2/25/25 - The Mo Egger Radio Show - Mo Egger

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (00:02):
Oh, guess what Taco Tuesday? Guess what day is Taco Tuesday?
Don't dude day, I don't know.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
I don't know that I'm having tacos.

Speaker 4 (00:17):
My wife made awesome baked chicken last night and we're
gonna be eating that at about eleven o'clock tonight after
the Bearcat game. I don't think we're doing tacos, but
it's a nice thought. Tacos sound good right now? Hi, Hey,
I'm oegar. This is ESPN fifteen thirty. Thank you for listening.
Hope you're having an unbelievable Tuesday. Even better and unbelievable
Taco Tuesday. We are excited because in twenty five minutes,

(00:40):
it is the pageantry and wonder of a Duke Tobin.
NFL combine media availability. That's right, strap in, fasten your seatbelts,
tell your coworkers cancel any afternoon meetings. In twenty five minutes,
Duke Tobin is gonna grace the local and national football
media with his presence to answer questions about the Bengals offseason.

(01:04):
And I'm sure he is going to be very insightful
and very revealing. Duke Tobin coming up in just about
twenty five minutes. Not to be outdone, Zach Taylor is
going to talk at four oh five. Now, Zach talks
all the time, like during the football season. Football coaches
are really really important people, so they have press conferences

(01:25):
multiple times per week. But in the offseason there's only
a handful of availabilities, as we say in the business,
and an availability for Zach Taylor is coming up at
four oh five or four o'clock. I guess he is
going to be in Indianapolis and the local and national
pro football media is going to have a chance to
talk with him, and we'll carry that for you as well.

(01:46):
The excitement is building. Duke Tobin and Zach Taylor both
live right here on the official home of the Bengals,
ESPN fifteen thirty. Full show rundown is available on Twitter
at Moeger. Thanks to Emery Federal Credit Union. Emery Federal
Credit Union is the greatest credit union on Earth. I've

(02:07):
been a member now since October nineteenth, twenty twenty three.
You should be a member two. Learn more at EMORYFCU
dot org. We'll get to the Bearcats, who play tonight
against Baylor this is a must win game, the latest
must win game. The dream of finishing ten and ten
in the Big Twelve is still alive. They have a
monumental effort in front of them to beat Houston on Saturday.

(02:30):
First things first, gotta beat a Baylor team that beat
it by twenty points in Waco. But but I think
the Bearcats are playing better going into this game than
they were going into that Baylor game. Will spend some
time on that throughout the course of the afternoon, and
of course they should not ban in the NFL. The
Tush Push will spend some time on that. A few
Reds items as well. I don't know that we're gonna

(02:53):
get much in the way of real hard news from
Duke Tobin or Zach Taylor. My guess is we're gonna
have to do some reading between them lies. My guess
is we're gonna have to do some of our own interpreting.
But it is going to be interesting to see if
we get any hints as to what the next steps
may be with t Higgins, who has not officially been
franchise tagged yet. What hints do we get about progress

(03:16):
on a deal with Jamar Chase, What hints do we
get about what the plan moving forward is with Trey Hendrickson.
And you know, Zach Taylor often had to talk during
the season about Joe Burrow and was asked questions about
some of the stuff Joe Burrow was saying about T Higgins.
This is not something that in this kind of environment
that he is going to be in today, the Duke

(03:37):
Tobin has been subjected to, which is questions about Joe
Burrow and the stuff that Joe has had to say
about T. Higgins and the team and some of the
decisions and the off season. And so it'll be interesting.
And by the way, it's not just the people who
cover the Bengals who are at this thing, So you
might have some folks from other outlets. You might have
some folks from other parts of the country throwing questions

(03:58):
at Duke Tobin about Joe Burrow and the team and
T Higgins and all of that. So I'm interested in
how that's gonna unfold in Indianapolis. And again we'll have
both of them live for you. We are t minus
twenty two minutes away from a Duke Tobin press availability.
These things happen very infrequently, which is why the build
up you could feel the tension building throughout the city.

(04:20):
What's Duke gonna say? I would imagine that both Duke
and Zach and others who speak publicly on behalf of
the Bengals this week, they know what's coming. They know
what the questions are going to be. The questions are
going to be about, well, what Joe Burrow has said
this offseason, and they're gonna be out be about t Higgins,
and they're gonna be about Trey Hendrickson, and they're gonna

(04:41):
be about Jamar Chase. And so my guess is carefully crafted,
maybe rehearsed, probably canned answers, and we're gonna be left
to kind of read tea leaves or do some interpreting
on our own. We'll find out again. Duke Tobin coming
up in just about twenty minutes. Uh, there was this,
and I will admit to having not had time to

(05:05):
listen to this entire podcast, though it is a very
good podcast. Trey Hendrickson was on the Ross Tucker podcast.
Ross has been kind enough to join our show in
the past. His podcast is excellent, and the episode with
Trey Hendrickson came out earlier this week. Here is the
clip that has kind of gone viral.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
I want you to listen to this and tell me
what you hear. Tarn, go ahead and hit it. How
far are you willing to take this contract thing? Wow?

Speaker 5 (05:35):
You know, ideally it doesn't get to that because, like
I really don't want to be a distraction for the team.
We've had multiple good conversations.

Speaker 6 (05:43):
You know.

Speaker 5 (05:43):
It's just action speak louder than words, you know, and
that's how I play my game as well, even though
I am in trashed, you know, so hopefully it's something,
you know. I love Cincinnati. My wife got our residency
at the VA Hospital there. My son was born there.
I've had my most productive years in the National Football
League there. They've given me a tremendous opportunity to represent

(06:05):
them at the Pro Bowl and now an All Pro.

Speaker 6 (06:08):
I love it. I love it there.

Speaker 5 (06:09):
I love the coaching staffs that I've made relationships with,
whether they're in the building or not. And you know,
moving forward, I would like to remain a bangle. It's
just some things in life, like long term security, being
able to tell my wife where we're going to raise
our sun and not have to worry about playing a
violent sport and shifting of where we're going, that would
be ideal. But again, I want to help them win

(06:31):
a Super Bowl. And however that looks if they have
plans to move me or keep me, that's up to them. Yeah,
that's it's a tough organization from a contract standpoint, man,
because they've taken such great care of me though, Like
they've done such an amazing job, I mean to tell me,
like being underrated. It was also like that in free agency.

(06:53):
You know, they had to take a chance and believe
in me. So I don't want that to go underappreciated,
you know, because you know, we do have this little
uncomfortable business negotiations, but I don't want it to They've
taken care of me off the field as well, you know,
with my wife. They've been so supportive, you know, they
they you know, they've taken good care of me.

Speaker 4 (07:14):
So there's Trey Hendrickson on the Ross Tucker podcast, and
Ross does a good podcast, and I haven't had a
chance to listen to the entire thing, but I will
because I like Trey Hendrickson and I like Ross Tucker's podcast,
and uh, well maybe we'll get Ross on the show
at some point. But Anyway, what you heard there, To me,
that was this is a really good, like minute and

(07:35):
a half worth of audio, because I think what that
was was a mature guy who kind of understands that
where the Bengals are, as it relates to Trey Hendrickson,
is kind of a difficult place, and it is. Trey
Hendrickson has been an unbelievably good free agency acquisition. I

(08:00):
think he might be the greatest free agency acquisition in
the history of the franchise. There's certainly a case that
can be made for that, but I think he does.
He sounds to me like a guy who understands, you
know what, I have been awesome, but what I want
is to be paid even more money. And there's a

(08:21):
really good chance that despite my best efforts, I never
as good as I've already been. As I already have been,
I should say. And I get why the Bengals would
maybe balk at that, why I get why this is
tricky for them, And I think it is tricky. I
don't think it's as cut and dry as pay Trey Hendrickson.
I don't. I think there's room. There's room between what

(08:46):
Trey is making and maybe what he could get, let's say,
if he were four years younger, or what he could
get if they didn't have other financial considerations.

Speaker 6 (08:56):
And so.

Speaker 4 (08:58):
I'm left to believe, and I could be dead wrong
about this, that Trey understands that there's some middle ground
there between what he's getting now and what he would
be pressured to demand on the open market, or what
he would be pressured to demand from the Bengals. There's
a middle ground there between what he's getting and maybe

(09:20):
being the highest paid edge rusher in the NFL, and
he's willing to help find that middle ground. That also
did not sound like somebody who is upset with how
the Bengals are handling this. He did acknowledge that the
business part of this is gnarly ugly can be unpleasant.

(09:42):
I think that's true for everything. Have you ever asked
your boss for a raise? It's usually, at least in
my experience, not the most pleasant interaction.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
It's often awkward.

Speaker 4 (09:57):
It sometimes can be really unpleasant, even if you're negotiating
with somebody who you love working for.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
Who maybe you consider a friend.

