymore. And
these guys have to get up to speed or the
Bengals are really behind the eight ball. Be behind the
eight ball going forward.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Do you have an offensive line coach wish list?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
How about you?
Speaker 1 (03:35):
I mean, you know, I do, I do, I do,
I as long as the new guy that doesn't have
to doesn't make me have to listen to the term
glass eaters again. I'm okay.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
I was actually thinking maybe you could be the coach. Yeah, listen,
I the intricacies of offensive line play are difficult for
even an NFL savant to suss out necessarily. I don't
know that I have a list of guys who I
could definitely say would do a great job. I think
they're obviously looking for somebody who, again can not just
(04:08):
you know, teach the discipline of playing both the run
end blocking schemes, but design a system that works best
for the players that they have here. And I also
wonder how much you know Frank Pollick's you know, on
draft day how much of a voice he actually had,
and whether or not some of the picks they've had
really fit what he wanted to do, because obviously, again
(04:28):
there most of the guys they've drafted have not really
developed particularly well. I mean, you can't argue with a
fourth round pick like Cordell Volson, you know, getting the
starts that he had, He's given you some decent play,
but obviously he regressed badly this year, and I just
wonder how much his ceiling really fit what Pollock wanted
to do. So you're just gonna have to get the
guys aligned better than I think that they were in
(04:50):
the past, and you know, whether that means a change
and how they run certain schemes or draft in the future.
You know, it's hard for me to say, and all, honestly,
I'm not really an expert when it comes to that
kind of x's and o's along the offensive line, but
I just think they need to be better aligned with
their vision and execute their player acquisition accordingly.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Before we look ahead further. What if we look back,
what was to you the biggest Bengals? What if of
twenty twenty four?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Oh boy, there were so many I mean, the highlight
film should just be a big question mark over the
top of it, right, I mean, I mean, I'll go different.
I mean, you could pick obviously, any of a half
a dozen games and individual moments, you know, from the
blown hold against Baltimore and the penalty and Dejon Anthony
going back to the first game of the season, that's easy.
(05:40):
But to me, the big picture problem was really not
signing Jamar Chase early on and getting that done and
off the plate. And I just think the rain cloud
that followed them after that from not doing it. It
really linked. You know, we saw it. It leached into
the regular season, and it affected so much of the
offseason and we always talk about the Bengals can't do
(06:03):
anything in that first couple of games of the seasons.
Fact there was one in eleven in his first two games,
and you know, they really had a chance in previous years.
A lot of that was because he didn't have Joe Burrow,
you know, even around for a lot of the offseason
workouts and he's always coming back from injury and he
came back from injury this year too, but he was
there and rare and to go. I feel like they
were desperately thinking they could definitely have a better start
(06:25):
this year, and then the vibes from the contracts just
kind of ruined the whole thing. And we expected a
little bit from t Higgins, but he didn't, you know,
even really make any noise, and that was just sort
of like a fay complete and then to have the
Chase in Brolio just kind of on top of that,
and really for no real reason. They were so close
in their discussions and a guy like Jamar, you just
(06:47):
want to sign him early and get that off you play.
Now they're in a pickle because now they have to
resign them both theoretically and Jamar had this humongous season.
It's just going to cost you more money. It's just
a way of doing things that it seemed like they
were turning a corner on and they didn't with the
Chase situation, and that just seemed to affect the vibes,
(07:07):
so to speaking, so much of what they did. And
that was a large part of the reason why if
you recall at the beginning of the year, I thought
they were going to lose that inwing in game because
I thought they were, you know, kind of stumbling backwards
into the regular season and sure enough that the vibes
were so bad at earlier the year it really cost
him to down at the end of the year.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
One of the more interesting developments this offseason that I'll
be following involves Trey Hendrickson and maybe there's nothing right.
Maybe he goes into his walk year and plays it
out and hits free agency and then we see what happens.
It's interesting because last year, obviously he saw it a
new deal, didn't get it, saw to pay raise, didn't
get it. As for a trade, didn't get it. He
(07:46):
was doing that coming off a terrific twenty twenty three.
He was even better this year. There's now one year
less left on his deal. Uh, how would you how
would you prefer I guess this play out? How do
you think it will?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Yes, just another pickle Vengos because again they you know,
and I don't blame him because along you know, retearing
up the deal. Remember he asked for an extra year.
They gave him an extra year onto his existing deal
and everybody seemed happy. And then sort of out of
the blue, he's like, no, I want, you know, at
least one more year. And you know, maybe the Bengals
could have given it to him then, but that didn't
(08:23):
seem like the proper move at the time. He just
gave him an extra year, and listen, I think the
best result would be to just do that again and
give him another year. He signed through twenty five. As
you say, you don't give him the twenty six season
and make it a fairly hefty raise. You don't want
to give him too much. He's already close to the
seven percent of the cap, and if you're resigning Chase
(08:44):
and Higgins along with Burrow, and that's four guys making
about thirty ish percent of your cap, thirty five almost
that's not necessarily a great roster building. But he is
a great player. On the other hand, you know, as
I said, the Bengals aren't kind of pickle. They have
a lot of holes to fill, a lot of places
to look to up the talent level, and they only
have six draft picks. It's not impossible they look to
(09:04):
trade hendrickson coming off this great season, entering his age
thirty one year, I mean, is he really gonna match
what he did this year? I mean, it's certainly counterintuitive
because he's obviously, by you know, secretary at distance, the
best player under defense, and without him getting pressure on
the quarterback, you know, they could give up fifty points
a game. But saying that, you know there's definitely teams
(09:27):
out there that you have two or three high draft picks,
maybe over two years worth. But you know, for a
player of Hendrickson's caliber, for sure, you have to consider
it when you're in a pickle like this that they
are like I keep saying, and you're in a position
where that's where missing the playoffs this year was so
bad because you know, if you the narrative is so
(09:47):
much different, and you don't look to yourself and your
team as being so open for you know, new players
and so open for needing improvement so many areas, and
you can sort of paper over lot of that with,
you know, with some January football, but it didn't happen,
and all things have to be on the table. You've
already blown out half of your coaching staff. Zach Taylor survives,
(10:10):
but who knows how much longer you have to consider
the possibility of trading one of your best players while
you can get a lot for him, which you did
not do obviously with t Higgins. And now they're reaping
the problems of that particular decision. I think they'll definitely
consider it with trade, but I would doubt that it
actually happens. That's not the Bengals way. Yeah, and I
think they'll try and get him to another one year
(10:32):
deal through twenty six and hopefully everybody will be happy
with that.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
You know, you talk about trading him, and there's there's
validity to the idea that that's worth exploring. It's just
such an interesting dynamic here. You have this team with
an atrocious defense and otherwise non existent pass rush, a
new defensive coordinator coming in, and we're going to trade
away the one good player.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah, the only reason I think, you know, I mean,
he's the guy you're talking about. He's already third all
time in the Bengals sex. It's unbelievable. But and he
hasn't even obviously been here. He wasn't drafted by the team.
But in a weird again counterintuitive way, sort of like
they would never think about trading Carlos Dunloppergino Atkins, you know,
until the very end, because they traded because they drafted
(11:18):
those guys and was so attached to him for nine
ish years. Whatever. It was a guy like Hendrickson, who's
you know, a guy they brought in as a free
agent already but didn't draft, didn't go through that whole
process with he's he's in law, but he's not direct family.
You know. I think that makes the possibility at least
of trading him at least a little bit more likely.
(11:38):
But as you say, it's it's not their style necessarily,
and it's just they would be hard for everybody to
swallow after, Like you said that the best player by
far in your defense, gets traded away after his career year.
But you know, again, they have to consider it because
the holes are just so fat.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
One more Robert Wine Trumps Cincinnati Magazine. Zach Taylor. You know,
I think most have have concluded, Okay, he's on the
hot seat. That can be a pretty abstract term. My
question for you is should that come with a specific mandate?
Is it playoffs or bust? Is it when the division
or bust? Is it advance in the postseason or bust?
(12:18):
What does what does the hot seat? What does that
mean for Zach Taylor in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Yeah, it's gonna be tough for him. I mean, I
think I wrote in the column this week. The pressure
on him is so immense it could implode one of
those deep seas submersibles that they for the Titanic with.