Speaker 4 (10:08):
I think sometimes, and I've probably been guilty of doing
it myself, there is a natural inclination that when we
hear negotiation, or that when we even see trade request,
that we think acrimony is being built up. Trey Hendrickson

(10:28):
sounded to me like somebody who understands these decisions are
often not easy and the business part of this is
a little tough, a little difficult, and sometimes not very
black and white. He also didn't sound like somebody who
certainly did sound like somebody who wants to be a Bengal.
Certainly did sound like somebody who is appreciative of what

(10:51):
the organization has done for him. He gave some specifics,
not a ton. I thought that was a really well
thought out I thought that was a really well thought out,
really mature answer, And I thought it was an answer
that made me believe that Trey understands that if he
really wants to stay in Cincinnati, he's he's gonna have

(11:12):
to to maybe come to a middle, or come to
a place and meet the Bengals closer to the middle
than what he might in an ideal world meet them
at right. I hope that makes sense. Maybe it doesn't.
I thought that was good. I thought that I heard
that cut this morning. I thought that I saw the video.
I thought that was good. This is not a player

(11:36):
who I think is going to make unreasonable demands. I
think he certainly understands that in an ideal world, he
could come to the Bengals and say, damn it, I
want to be the highest paid edge rusher in the
sport because I was. I led the league in sacks.
I've done nothing but play well for this team I've
been and I was an underrated player when I got here.

(11:57):
Now I'm a star, and I want to be paid
like one.

Speaker 2 (11:59):
I want to be treated like one.

Speaker 4 (12:02):
But it's not quite that cut and dry, and Trey
to me, sounded like somebody who understands that, which leads
me to believe that maybe signing him will not involve
them having to do something financially that deep down inside
they don't want to do.

Speaker 2 (12:21):
We'll see.

Speaker 4 (12:22):
But it also the Bengals have taken a lot of criticism.
Whenever there's a negotiation, people take shots at him, like
he has gone out of his way to talk about
how much he likes playing for the Bengals. He's said
really nice things about the city. But when out of
his way to say nice things about how the Bengals
have treated him and his family, that's It might not
be that significant, but it's not insignificant.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
That matters, especially.

Speaker 4 (12:46):
When you are one of the most talked about players
in the league as it relates to your contract. And
whenever people talk about the Bengals and contracts, they get
beat up, maybe for their lack of people skills, because
of their their stubbornness, the organizational stubbornness. That sounded like
somebody who wants to continue to play here because he

(13:08):
genuinely likes playing for the team that he plays for
and working for the people that he works with. And
if that's the case, maybe you're willing to take a
little bit less than we might believe he's going to
ask for. It is seventeen minutes after three o'clock. Our
phone lines are open. Five when three seven, four nine,
fifteen thirty, we'll get you in eight sixty six, seven

(13:29):
oh two three seven seven six works as well. You know,
we've talked a lot about the Reds and projections, and
I think the the single biggest thing about the Reds
this offseason is something that you can't attach any projection to.
We'll get do that coming up a little bit later on.
We'll get to UC versus Baylor. A big opportunity for

(13:49):
the bear Cats tonight, and Duke Tobin is scheduled to
speak in twelve minutes. You can feel the entire city
is on edge. You can feel the entire football world
is on edge waiting to hear what Duke has to say.
As he says it, We'll have it for you live
on ESPN fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 1 (14:08):
Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 7 (14:11):
Traffic from the UC Health Traffic Center. Around forty percent
of cancers are preventable. Lifestyle changes and screenings can make
a difference. Called five one three five eighty five UCCC
North Bend Road. It is an injury accident at Rumlin Road.
A three vehicle crash there. Southbound seventy five traffic slow

(14:32):
between Western Avenue and Fort Washington Way, and southbound seventy
five more slow traffic from Shepherd laying down toward Ronald
Reagan Highway. I'm at Ezelek with Traffic.

Speaker 4 (14:42):
Bro on the iHeartRadio app, which means you can listen
to us anytime anywhere. You could also listen to old stuff,
old shows, podcasts, interviews, stuff you might have missed on
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a podcast or watch a game, watch u C and

(15:04):
Baylor tonight. By the way, on the show yesterday, our
friend Shawn Miller, and we call him our friend because
he's appeared on our show three times this season.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
Well, I got the podcast.

Speaker 4 (15:17):
I got the initial podcast invite when he enjoyed when
he joined us in October or maybe it was November,
right before the season started, and then he kind of
when the team wasn't playing very well, he wasn't podcasting,
and I know for a fact he like put the
brakes on the podcast, and like, understandably, so if you're
coaching a major college basketball team and your team's not winning,

(15:42):
not that many people are going to be interested in
your podcast. And so we had him on a few
weeks ago and I said, hey, you know, I know
you're in the season, but you did invite me on
your podcast, which, by the way, I think would be
a really fun dynamic, right Sean Miller talking to me,
it'd be cool. Not I mean, I'm a thousand times
less interesting than him, but you know where my rooting

(16:07):
allegiances are, and so I think that dynamic would be
a lot of fun. And he said, and he reminded me, like,
we're going to do it. We're gonna have you on.
We're gonna do it once the off season gets here,
which you know, hopefully the Xavior has a long run
in March, and you know, we get to the off season,
he starts podcasting on a more regular basis, and I
come on, he we only had a few minutes with

(16:27):
him yesterday. We were offered Sean Miller. I got an
email on Sunday saying, hey, you want to have coach on?
It was right, I think before their a game against
Seaton Hall. And you know, the answer is always yes,
and it's like cool, can you do it right at
three o'clock, which isn't my favorite thing to do a
guest out of the shoot, but he was jumping on
a plane to go recruit, and so we only had
a few minutes. I think he had to be on

(16:48):
the plane at like three twenty five or something, and
so I wasn't going to waste his time by talking
about the podcast. But I've been told it's going to
happen that I'll be on the Shan Miller podcast, and
I think that'll be a lot of fun. Anyway, podcasts
of our show a service of long neck sports grill.

Speaker 8 (17:04):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (17:05):
We have to get a break in because we have
to get to Duke Tobin on time. You are supposed
to hear the de facto general manager of the Cincinnati
Bengals live from Indianapolis next on ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 1 (17:17):
Sincy three sixty with Tony Pike.

Speaker 9 (17:20):
If we want to move on, we'd have to keep going.

Speaker 1 (17:22):
And Boston Elmore.

Speaker 6 (17:23):
I think you should continue.

Speaker 1 (17:24):
Let me keep going there Sincy three sixty tomorrow which
twelve News on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty
traffic from the.

Speaker 7 (17:36):
UC Health Traffic Center. Around forty percent of cancers are preventable.
Lifestyle changes and screenings can make a difference. Call five
one three five eighty five UCCC on eastbound two seventy
five US caution between the Princeton Pike and I seventy five,
getting reports of brick debris there across the roadway. North

(17:58):
Bend Road is an accident over at Rumlin Road in
eastbound two seventy five slow traffic from seventy five to
eleven in road on that exelic with traffic only.

Speaker 2 (18:08):
Is Duke Tobin on time? He was actually two minutes early.

Speaker 4 (18:11):
Here is the director of player personnel for the Cincinnati
Ben and Go Bengals live from the NFL Scouting Combine.

Speaker 6 (18:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (18:20):
T Higgins seems like three or four or five years
I've been talking about T.

Speaker 6 (18:25):
I think you guys all know what I feel about T. Higgins.

Speaker 10 (18:28):
I think T Higgins is a fantastic football player, and
I want him on my football team. Whenever I'm in
charge of a football team, I want T Higgins, and
so I'm.

Speaker 6 (18:35):
Going to do what I can to get T Higgins.

Speaker 10 (18:37):
Our preference with T Higgins is to do a long
term agreement. Always has been, it continues to be, and
we'll work hard to get that done.

Speaker 6 (18:46):
You know, we are fortunate. We've got a lot.

Speaker 10 (18:49):
Of really good football players, fantastic football players, and we're
fortunate to be in a position to where we can
fit them all in.

Speaker 6 (19:00):
We've managed our cap well. We've got load dead money.

Speaker 10 (19:02):
We want a high payroll and load dead money so
the people that are in Cincinnati playing for us can
get all the money that's what we want, and we're
in a position to resign these guys and it's a
good position to be in. It really is, and we're
going to attack it and hopefully you know, we don't
want to just resign these guys and pay more for

(19:23):
the same football team we had last year.

Speaker 6 (19:25):
We want to add to it as well.

Speaker 10 (19:28):
So we want to resign these guys, reward them for
their ability level, and add to the football team.

Speaker 6 (19:34):
So it's a tall task.

Speaker 10 (19:35):
We think we're up to it, and Katie's got us
in position to attack it well. Franchise tag, yeah, I
don't have breaking news on that. I'm aware that I
have a franchise tag, yes, but our preference is a
long term deal and that's what our focus is right now.