I mean, you think about it, it's gonna be every
decision from here and out, really, I mean every little
thing at OTA's and minie camp and all the off
season stuff that you know, we sort of take for
(12:42):
granted that they know what they're doing, that's all gonna
be really double checked. And you know, every every move
that he makes he has to make under the burden
of knowing that if it goes wrong or even for
things that happen out of his control. He's you know,
he's on the on the edge of the precipice in
terms of his job, and he has signed through twenty six.
(13:04):
Bengals and Mike Brown certainly don't like paying coaches not
to coach, so he has that in his favor any
But he doesn't make a ton of dough you know,
he's sort of midpack. I think four and a half
million in a year something along those lines. And yeah,
I don't know that you want to increase the pressure
by saying if you don't make the divisional round of
the playoffs, so you're out of a job. You know,
(13:26):
I think, sort of off the record and unsaid, unquestionably,
if they don't make the playoffs for a third straight
year and Joe Burrow is healthy the whole time, you know,
the only thing keeping him perhaps in his job right
now is the fact that last year, when they didn't
make the playoffs, Burrow was obviously injured and then compromised
for some of the games he did play. You know,
it's this year is such an unmitigated disaster. When you
(13:49):
get an MVP level seas that your quarterback, and don't
make the playoffs in fourteen at least that sends fourteen
games in the playoffs. I mean, it's like unprecedented almost,
And you know, whether or not they say that out
loud or not, he has to make the playoffs next year,
barring a Burrow injury. I don't think there's any doubt
about that. And you know, beyond that, it's obviously circumstantial
(14:12):
and we'll see where they're at. You know, he could definitely,
you know, win a playoff game and still not necessarily
impressive enough to keep his job. But I think most likely,
given the history of Bengals and their coaches just making
the playoffs, and the fact that he and Burrow, at
least at this point, if that's such a good relationship,
would probably be enough for him. Maybe not, you know,
get him re signed immediately to a contract extension, but
(14:34):
keep him in his job for at least one more year.
I think that's it, say I.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I cannot thank you enough for doing this all season long.
I know we already have scheduled our typical late July
early August chat as training camp begins, and perhaps one
or two times before then. I'll bother you as the
offseason starts unfold. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
No, I am here for you at any time. You
know that. Thank you for having me. Thanks to all
the fans out there for putting up with me O
all these weeks. And I look forward to talking to
you in the future.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
I can't wait big part of what we do. Thanks
so much. Thank you all right, Robert Winehrab read his
Bengals column Cincinnati Magazine dot com. We will I've been
I've been teasing this for two hours here from West
Miller Next on the ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati sports station,
Orange bowlt tonight on ESPN fifteen thirty, with Notre Dame
taking on Penn State. The station down the Hall is
stealing the game tomorrow night from us, so we won't
have that one. Robert wind Trump is with us, writes
(00:20):
a weekly Bengals column for Cincinnati Magazine. You could hear
his or here. God, you could read his column post
Pittsburgh and post twenty twenty four season right now at
Cincinnati Magazine dot com. He's with us? Now, how's it going? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
You know, I think there is an audiobook version of
my column posted each week so you can hear it.
Perhaps I have one of those little translation devices. Maybe
do you read it?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
Or is it AI based?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah? No, I bring it a celebrity Impersonator's it for me?
Somebody with a deep base for Fundo who sounds really,
really good. So you have that to look forward.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
I would like to hired that. I would like to
have that here replacing me. It'd be nice for everybody.
Do you have a Bengals defensive coordinator wish list?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
You know, I think it's tough for me to really
say that I have a wish list. I mean, it's
easy to go and say oh, Robert Sala. He was
a great defensive coordinator in San Francisco, you know, with
Nick Bosa and Fred Warner and Drake m On, all
those guys. I mean, yeah, he'd be a good hire theoretically,
but you know, I don't think that's very realistic. Really.
What I'd like to see is somebody who can come
(01:32):
in and you know, develop and relate to the younger players,
because that's the key to the future in Cincinnati. And
that's obviously a big reason why lu and Nimoy was
fired is because the guys that were drafted with all
the with all that draft capital over the years to
the last three years to you know, kind of remake
the defense never step forward. And it's tough to put
(01:54):
all that on Loot necessarily. But I do think that
a new guy who has a experience or a track
record of developing talent young talent, relates to young players,
might be able to get a little bit further along
than those results. I mean, you know, they know they
talked to Patrick Graham from the Raiders. You know, he's
off the Belichick tree. He played college ball himself at Yale.
(02:17):
He seems like he did a good job mixing and
matching with the Raiders this season, even though they didn't
have a great defense necessarily, but you know, they lost
Max Crosby for ahot of the Year and Christian Wilkins,
and they wound up playing a lot of kids who
took a decent step forward. And I think people run
the league really liked what he did there. So I mean,
you know, somebody in that ILK, I don't know that
(02:38):
he's necessarily my first choice. They could think about a
guy maybe like a Jim Leonard, who has a lot
of you know, Big ten background up there in Ohio.
You know, I'm sure people there are familiar with his
work at Wisconsin, and obviously he was in the league
for a long time and was considered sort of a
player defensive coordinator when he was with the Jets and
the Ravens Underrex Ryan. So, you know, doesn't get a job,
(03:00):
maybe he'll go on TV every day and pump for
his guy, Jimmy Leenard. I think any of those guys
who have shown that they can, you know, kind of
relate and develop new guys and not just rely on
a system like lou seemed to have, which was you
got to get veterans into his system and have them
get acclimated for a period of whatever, two seasons worth
of NFL football before it finally all clicks. You know,
(03:22):
he just can't afford that kind of time anymore. And
these guys have to get up to speed or the
Bengals are really behind the eight ball. Be behind the
eight ball going forward.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Do you have an offensive line coach wish list?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
How about you?
Speaker 1 (03:35):
I mean, you know, I do, I do, I do,
I as long as the new guy that doesn't have
to doesn't make me have to listen to the term
glass eaters again. I'm okay.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
I was actually thinking maybe you could be the coach. Yeah, listen,
I the intricacies of offensive line play are difficult for
even an NFL savant to suss out necessarily. I don't
know that I have a list of guys who I
could definitely say would do a great job. I think
they're obviously looking for somebody who, again can not just
(04:08):
you know, teach the discipline of playing both the run
end blocking schemes, but design a system that works best
for the players that they have here. And I also
wonder how much you know Frank Pollick's you know, on
draft day how much of a voice he actually had,
and whether or not some of the picks they've had
really fit what he wanted to do, because obviously, again
(04:28):
there most of the guys they've drafted have not really
developed particularly well. I mean, you can't argue with a
fourth round pick like Cordell Volson, you know, getting the
starts that he had, He's given you some decent play,
but obviously he regressed badly this year, and I just
wonder how much his ceiling really fit what Pollock wanted
to do. So you're just gonna have to get the
guys aligned better than I think that they were in
(04:50):
the past, and you know, whether that means a change
and how they run certain schemes or draft in the future.
You know, it's hard for me to say, and all, honestly,
I'm not really an expert when it comes to that
kind of x's and o's along the offensive line, but
I just think they need to be better aligned with
their vision and execute their player acquisition accordingly.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
Before we look ahead further. What if we look back,
what was to you the biggest Bengals? What if of
twenty twenty four?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Oh boy, there were so many I mean, the highlight
film should just be a big question mark over the
top of it, right, I mean, I mean, I'll go different.
I mean, you could pick obviously, any of a half
a dozen games and individual moments, you know, from the
blown hold against Baltimore and the penalty and Dejon Anthony
going back to the first game of the season, that's easy.
(05:40):
But to me, the big picture problem was really not
signing Jamar Chase early on and getting that done and
off the plate. And I just think the rain cloud
that followed them after that from not doing it. It
really linked. You know, we saw it. It leached into
the regular season, and it affected so much of the
offseason and we always talk about the Bengals can't do
(06:03):
anything in that first couple of games of the seasons.
Fact there was one in eleven in his first two games,
and you know, they really had a chance in previous years.