Speaker 11 (19:57):
What do you We're gonna take your water?

Speaker 9 (20:01):
We have done next season?

Speaker 10 (20:02):
Operated Yeah, I'm optimistic and tell there's a reason not
to be, and I've always been optimistic with Tea and
I want a long term deal.

Speaker 6 (20:10):
You know, he fits with us and we fit with him.

Speaker 10 (20:13):
It's a great match and so there's no reason not
to work hard to continue the relationship for sure.

Speaker 2 (20:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 9 (20:24):
Well I just won.

Speaker 10 (20:26):
Yeah, yeah, you know, obviously T is the one that's
not signed for the future right now. And uh and
so that, uh, you know, puts the onus on us
to do something there one way or the other earlier.

Speaker 8 (20:41):
Uh.

Speaker 10 (20:41):
Jamar is always going to be our priority. He's a
fantastic football player. He's gonna end up being the number
one paid non quarterback in the league.

Speaker 6 (20:50):
We're there, let's get it done.

Speaker 10 (20:52):
The earlier we can do some of this stuff, the
freer it gives us to build the rest of the team.
We have other needs that we want to build, and
so we want to get these kind of things done
early enough to where we can really focus on building
out the rest of the football team.

Speaker 6 (21:08):
But they're all priorities to us.

Speaker 10 (21:11):
But the ones that aren't signed or are the ones
that are on the table.

Speaker 12 (21:15):
First, What was that.

Speaker 10 (21:23):
A signed contract? I guess is the only way I
can answer that. What what needs to happen? That's that's
what needs to happen.

Speaker 2 (21:34):
Anything teams.

Speaker 6 (21:40):
Has anything changed?

Speaker 10 (21:41):
Well, he's got a new representation, so maybe that that'll
push it over.

Speaker 6 (21:46):
I don't know, But.

Speaker 10 (21:54):
Well, we can run parallel paths with the with the
same representation, and that's what we'll do.

Speaker 6 (22:00):
But I'm optimistic.

Speaker 10 (22:02):
I want deals done, you know, just like our quarterback
wants deals done.

Speaker 6 (22:06):
Everything he says. I agree with I want him done.

Speaker 10 (22:09):
I want the best players available, and I also want
to add more players to our team.

Speaker 6 (22:14):
Again.

Speaker 10 (22:14):
I don't want to just pay more money for the
same team we had last year. We have other needs
and I want to go after those needs as well.

Speaker 13 (22:25):
Stuff.

Speaker 10 (22:26):
He's no, no, no, we we we're in a good
situation with our cap and how we've managed our cap
to get these other things done without any adjustment there.

Speaker 8 (22:40):
Yeah, and.

Speaker 6 (22:50):
What do I see? What? What do I think when
I see Joel?

Speaker 10 (22:57):
I think, Uh, there's our quarterback and I'm glad we
have them. And I haven't heard anything he said that
that I'm not in complete alignment on. I want the
good players to and I think that they ought to
be paid to their ability level.

Speaker 6 (23:12):
And that's what we're going to do.

Speaker 7 (23:16):
Are people before stopt.

Speaker 10 (23:24):
The questions on how re signing them or is going
to impact our ability to build the defense. I think
we have ability to build the defense if we can
get clarity on it and structure them in a way
that that is beneficial. But if they linger it, it
kind of creates a little bit of uncertainty. But we're
going to attack the defense, and we already have. We

(23:44):
know our defense wasn't good enough, you know it. It
couldn't get stops when we needed it, couldn't protect leads,
it didn't get off the field, and then you know,
in critical moments when the game was on the line,
it didn't rise to the occasion for and sixteen against
Kansas City. You know, that's one play. We win one game.
Now we're in the playoffs, but that's countless games throughout

(24:07):
the year. Whether it's our offense converting a first down
to run the clock out to win the game, whether
it's our special teams converting a field goal to win
the game, but multiple times a fumble going into the
end zone, all the things that happened, it was a
crazy year. We're a championship level team that didn't get
an opportunity, and that irritates us. It irritates all of us,

(24:28):
it irritates our fans.

Speaker 4 (24:30):
And.

Speaker 6 (24:32):
We're not happy about it.

Speaker 10 (24:34):
And we're going to attack the offseason to make sure
it doesn't happen again.

Speaker 9 (24:41):
You have to get created up structurally.

Speaker 1 (24:45):
How you do these contracts.

Speaker 2 (24:46):
First, the packs.

Speaker 10 (24:49):
Do we have to get creative structure in the contact tracks. Well, sure,
I mean you're always creative because the other side wants
you to be creative. And so we're going to do
what we can to satisfy whoever we're negotiating with to
get a deal done. And I hope they recognize, you know,
the restrictors we have a negotiation has just that it's

(25:13):
a negotiation. It's not an I ask and you say yes,
And we don't expect them to just do what we want,
and they have to expect some negotiation because we're putting
together a big picture and our players want a good
football team and we're going to attack that and respect
that and also respect the level of production and ability

(25:34):
level our players have. We're not trying to insult anybody,
particularly at the top of our football team. We're fortunate
to have fantastic football players and we're going to treat
them as.

Speaker 6 (25:44):
Such in terms of stations on the tray.

Speaker 10 (25:55):
Yeah, Trace super passionate, makes It's exactly what makes him
a eight football player, and he is super engaged and
and we're cognizant. He's been a great signing for us.
We've been a great fit for him. He's been a
great fit for us. We would like to extend that.
We would like to keep him not only happy, but
with us on a longer term basis.

Speaker 6 (26:17):
And we're gonna talk. You know, he's under.

Speaker 10 (26:19):
Contract right now, and we're going to talk as the
off season goes and hopefully come up to come come
up to an agreement that everyone's acceptable of.

Speaker 6 (26:30):
You know, but are we there yet? We're not there yet.
Questions on Mike Kasicki and where does that fit?

Speaker 10 (26:42):
You know, We've been pretty good at bringing tight Ends
in and having him have a successful seasons. Mike was
fantastic for us. I think Mike's a priority guy for us.
I think he fits with us. I think he found
out he fits with us. Tight Ends tend to fit
with us. We got Joe Burrow and we value them
in our game plans and how we structure our offense.

Speaker 6 (27:03):
And Mike was a great fit.

Speaker 10 (27:05):
And to Mike's credit, he came in, bought in, UH,
learned quickly and UH and.

Speaker 6 (27:11):
Fit right in. And so it's a great match.

Speaker 10 (27:14):
I'd love to have Mike Koseki back and we're going
to work to try to do that and we'll see
if it can it can happen?

Speaker 6 (27:25):
Have I talked to Joe Burrow? Yeah? I talked to
him a lot.

Speaker 10 (27:30):
I mean, he's a member of our team and he's
an important Uh he's an important partner in what we're doing,
and uh, you know, I I value his input.

Speaker 6 (27:39):
He's earned that. Chase Brown, Yeah, we really had a
lot of hope for Chase and he kind of made
us right this this year.

Speaker 10 (27:54):
He's a guy that that in the early in the
draft process we liked because because he was kind of
dynamic outside of the core and also inside the core,
really really bright, really energetic. He's really progressed in his
past receiving skills, and then he's coming along as a

(28:17):
pass protector, and so he's a really good fit. We
put a big load on him this year, more load
than what we had thought we were going to put
on him, and he responded to it and he held
up and that was an important part of our late finish.
Can a running back go number one overall?

Speaker 6 (28:39):
I don't know.

Speaker 10 (28:40):
I guess if Walter Payton were in this draft, I
might think about taking him number one.

Speaker 6 (28:44):
Overall, But our game's changed a lot, and.

Speaker 10 (28:46):
So you'd have to be pretty special I think quarterbacks
have that kind of on lock or maybe a great
pass rusher or maybe a guy that plays six positions
like the one at my alma mater, you know.

Speaker 6 (28:57):
But we'll see the high levelsigns.

Speaker 4 (29:02):
One of your conversations are great.

Speaker 1 (29:03):
Because the family with.

Speaker 6 (29:06):
Our ownership, how involved are they highly involved.

Speaker 10 (29:09):
They're there every day and they've been there every day
every day of their careers and they're they'll continue to
do that and they're super good at what they do.

Speaker 6 (29:22):
Yeah, I'm have young players lay. Yeah. The Eagles, the
hats off to them.