A lot of that was because he didn't have Joe Burrow,
you know, even around for a lot of the offseason
workouts and he's always coming back from injury and he
came back from injury this year too, but he was
there and rare and to go. I feel like they
were desperately thinking they could definitely have a better start
(06:25):
this year, and then the vibes from the contracts just
kind of ruined the whole thing. And we expected a
little bit from t Higgins, but he didn't, you know,
even really make any noise, and that was just sort
of like a fay complete and then to have the
Chase in Brolio just kind of on top of that,
and really for no real reason. They were so close
in their discussions and a guy like Jamar, you just
(06:47):
want to sign him early and get that off you play.
Now they're in a pickle because now they have to
resign them both theoretically and Jamar had this humongous season.
It's just going to cost you more money. It's just
a way of doing things that it seemed like they
were turning a corner on and they didn't with the
Chase situation, and that just seemed to affect the vibes,
(07:07):
so to speaking, so much of what they did. And
that was a large part of the reason why if
you recall at the beginning of the year, I thought
they were going to lose that inwing in game because
I thought they were, you know, kind of stumbling backwards
into the regular season and sure enough that the vibes
were so bad at earlier the year it really cost
him to down at the end of the year.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
One of the more interesting developments this offseason that I'll
be following involves Trey Hendrickson and maybe there's nothing right.
Maybe he goes into his walk year and plays it
out and hits free agency and then we see what happens.
It's interesting because last year, obviously he saw it a
new deal, didn't get it, saw to pay raise, didn't
get it. As for a trade, didn't get it. He
(07:46):
was doing that coming off a terrific twenty twenty three.
He was even better this year. There's now one year
less left on his deal. Uh, how would you how
would you prefer I guess this play out? How do
you think it will?
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Yes, just another pickle Vengos because again they you know,
and I don't blame him because along you know, retearing
up the deal. Remember he asked for an extra year.
They gave him an extra year onto his existing deal
and everybody seemed happy. And then sort of out of
the blue, he's like, no, I want, you know, at
least one more year. And you know, maybe the Bengals
could have given it to him then, but that didn't
(08:23):
seem like the proper move at the time. He just
gave him an extra year, and listen, I think the
best result would be to just do that again and
give him another year. He signed through twenty five. As
you say, you don't give him the twenty six season
and make it a fairly hefty raise. You don't want
to give him too much. He's already close to the
seven percent of the cap, and if you're resigning Chase
(08:44):
and Higgins along with Burrow, and that's four guys making
about thirty ish percent of your cap, thirty five almost
that's not necessarily a great roster building. But he is
a great player. On the other hand, you know, as
I said, the Bengals aren't kind of pickle. They have
a lot of holes to fill, a lot of places
to look to up the talent level, and they only
have six draft picks. It's not impossible they look to
(09:04):
trade hendrickson coming off this great season, entering his age
thirty one year, I mean, is he really gonna match
what he did this year? I mean, it's certainly counterintuitive
because he's obviously, by you know, secretary at distance, the
best player under defense, and without him getting pressure on
the quarterback, you know, they could give up fifty points
a game. But saying that, you know there's definitely teams
(09:27):
out there that you have two or three high draft picks,
maybe over two years worth. But you know, for a
player of Hendrickson's caliber, for sure, you have to consider
it when you're in a pickle like this that they
are like I keep saying, and you're in a position
where that's where missing the playoffs this year was so
bad because you know, if you the narrative is so
(09:47):
much different, and you don't look to yourself and your
team as being so open for you know, new players
and so open for needing improvement so many areas, and
you can sort of paper over lot of that with,
you know, with some January football, but it didn't happen,
and all things have to be on the table. You've
already blown out half of your coaching staff. Zach Taylor survives,
(10:10):
but who knows how much longer you have to consider
the possibility of trading one of your best players while
you can get a lot for him, which you did
not do obviously with t Higgins. And now they're reaping
the problems of that particular decision. I think they'll definitely
consider it with trade, but I would doubt that it
actually happens. That's not the Bengals way. Yeah, and I
think they'll try and get him to another one year
(10:32):
deal through twenty six and hopefully everybody will be happy
with that.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
You know, you talk about trading him, and there's there's
validity to the idea that that's worth exploring. It's just
such an interesting dynamic here. You have this team with
an atrocious defense and otherwise non existent pass rush, a
new defensive coordinator coming in, and we're going to trade
away the one good player.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah, the only reason I think, you know, I mean,
he's the guy you're talking about. He's already third all
time in the Bengals sex. It's unbelievable. But and he
hasn't even obviously been here. He wasn't drafted by the team.