Speaker 10 (29:33):
They've they've done a great, uh a great job building
their roster out and they've got some high level players
on big deals, not as big as the deals that
we're talking about making, but big deals. And then they've
hit on draft picks, and that's what we've got to do.
We've hit on some draft picks. We've got some guys
that are in the pipeline coming. In the last five games,

(29:54):
I think some of our young guys started to come,
which was great on the defensive side of the ball.
And and then we mentioned you know Chase and uh,
you know Eric all it was unfortunate that that he
got hurt, but he was on pace to really be
a dynamic uh tight end in our league. And I
think Amarius Mims has a chance to be a pro
bowler next year. He's a fantastic right tackle and if

(30:18):
he can stay healthy, I think he's got you know,
a world of potential. But the young dbs, we'll get
them back healthy. That'll be good, and young guys like
dj Ivy and fig Newton having to take on bigger roles.
But some of those young guys got a taste of
winning because we won the last five games and gave
ourselves a chance and they had to be relied on
for a role and so that was that was good

(30:40):
to see.

Speaker 6 (30:41):
But hats off to Philly.

Speaker 10 (30:42):
You know, my son works there and he thinks he's
the reason for the season.

Speaker 6 (30:46):
I think.

Speaker 10 (30:48):
That's affect how worlds up the raft year.

Speaker 6 (30:55):
What was that again? Yeah, Yeah, Golden coming on. Yeah.

Speaker 10 (31:02):
Al is superhands on, and we want our coaches to
be super hands on.

Speaker 6 (31:06):
We want to be in alignment.

Speaker 10 (31:07):
When we take a guy, we want a vision for
him and we want everybody on board. Everybody that touches
that guy is on board with it, knows the plan
and is going to work towards the plan, and Al
is super engaged, super high energy, hands on, knows exactly
what he wants, His coaches know what he wants. So
it's going to be great working with him. Looking forward

(31:27):
to it, I think he would have a pretty good
idea of what's playing on the college level right now.

Speaker 6 (31:37):
Yeah.

Speaker 10 (31:39):
Yeah, it's valuable that that he's got that experience. You know,
he's going to have recruited a lot of these guys
he's going to play, have played against a lot of
these guys. He's going to have game planned against a
lot of these guys, and so what he knows we'll
download and he won't be shy to help us. You know,
it's a collaboration with our coaching staff and our personnel staff.

Speaker 6 (32:00):
You know, we want alignment.

Speaker 10 (32:01):
If there's not alignment, we're going to find it and
we're going to make sure that everyone sees what the
other is seeing. And then if we can't find alignment,
we'll go in a different direction. But you know, we
want that alignment and it's been great working with Al
so far.

Speaker 5 (32:16):
Deal with.

Speaker 9 (32:18):
Which you could say.

Speaker 13 (32:21):
You can deal cost.

Speaker 10 (32:25):
What gives us confidence that we can pay high levels
to our high level players. Well, I guess it'll just
be the proof is in the pudding, you know what
gives us confidence that we can do that. We believe
we can do it, and we believe we can fit
other things in too.

Speaker 6 (32:40):
But we'll see how it all nets out at the end.

Speaker 4 (32:44):
Hi, there's a Duke Tobin chatting with the local professional
football media with some national folks there as well. Live
in Indianapolis. The NFL combine underway this week. In terms
of anything headline grabbing, Duke would not indicate either way
whether the Bengals are going to tag t Higgins, but
did say quote, I want him on my football team.

(33:07):
I'll do what I can to get Tea. The preference
is a long term deal and they're working on and
I thought it was interesting to use the word there.
He continued, quote, we can sign these guys, which is
I think a reference to Jamar who they obviously haven't
gotten a long term deal done with T Higgins and

(33:28):
Trey Hendrickson as well. He said about Trey, quote, Trey
is super passionate, super engaged. Has been a great signing.
We've been a great fit for him. We'd like to
keep him happy and with us. He's under contract. We're
going to talk and hopefully come to an agreement. He
mentioned rewarding Jamar Chase. He has talked about the Bengals

(33:50):
being a great match with Mike Kasicki, and he also
says he agrees with everything that Joe Burrow has been
saying about the offseason and the things he wants the
Bengals to do with t Higgins, Trey Hendrickson and others.
Thoughts on what you just heard from Duke Tobin coming up.
Zach Taylor's scheduled to speak at four o'clock. We'll have

(34:10):
that for you live as well on the excuse me
on the official home of the Bengals, ESPN fifteen thirty
Cincinnati Sports.

Speaker 1 (34:17):
Station Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty Traffic.

Speaker 7 (34:23):
From the UC Health Traffic Center. Around forty percent of
cancers are preventable. Lifestyle changes and screenings can make a difference.
Called five one three five eighty five, UCCC East found
two seventy five brick debris blocking off the right three
lanes that between Princeton Pike and I seventy five delays

(34:44):
back to Springfield Pike. As a result. North Bend wrote
it is a three vehicle accident over at Remlin Road.
Police there on the scene on that Ezleic with traffic.

Speaker 4 (34:54):
This report it's sponsored Biden from four This as ESPN
fifteen thirty on Moeger. Thank you so much for listening today.
Duke Tobin Jess talked that to me, it's interesting one
thing that I saw pointed out on the internet from
Jake Lisco from the Lockdown Bengals podcast. He mentioned something

(35:15):
about the word alignment. Jake tweets lost track of how
many times Duke Tobin Jess used the word alignment when
talking about Al Golden as the team's defensive coordinator. And
you know, if you think about the downfall of this
team to a large degree, and really the downfall of
lou An Arumo was Duke drafts defensive players. Lou couldn't

(35:36):
win with them, and that's why lou Anarumo is no
longer here, Duke Tobin is. And so I thought that
was interesting that to me, especially where he talked about
agreeing with everything that Joe Burrow is saying. What Joe
Burrow has been doing has been putting pressure on the
front office. Now Duke is a part of the front office.
He's ultimately not the one making the key financial decisions.

(36:01):
So when Joe Burrow has been putting pressure on the
front office, he's really been putting pressure on ownership. If
you're agreeing with everything that Joe Burrow is saying, you're
also putting pressure on ownership. Now, I can do that
and it's no big deal. You can do that, and
it's no big deal. Duke Tobin doing it is not insignificant.
That to me felt at least a little bit like

(36:24):
Duke saying like, yeah, I want these guys too. The
people above me have got to get it done. And
by the way, why would Duke Tobin not want t Higginson,
Trey Hendrickson and Jamar Chase. He went out of his
way to point out Jamar Chase being a priority. I
guess the large takeaway, and I'm sure the next few hours,

(36:45):
if you care remotely about the Bengals, are going to
be spent parsing every single word out of Duke Tobin's
mouth today. But I guess the large scale takeaway for
me is what Joe Burrow wants, Duke Tobin wants, and
Joe Burrow has been flexing his muscle to get done
what he wants, and so Duke Tobin echoing that is

(37:09):
Duke kind of piling on the already built in pressure
on ownership to get these things done. We'll see if
it results in the contracts getting done. He also referenced
getting them done before free agency, so we will see.
I think if if you though, were looking at Duke
Tobin's availability today as something that was going to indicate

(37:30):
one way or the other whether the Bengals were going
to keep the quote big three together, meaning Jamar and
Trey and Tea, and you know, let's be honest. As
much as we all like Mike Kasiki, he is a
little bit of a different story. I think if you
were looking at today's media availability as something that was

(37:51):
going to indicate either that they're more likely to keep
those players or less likely to keep those players. The
takeaway that I have ended up with, and you could
tell me if you agree or disagree, is that.

Speaker 2 (38:04):
Duke Tobin's on board.

Speaker 4 (38:05):
Duke Tobin understands that there is some financial flexibility available
that they can still make the team better while keeping
those players as part of the Bengals. And it's worth
mentioning again like Trey Hendrickson is a part of this team.
He's under contract for the twenty twenty five season. You
may make the argument they should extend him, and that's fine,
and it sounds to me like that's what Duke wants
to do. But I I walked away right I sat

(38:29):
here and listened to it. My big takeaway is Duke
wants what Joe wants, and Duke wants what Joe wants.
What Joe wants is for the people that Duke works
for to get it done, and Duke wants the exact
same thing and feels like Joe does that some of
the other offseason goals can still be accomplished. Zach Taylor
is a scheduled to talk in just a few minutes.

(38:51):
We'll step away and hopefully have that for you. Hopefully
he zacs on time. Duke was two minutes early.

Speaker 2 (38:55):
I like it.

Speaker 4 (38:56):
Duke is still talking as he's saying anything significant. Because
we have to play commercials. We could not carry the
whole damn thing for you in its entirety, but Tarn
has been monitoring in it. If there's anything Newsworthy will
have it for you. Zach Taylor's scheduled to talk next.
We'll have that for you. A four o'clock ESPN fifteen
thirty Cincinnati Sports station. Don't all right, Zach Taylor is

(39:18):
now talking in Indianapolis. Let's go live to the NFL
scouting combine.