But in a weird again counterintuitive way, sort of like
they would never think about trading Carlos Dunloppergino Atkins, you know,
until the very end, because they traded because they drafted
(11:18):
those guys and was so attached to him for nine
ish years. Whatever. It was a guy like Hendrickson, who's
you know, a guy they brought in as a free
agent already but didn't draft, didn't go through that whole
process with he's he's in law, but he's not direct family.
You know. I think that makes the possibility at least
of trading him at least a little bit more likely.
(11:38):
But as you say, it's it's not their style necessarily,
and it's just they would be hard for everybody to
swallow after, Like you said that the best player by
far in your defense, gets traded away after his career year.
But you know, again, they have to consider it because
the holes are just so fat.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
One more Robert Wine Trumps Cincinnati Magazine. Zach Taylor. You know,
I think most have have concluded, Okay, he's on the
hot seat. That can be a pretty abstract term. My
question for you is should that come with a specific mandate?
Is it playoffs or bust? Is it when the division
or bust? Is it advance in the postseason or bust?
(12:18):
What does what does the hot seat? What does that
mean for Zach Taylor in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Yeah, it's gonna be tough for him. I mean, I
think I wrote in the column this week. The pressure
on him is so immense it could implode one of
those deep seas submersibles that they for the Titanic with.
I mean, you think about it, it's gonna be every
decision from here and out, really, I mean every little
thing at OTA's and minie camp and all the off
season stuff that you know, we sort of take for
(12:42):
granted that they know what they're doing, that's all gonna
be really double checked. And you know, every every move
that he makes he has to make under the burden
of knowing that if it goes wrong or even for
things that happen out of his control. He's you know,
he's on the on the edge of the precipice in
terms of his job, and he has signed through twenty six.
(13:04):
Bengals and Mike Brown certainly don't like paying coaches not
to coach, so he has that in his favor any
But he doesn't make a ton of dough you know,
he's sort of midpack. I think four and a half
million in a year something along those lines. And yeah,
I don't know that you want to increase the pressure
by saying if you don't make the divisional round of
the playoffs, so you're out of a job. You know,
(13:26):
I think, sort of off the record and unsaid, unquestionably,
if they don't make the playoffs for a third straight
year and Joe Burrow is healthy the whole time, you know,
the only thing keeping him perhaps in his job right
now is the fact that last year, when they didn't
make the playoffs, Burrow was obviously injured and then compromised
for some of the games he did play. You know,
it's this year is such an unmitigated disaster. When you
(13:49):
get an MVP level seas that your quarterback, and don't
make the playoffs in fourteen at least that sends fourteen
games in the playoffs. I mean, it's like unprecedented almost,
And you know, whether or not they say that out
loud or not, he has to make the playoffs next year,
barring a Burrow injury. I don't think there's any doubt
about that. And you know, beyond that, it's obviously circumstantial
(14:12):
and we'll see where they're at. You know, he could definitely,
you know, win a playoff game and still not necessarily
impressive enough to keep his job. But I think most likely,
given the history of Bengals and their coaches just making
the playoffs, and the fact that he and Burrow, at
least at this point, if that's such a good relationship,
would probably be enough for him. Maybe not, you know,
get him re signed immediately to a contract extension, but
(14:34):
keep him in his job for at least one more year.
I think that's it, say I.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
I cannot thank you enough for doing this all season long.
I know we already have scheduled our typical late July
early August chat as training camp begins, and perhaps one
or two times before then. I'll bother you as the
offseason starts unfold. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2 (14:54):
No, I am here for you at any time. You
know that. Thank you for having me. Thanks to all
the fans out there for putting up with me O
all these weeks. And I look forward to talking to
you in the future.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
I can't wait big part of what we do. Thanks
so much. Thank you all right, Robert Winehrab read his
Bengals column Cincinnati Magazine dot com. We will I've been
I've been teasing this for two hours here from West
Miller Next on the ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati sports station,
Mo Egger News
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