Speaker 12 (39:23):
Ball here and coming as a better receiver pass protection thought,
he really made a jump, particularly in this last two
areas in the past game, and so just excited for
his future. I think he's he's on the trajector we
hoped he would be when we drafted him, maybe even
more so quite frankly, just about all the right stuff
and so really excited to see where Chase goes year three.

(39:44):
If absolutely it is, you know, and that's something we'll
address over the course of the offseason. But yeah, I
think that's a big part of what you do to
have a second or third punch that you can utilize
as well.

Speaker 11 (39:58):
To have that like and sticky back, all of that
a draft years to find how to give need that position.

Speaker 12 (40:06):
Yeah, Mike. Mike had a tremendous role for us last year.
I think, especially as the season evolved and we got
to know him better. Uh, we're able to use him
in a way that that best utilized his skills. He
and Joe have a great relationship, very productive for us,
a really good matchup for us, especially as the year
went on. There so really high in Mike Giseki and
and again that's something we're working through to make sure

(40:28):
he's still in the fold. You know, like most years,
there's really good players in there, but you're going to
make sure you got the guys that fit us. And
so you know, there's key moments in the draft where
those guys become available to you at that position, and
we're very particular and what we're looking for there, and
so again it's just got to fit us at the
right spot and the right time, and and conjunction with

(40:48):
the other needs that we have on our team as well.

Speaker 13 (40:52):
Your team.

Speaker 1 (40:53):
We're looking at draft cross back people for.

Speaker 10 (40:57):
Both well.

Speaker 12 (40:58):
Certainly when he's got his life in order, he's able
to go out there and be the best football player
imaginable and raise the level of his teammates and those
around him, somebody that all those guys can count on.
We want talented players, number one, but when they're a
talented person as well, it just makes everyone's life a
little bit easier and a little bit calmer. And so
you try to balance that as you look at all

(41:19):
these prospects at different positions and things they've been through
in their life and just making sure that we have
the best fit for the sinside Bengals. Go ahead, Marsha,
what's been different now in evaluating the defensive player for valid, Well,
he's I don't I can't answer what's different. I can
just talk to you about Al. And Al's very involved,
very thorough. He's always been that way. I mean, Al's

(41:40):
here during the season when we drafted three linebackers in
one class and all three of those guys got through
their first contracts with us. So I know we're all
very proud of that fact, you know. And so he's
very thorough with how he evaluates these guys. He's got
a long track record of doing that, developing players Temple,
going to Miami, being in Detroit, and here, going through

(42:00):
the whole process in this league. Obviously doing a great
job at Notre Dame, assisting with coach Freeman and the
job they did there to get to the National Championship.
And so we have really high expectations for his role
in the evaluations of our players and free agency in
the draft, and I know Al loves those expectations and
can't wait to meet him.

Speaker 4 (42:21):
Young guys kind of happen up.

Speaker 12 (42:23):
I think that's the cornerback position is an area it's
great to see at Charlie. Is a cornerback position that is,
we've got a lot of youth there, a lot of
potential there. Guys at different points have really risen to
the occasion and so we have high expectations for that
group as a whole. Feel really good about the group
that we have coming back, some guys off of injury

(42:43):
that missed time last year.

Speaker 9 (42:45):
So just really feel like that's a young, hungry position group.

Speaker 12 (42:50):
I think Chuck's done an excellent job with those guys,
helping them develop, will help them use their potential, and
so just really excited about that group and the depth
that we have coming back.

Speaker 8 (42:59):
Well it's fine as you known of years mentioned that
they can be coordinated ef It's.

Speaker 4 (43:06):
That of decisions you guys came to whether you think
end of their.

Speaker 2 (43:08):
Last season or that's something you guys have decided if
during the off season that.

Speaker 6 (43:12):
The best sports of Bacchus.

Speaker 12 (43:13):
That's just what we've gotten to at this point. You know,
we have so many capable coaches on our offense side
of the ball, James Casey, Justin Hill, guys that can
really insert themselves into the run game that have been
here for a long time. They understand the the guys
we have and the talent levels we have and how
the best utilize those guys. So certainly that'll be a
more collaborative process. And again always believed in how we've

(43:37):
done it and just not afraid to continue to evolve
how we do that to just try to make the
offense the best it can possibly be for the Cincinna Bengals.

Speaker 11 (43:44):
I've had a lot of conversations about contracts with the
ever since. Marst's gonna talk a little bit about the
other receivers.

Speaker 12 (43:50):
Like every great last yeast, andre Yoshibas has continued to
grow every single year he's been with us, So going
into year three now, he works really hard in the
off season to raise up and he weaknesses that he's
perceived to have and come back stronger in those areas,
really excited about he can play really all three spots
for us on offense. One of those guys is folded

(44:10):
to do whatever it takes to get the job done,
and when the ball comes his way, he's just got
a knack for making big plays for us. You know,
he's defeated some high end corners in one on one,
high leverage situations this year, so we know we can
count one of those moments scramble, drill. He's had some
tremendous third down to versions for us where Joe's knows
he's able to find him and get in sync and
find some explosives. He's done a great job in the
run game for us as well. High level player coming

(44:33):
from Princeton is able to retain all the information and
execute at a high level. Really excited for the trajectory
that Andre's on. And Charlie's another guy get He's fought
through injuries of the course of this season. We've got
high expectations for him going into year three as well.
There's a reason we drafted him. Charlie's Charlie's been in
the building as much as anybody, trying to get right
for twenty twenty five and put his best foot forward.

Speaker 9 (44:53):
Also, one of those players.

Speaker 6 (44:55):
Get more chased too for the off seasons.

Speaker 13 (44:59):
Goward, even on paper them at all.

Speaker 12 (45:01):
Well, Number one, it's good to have great players that
want to be rewarded. That's that's a great problem to have.
And you know, with Jamar, we certainly want to make
him the highest paid and I'm quarterback in this league.
You know he's deserved. That went into a year and
and you know won the Triple Crown and did all
the things he could do for us. Do you just
have a tremendous year. So we'll continue to work through
for that. T Higgins same time working on a long

(45:23):
term deal with him. We want Tea around here, not
just next year, but in the future. And he's been
a big part of all the wins that we've had
and keeping defenses accountable so Jamar can have his best
days and joking have his best days and tea and
so again that's a trio that we want to keep
together and we feel like we're best when we have
those guys.

Speaker 2 (45:40):
About two months now since that day came up, Becas
went down and watched the film. Every year you feel like,
you know, you guys are making a piece away or
what how what more do you mean now hits.

Speaker 12 (45:49):
Attacks that you know can't Yeah, well, certainly we got
to start faster. I think you know the way we
ended winning five games in a row to finish the season.
We felt like we were playing at a high level
and capable of and damage in the playoffs. But it
was our responsibility to do a better job but early
in the season to put ourselves in a position capitalize
on that, and we didn't do that, and so none

(46:09):
of those games really felt like they got away from us.
They were all one play games that at the end
that we just did not finish. And so we have
to do a better job of starting fast and finishing
with the opportunities we get this season in order to
put ourselves in a position to win the division, have
some home field playoff games, and give ourselves the best
shot to go win the Super Bowl.

Speaker 9 (46:32):
Yeah.

Speaker 12 (46:33):
Well, there's always things within the past. I mean, we
had the number one pass game in the NFL last year,
but there's still things within that that we want to
continue to evolve our play actions and our screens and
keep people accountable that way. I think playing with a lead,
we got to do a better job. I'm not gonna
say we don't always start fast on offense, but I
think those first two possessions is getting points on the

(46:54):
board and taking control of the game to where now
you can open up your offense a little bit more
to keep defenses more honest, and so those are areas
we continue to improve in the past game and then
just the run game and a hole supplementing that. You know,
we we continue to look for ways to evolve. And
now with Scott coming in and Mike McCarthy and some
of the other guys on offense, that's something we'll continue
to shape up over the course of the off season.

(47:14):
So when the players come in, we got a clear
direction on what we're asking to them.

Speaker 8 (47:17):
Are you looking to get bigger?

Speaker 12 (47:22):
Hard to get bigger on the offensive line? I think
we've got the biggest giants on this planet Earth. But
it's certainly something we want the players that best fit
what we want to do schematically, so size, skill, speed,
that all factors into it. I don't want to put
the guys in one category of exactly how we're going
to shape it out. This is an exciting part to
see guys walk in the room every single night here

(47:44):
at the combine that that all look a little bit
differently and they've all got their skills. And so now
piecing that together with the guys we currently have, the
guys in free agency, the guys in the draft, we'll
see how that unfolds over the next couple of months.

Speaker 9 (47:58):
Out this summer, still working through that.

Speaker 12 (48:00):
You know, it's always a scary deal with a neck injury,
and he's doing his best to be able to come
back healthy off of that.

Speaker 9 (48:06):
And so again that's the decision we'll keep working.

Speaker 4 (48:07):
Through exactly when you're evaluating, you know, running backs into
the draft with lund for what are the things that
you're looking for, Whether it's you know.

Speaker 9 (48:14):
The little in Tame thirty one, Well, how do they
do with the ball in their hands?

Speaker 12 (48:19):
Okay, whether that's running the ball, the vision that they
have within the scheme, because all those schemes are a
little bit different. As you watch each of these guys,
it's it's all they have different backgrounds of what they
majored in. You know, we want guys that can catch
the ball out of the backfield with the amount that
we throw it. We don't want a guy that just
comes in there can only carry the ball, only pass protect.
You have to be able to get out and keep
the defense onds from that perspective, and then and then

(48:40):
pass protection. You know, with Chase right now is our
primary first and second on back. When can you give
him a break, he's capable of playing on third down.
Sometimes we played them every snap of the game as
we did it, but you want to take some of
that off of him. So you want a guy that
can carry the ball also on first, second down, but
be able to protect in the pass game as well.
And sometimes that's harder to find on college tape than others.

(49:02):
Some guys are not asked to do that. Some guys
their protections are pretty simplified, where you don't get to
see everything you want to see on tape, but you
get a chance to meet with those guys and understand
their capability of understanding what they're being asked to do
and what we're gonna ask them to do. And that's
part of the information we have to parse through during
this process.

Speaker 13 (49:17):
Well back to last season, one of the biggest storylines
at the loss of them on the score is generally
tight games.

Speaker 11 (49:23):
You know, some time we're respect guy, what.

Speaker 9 (49:25):
Do you think you can do as a coach.

Speaker 13 (49:26):
And market taint of efficially be on the other side
more of those tight games.

Speaker 12 (49:29):
Yeah, we've had years where we've been on the other
side of that, you know, So this is one of
those years we just weren't able to make the plays
key moments earlier in the game that would have allowed
the games to separate. So it doesn't need to always
come down to the last kick of a game or
the last two point version of a game. There's opportunities
that you can take take hold of in the second
or third quarter to where we can run away with
some games. And I'd much rather focus on running away

(49:52):
with some of these games than being in these tight games.
But we've got a history with a lot of guys
on this team of closing games out and we're going
to get back to.

Speaker 8 (49:58):
That this year on the guy at the top of line.

Speaker 12 (50:01):
And for me, it's a starting point. It's maybe your
first face to face interaction. So sometimes you don't walk
away learning a whole lot in a In an eighteen
minute interview, you get a general sense of the player
and who they are, in their background and what makes
them tick, and it's something that you can then try

(50:22):
to learn more as you move forward to the process.
So we've watched the tape on these guys, more so
Douke and that staff. I've watched them all thoroughly. Our
coaching staff is getting up to speed on that now.
So now you get a chance just an introductory foundation
who this person is. We need to do more research
on them as we move forward. And so really just
that beginning part of the process for for us as
coaches at least.

Speaker 13 (50:42):
May very players.

Speaker 11 (50:44):
You're postal link test these guys and see the outages,
more about establishment.

Speaker 9 (50:49):
Hear and talk.

Speaker 12 (50:49):
Wait, they don't walk in the road and we attack
them right out of the gate, where that's that's not
exactly how we operate it, you know. So we're looking
for the background information to clean some things up because
maybe it's the first time we've talked to them outside
of the Senior Bowl or Shine Game or something like that.
And then you get a chance just to watch the
tape with them and hear them talk football, hear them,
how are they coached? How do they respond to coaching?
Uh So, again it's a it's a process that our

(51:11):
scouts drive and our coaches supplement, and so the position
coach is usually up there talking through some plays with
them as we get going.

Speaker 2 (51:19):
Defense build similarly start ructors.

Speaker 9 (51:22):
Can you start over again, I'm sorry?

Speaker 8 (51:23):
A lot of defenses you know build similarly, you know
started ructors down in safeties.

Speaker 12 (51:28):
Is there anything that maybe al is bringing in now
as it comes into this goal, and maybe you're considering.

Speaker 8 (51:32):
In the draft and maybe chante from the norm or
how ent building.

Speaker 9 (51:37):
Well, we're gonna do what our players do best.

Speaker 12 (51:39):
We're gonna put them in the best positions on defense
without uh to make sure these guys can play up
to their potential.

Speaker 9 (51:44):
That that's key. Number one is who do we have
in the building? What can they do best.

Speaker 12 (51:49):
We've certainly got schemes that we believe in, and you
can mix some of that stuff up, but number one
is what players do we have in the building. How
can they play the best to be at a championship level?
And then we're not afraid to adjust from there. And
so that's a process that takes place. It's every day
we're in there watching defensive tape with these new coaches,
making sure we iron out our foundation. We'll get the
players in the building, we'll respond to them, and then

(52:11):
we'll adjust it as we need to go forward.

Speaker 11 (52:13):
A lot of players have talked about some of them
were out of like the other crazy quests, they've not
been combined us with the crazy neust ones have a
leg Why can I recurrent a combined.

Speaker 12 (52:22):
I wouldn't say that I've really been a part of
something out of out of left field like that. As
combine questions go, it's been pretty Uh tame is maybe
the best word, and I'm not I'm not ashamed of that.
I think that's the right way for us to do it,
to try to gain the most information so they can
just be their true self and feel comfortable in the environment,
and and then we take the information as we see fit.

Speaker 9 (52:45):
Go ahead, James, I'll come back to you a second,
honestly asking out now, Yeah, you God.

Speaker 4 (52:53):
Were agents.

Speaker 8 (52:56):
Haveing not how fouture is going out?

Speaker 11 (52:59):
Not just able to pick great accounts and annoying.

Speaker 12 (53:02):
Yeah, the plan for it's critical to have alignment between
the front office, Duke and his staff, and our coaching staff.
And that's something we take great pride in going into
the seventh year I've been here, and I wouldn't change
anything about our process. I think Duke and his staff
do an excellent job of as much as humanly possibly
coming down to the coaches, asking asking what we look for,

(53:24):
what we need, and then and then collaborating with them
and how they see these guys and such thorough conversations
and I never walk away on draft day feeling like
man coaches didn't get enough to say what they need
to say about a player. All those conversations, sometimes hard
conversations are always had, and Duke does an excellent job
of driving those conversations and making sure you might not

(53:47):
see eye to eyes. So we're gonna do all the
information we can gather, all the information on a player
to make sure that we come to a conclusion on them.
And so really respect the process that that Duke has
ironed out for us over these years and the wealth
of experience he and his group have. And uh, again,
I wouldn't change a thing about about how we go
about that process.

Speaker 2 (54:04):
Process styles, the terms of faces on the coaching stas.

Speaker 12 (54:10):
Yeah, with the new coaches, I don't see the process changing. Again,
that's that's driven by Duke and his staff. This is
their season and we're supplementing that. And and so again
we'll thoroughly go on the road and do have evaluation
we need to other pro days, we sit in the office,
we watch all the tape, coaches write the reports and
then Duke takes that information and we have the conversations
from there. But again, very thorough process that that we

(54:32):
firmly believe in touch.

Speaker 11 (54:34):
On the idea the player might not be lost if
the some of the things that are required for your fat.

Speaker 9 (54:39):
College why not A yeah, what makes you really good
to take a little bit.

Speaker 6 (54:42):
Of a risk if you're having a player like that
which maybe sit back and.

Speaker 8 (54:46):
Play the sagment so or not?

Speaker 12 (54:47):
I know, you gotta do all the background on the
on their football character. What are they capable of?

Speaker 9 (54:51):
What drives them?

Speaker 12 (54:53):
Is it a player that's not gonna put in a
lot of work, didn't do a lot of the things
we're going to ask him to do, and it's a
real unknown or risk, and so you just have to
balance all that and it's never perfect. You know, you've
you've got our scouts have done a great job over
the last two years evaluating each of these guys that
are finally here, and then we'll get all the hands
on information we get over these next three months to

(55:13):
get to that conclusion.

Speaker 9 (55:14):
It's not a perfect science.

Speaker 3 (55:16):
You know.

Speaker 12 (55:16):
You hit home runs on some guys and you miss
on a couple, and we just do our best to
get all that information to my right decisions for for
our team. I know, I know, Marshall, you had one more.

Speaker 2 (55:25):
Have you ever helped out the outline and get in
bumps in yourself up with.

Speaker 13 (55:28):
A guy and over.

Speaker 12 (55:34):
Online, Well, if he wasn't on our raidar, we wouldn't
hear what he said, because usually that's the guys that
Duke and Potts and all those guys bring in because
we want to learn more information about him for for
various reasons.

Speaker 9 (55:47):
There's guys.

Speaker 12 (55:48):
I mean, we take notes on all these guys, and
so some we got to follow up on, some we don't.
I'd say Chris Jenkins was a guy last year that
the first time I ever heard him talk was in
the Combine interview.

Speaker 9 (55:57):
And it's just a plus.

Speaker 12 (55:58):
This guy's not a lot more information I need on
this player, because you can just tell from a character
and personality and what drives him. Like in eighteen minutes,
you can get a great feel for who that young
man is and and it's it's supplemented by all the
things you heard from Michigan. And so that's an example
of an eight plus. Not a whole lot more we
need to dig into this person's character. I'm sure I
could give you a plenty more examples of maybe some

(56:19):
character we need to dive into after eighteen minutes. But again,
that's what the commin is here for, and that's why
you always see the sin san bangals show up and
get the most out of it. Child from the compline,
like looking forward to asking your offeople questions like an episode.
My first interview was with Kellen Moore, and I think
it was the worst interview anyone's ever done in their

(56:40):
lifetime because it was the first time my being in
the room. I didn't watch anybody else do it first.
It was maybe the first interview we had with the dolphins,
and so I don't know really how it's gonna work,
and I just basically just was buttering them up the
whole time, showing him great clips and telling him how
great he was.

Speaker 9 (56:57):
That's what I remember.

Speaker 12 (56:58):
You know, here's five clips and every in the rooms
like when a're we gonna start getting into questions. Basically,
I'm just saying, man, you're certain, right, Kellen. It's like,
you know, top completion percentage of all time, won all
these games. And so that was example of one that
I felt really sideways for fifteen minutes, and I mean,
what has Kellen done since that moment?

Speaker 9 (57:17):
You know, nothing, So I'm just kidding.

Speaker 12 (57:19):
Kellen's Kellen's a guy that there's no surprise where he's
at today because of all the things that he's put
on tapes since high school.

Speaker 4 (57:27):
All Right, there's Zach Taylor live from Indianapolis, the head
coach of the Cincinnati Bengals, speaking just after Duke Tobin
did good stuff there. Both both have a doubled down.
I think of what Joe Burrow has said all off season. Now,
there's a difference between saying it and doing it. And

(57:47):
I'll I'll be honest when it comes to player contracts
and negotiating and who's going to get paid what. I
don't put a ton of stock into what the head
coach of the Cincinnati Bengals says. Of course, Zach Taylor
wants to coach t Higgins. Of course he wants to
run a training camp where the Jamar Chase thing is

(58:08):
no longer a thing. Of Course, he wants to be
the coach of a team that has Trey Hendrickson. Duke
Tobin is a little bit more in the weeds when
it comes to getting some of this stuff done. I think,
at the very least, and you know, I'm like Marvin Lewis.
In this regard, I see better than I hear. It
is noteworthy, really quick. As an aside, it is noteworthy

(58:32):
that Duke Tobin did talk about making Jamar Chase the
highest paid non quarterback in the NFL, which, all right,
you know that probably moves things in the right direction.
Specifically what that dollar amount is going to be, I
don't know, but that moves things in the right direction,
I don't think. And again, these are press conferences. You

(58:53):
can only do so much with them. They only have
so much value. I don't think you could walk away
from listening to Duke and Zach and feel more pessimistic
that the Bengals were gonna get these things done. If
if you walk up this morning thinking, you know what,
I believe the Bengals are gonna sign t Higgins long term,

(59:16):
give an extension to Jamar Chase, and give an extension
to Trey Hendrickson. If you felt that way this morning,
I think you should still feel that way now. If
you woke up this morning thinking I don't believe the
Bengals are gonna do these things.

Speaker 2 (59:30):
They might do one, they might do two, they're not
gonna do all of them.

Speaker 4 (59:35):
I don't think that today should make you feel more pessimistic.
I don't think today gives you ammunition to dig in
on that perspective even further. We could talk about it
five point three seven four nine, fifteen thirty and eight
six six seven oh two three seven seven six on
Twitter at Moeger. We do have a poll question based

(59:58):
on what you heard from Duke Tobin. Our poll questions
are a service of United Heartland Insurance. Go to uhions
dot com because they can ensure anything, I mean anything.
The question is, after listening to Duke Tobin, are you
more convinced or less convinced that the Bengals will sign Chase,
Hendrickson and Higgins to new deals? And I gave you

(01:00:19):
three options, more or less or neither. I think the
right answers are more or neither. I don't think the
answer is less. I don't know how you could listen
to any of that. And again, I think you should
only put so much stock into a press conference and
to public words that aren't specifically indirectly coming from ownership.
But I don't know how you can walk away from

(01:00:41):
that feeling like, you know what. I think there's less
of a chance that they sign those guys than ever.
I think the answers are either more or neither. We'll
talk about it. It's twenty three minutes after three o'clock.
We have a lot of ground to cover. Duke and
Zach ate up a lot of our time. But that's okay.
I think you wanted to hear it. This is ESPN
fifteen thirty, Cincinnati Sports Stationeger thank you so much for

(01:01:02):
joining us and for pairing with us as we've carried
live press conferences from Indianapolis. This is maybe just a
nerdy pet peeve of mine as a radio guy. So
when the Bengals have their press conferences, we air them
on Mondays and Wednesdays, and we get annoyed by the
fact that Zach Taylor will talk, or Joe Burrow will talk,

(01:01:22):
or another one of the players will talk, and you
can never hear the questions right. And it doesn't like
a wireless microphone and a PA kit I just posted this.
You could find one on Amazon and not like the
most high end stuff, but still working equipment for one
hundred and fifty four dollars.

Speaker 2 (01:01:42):
The Bengals don't do this.

Speaker 4 (01:01:43):
The National Football League, though, at their scouting combine where
the general managers and head coaches of all thirty two
teams are made available during the first part of the week, right,
and so you got like dozens of media people there,
hundreds of media people there, and the press conferences are
streamed and they're broadcast. The National Football League, the the

(01:02:08):
National Football League's current media deals pay what like their
their current their current media deals are paying something like
eleven billion dollars.

Speaker 2 (01:02:19):
I think that the current if you added.

Speaker 4 (01:02:21):
Up all of the all eleven billion dollars annually from Fox, CBS, NBC,
and ESPN. That doesn't even include Amazon eleven billion dollars.
And the National Football League can't find a wireless microphone
to give to the people asking questions of Zach Taylor.

Speaker 2 (01:02:42):
That's a.

Speaker 4 (01:02:44):
That's a thing again. I know, I know, I'm probably
the only person who cares about this, but still we
carry the we carry the press conferences. We're not the
only outlet. The team's YouTube channels are carrying these press conferences.
They're Twitter feeds. We can't have a wire The University

(01:03:07):
of Cincinnati does this. I'm at every Tuesday press conference
for the football coach Scott Saderfield obviously now.

Speaker 2 (01:03:14):
One and fifty Bucks. By the way, that includes the speaker.

Speaker 4 (01:03:18):
You don't even really need the speaker, I guess because
you already have a speaker. That the coaches audio is
coming from. A wireless microphone might cost sixty dollars. I'm
tempted to buy one of these and send it to
Roger Goodell at his Hotel Sweden, Indianapolis. All right, we
killed a segment with that twenty nine away from five

(01:03:39):
o'clock sports headlines more from Duke or more on Duke,
more on Zach. And we'll get to the Bearcats coming
up in a bit as well. And I got a
thing about Red's projections because I am I'm becoming the
guy who's becoming more and more bullish on the local
baseball team with each passing spring training day. And and

(01:04:00):
uh share my thoughts. Next ESPN fifteen.

Speaker 1 (01:04:03):
Thirty Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 7 (01:04:09):
Call five one three five eighty five UCCC Heast found
two seventy five after Princeton Pike, it is Debrithe locking
off the right three lanes. Traffic there stop and go
from Springfield Pike with a twenty five minute delay. And

(01:04:31):
it is an accident on State Route twenty eight, leaving
one lane open in each direction at Rowan Road on
at Ezeleic with traffic.

Speaker 4 (01:04:39):
This three fifteen thirty four headlines are a service excuse
me of Kelsey Chevroale, home of lifetime powertrain protection and
guarantee credit approval from their family to yours for life
kelseyshev dot Com Duke Tobin said the Bengals are prepared
to make Jamar Chase the highest paid non quarter back

(01:05:00):
in the NFL. Also says he wants to sign Jamar
Chase and wants to sign Trey hendrickson two long term contracts.
Those are the things that he said. We'll see if
those things actually happen, we will see. The NFL scouting
Combine is happening this week in Indianapolis. Meanwhile, the Reds
do not have a game today. They are off getting
set and I'm sure studying very intensely tonight for tomorrow's

(01:05:22):
game against the Angels. Nick Lodola will make his Cactus
League debut first pitch at three to five tonight. You
see plays Baylor. Cincinnati lost to the Bears by twenty points.
Bears come in having lost three out of four. U
see broke a two game losing streak. On Saturday. Tip
off tonight at seven pm. I just they have a
game on Saturday. Let's be honest, they are not likely

(01:05:46):
to win. It's Cincinnati at Houston. You see hasn't beaten
the Cougars. I believe since the twenty twenty season. Houston
is and I know everybody says, well, in the tournament,
they're gonna get a tough whistle at some point because
they foul on every play. I think that logic applies
less to them this year than it has during this

(01:06:07):
run of success they've had. I think it applies to
a team like Saint John's. I think it applies a
little bit less to Houston this season. The Cougars last
night won a really fun to watch game over at
Texas Tech last night, and in doing so, they have
clinched at least to share at the Big twelve Championship.
They are sixteen and one on the season. They have
won seven consecutive games, So let's be honest, the Bearcats

(01:06:29):
are going to go there on Saturday. Is double digit dogs,
and they're probably not gonna win that game. But if
you win tonight, I can spend the next three days
looking forward to it and convincing myself they can win,
and imagining what it would be like if they did
win that game and then played Kansas State and Oklahoma
State with a chance to finish five hundred. I can't

(01:06:52):
do those things, or I won't do those things if
they take an L tonight against a good Baylor team
that has lost games and yet thirtieth in the NET
ranking so as of now, would count as a Q
one win. Seven o'clock is tonight's tip off on seven
hundred WLW. Also tonight, Miami is battling Northern Illinois. The

(01:07:14):
Sean Miller Show is tonight at seven o'clock on fifty
five KRC, and the NKU Coaches Show is tonight at
six on ESPN fifteen thirty. Also, the Columbus Blue Jackets,
who won their first game post four Nations, face off
break over Chicago tonight. The Jackets skate against Dallas at
seven o'clock, and that game can be heard on Fox

(01:07:35):
Sports thirteen sixty All Right twenty one away from five
o'clock let's take a phone call or two if I
can make the mouse work on the phone.

Speaker 2 (01:07:46):
Jeff in Virginia. You're on ESPN fifteen thirty. Good afternoon, Jeff.

Speaker 8 (01:07:49):
How are you happy Tuesday? Mo?

Speaker 2 (01:07:52):
Happy Tuesday.

Speaker 8 (01:07:54):
We cannot emphasize that microphone situation enough.

Speaker 2 (01:07:58):
It's brutal.

Speaker 8 (01:08:00):
One of my trips home last year, I literally almost
went to radio shack. It was going to take it
to the front desk at Paycoorp with a note on
it for Emily Parker. And I saw her walking back
from practice one time last summer and I said, we
need microphones in the press room and she gave me
the narkiest looking comments maybe next year, and I was

(01:08:23):
just like, what's the potblem here?

Speaker 4 (01:08:26):
So for the uninitiated, first of all, Emily, who does
a really nice job, is the media relations director of
the Bengals. A wireless microphone includes a microphone in like
a rectangular box that transmits the signal from the microphone.
It costs next to nothing, It requires almost no hardware.
It is one thing if you're not streaming these things live.

(01:08:50):
The Bengals do, and to their credit, most NFL teams do.
They stream these things on their Twitter feed, they put
them on their Facebook, they put them on Bengals dot com.
If you're inviting people to want wouldn't you want people
who are watching to hear the questions that are being
asked of the coach or the player who is miked.
That they don't do that boggles the mind. But it

(01:09:12):
is one thing for the Bengals to not have a
microphone for the people asking questions. It's something else for
the National Football League, the biggest sports league on the planet,
to not have a microphone available for the people asking
questions so those of us listening elsewhere can hear them.

Speaker 8 (01:09:30):
I think, just on a slight benefit of data, it
looks like there are a bunch of guys on podiums
right next to each other. Maybe if I've never been
a combine, I don't know, maybe that wouldn't have worked.
But kudos to Douke for repeating all the questions.

Speaker 2 (01:09:42):
It was very helpful. Yes, it was very hypothetical for you.

Speaker 8 (01:09:47):
Yes, if somebody had asked, Duke, are you aware if
any venture capital outfit has offered to buy ten percent
of the team? You don't think he'd answer that question,
would you know?

Speaker 2 (01:10:00):
Because he's not in ownership.

Speaker 8 (01:10:02):
Yeah, I get it it it'd be a question I'd
love to ask. I know what the answer is going
to be. But I would have loved to have asked
him that question, along with a bunch of others. But
I figured there's no way he's going to answer that
question even if he knows, right.

Speaker 4 (01:10:16):
Uh No, I number one, if he if he didn't know, which,
I would imagine he would be privy to that. I'm sure,
I'm sure he would be very he would default to.
Would be like if you asked him a question about
the stadium situation like Duke's. Duke's on the football side
of it, He's not the business side of it. So
he's he's going to give you, and understandably so from
my opinion, a non answer.

Speaker 8 (01:10:37):
Well, I think it might be covered by an NBA
as well, and that it might that might such a yes,
we can always pray that it might happen. We know
there's people in Cincinnati who have that money. Do they
think that there'll be a return on investment? Is the question?
So we'll see. Definitely. All right, have a good day.

Speaker 4 (01:10:52):
Well all right, Jeff, thanks so much. Yeah, you know,
I mean, to a to a degree, Duke gets talked
about so much like he's a member of the family
that it almost feels like he speaks so infrequently and
Ownership speaks so infrequently. And those are not criticisms, they're

(01:11:12):
just they're facts. I mean, Duke Tobin is made available
in a setting like that once or twice a year,
and Mike Brown speaks in a setting like that once
a year. I wish Duke would speak more often because
I think often there are questions that Zach Taylor answers
that are more Duke Tobin questions. But I guess that's

(01:11:33):
neither here nor there. But he's on the football side
of things. He's not the business side of things. And
so you know, to me, it'd be like if he
asked Duke a question about, you know, stadium upgrades or
the situation with the county and the stadium lease, like
he that's not that's that's not his department. But yes,
I agree that I think it'd be interesting to find

(01:11:56):
out the answer to that question, to see if anybody
is offered to buy a.

Speaker 2 (01:11:58):
Part of the team.

Speaker 4 (01:12:00):
We'll see, we will, we will see. Seventeen away from
five o'clock. I talked yesterday and I was having fun
with this about Ellie Dela Cruz, who on Saturday hit
homers in his first two spring at Pats, one from
each side of the plate. He then started yesterday, got

(01:12:21):
a hit, scored a run, and the thunder was stolen
by Austin Hayes, who had a great game yesterday. And
we know these games don't count, we know the results
don't matter, but you know, it's fun to it's fun
to think about what Ellie can do this season, and
it's fun to think about what Austin Hayes can do
this season. Like I'm willing to give him the benefit
of the doubt and say that last season his struggles

(01:12:42):
in Baltimore and mainly Philadelphia were caused by injuries both
to his legs and the kidney infection that he was
dealing with, and go, you know what, this guy, historically,
at least against lefties, has hit, and he's going to
hit lefties this year and that's the primary reason why
the Reds acquired him. And yesterday was a good step
in the right direction with a couple of homers and
double There's always this, i think reasonably early spring training

(01:13:10):
infusion of optimism that permeates its way through the fan base,
and I think we've all found ourselves falling into the
trap of buying some of the spring training hype because
all of the stories from every spring training are good.
I've been a baseball fan for forty years. I can't

(01:13:32):
recall one story out of any spring training where the
takeaway was, God, this guy showed up and he's fatten
out of shape, or this player has come to camp
and he thinks the team is gonna stink, or boy,
the vibes from that camp are awful.

Speaker 2 (01:13:49):
The stories are always good.

Speaker 4 (01:13:52):
One of the good things that Major League Baseball Network
does is they do a series called Thirty Clubs in
thirty days. I think the Reds get their treatment on
the second to last day, I think March the eleventh.

Speaker 2 (01:14:01):
But it's good.

Speaker 4 (01:14:01):
It's a good like our commercial for the team, and
they do good interviews. But like, you walk away from
all thirty of those. I have joked with MLB Network
personalities about this, You walk away from every single one
of those thinking, you know what, that team that was
just profiled can win the World Series? Could be the
Yankees could be, the Dodgers could be, the Reds could be,
the A's could be the Rays, could be the Diamondbacks,

(01:14:23):
doesn't matter. You walk away going that team is going
to be awesome this year. So there's always some version
of of like just optimism and it's fun, right, Like
nobody this time of year wants to hear someone talk
about how bad the team is going to be. But
mathematical projections for this team aren't great, was it? Baseball

(01:14:45):
Perspectives had him winning seventy three games and fangrafts had
him winning seventy seven games. I don't think this team's
winning seventy three games. Seventy seven is what they won
last year. I think there's a world where the team
kind of runs in place. So maybe the pitching isn't
quite as good, and some of the guys were hoping
to have big seasons offensively don't have big seasons offensively,

(01:15:06):
and maybe they're kind of the same team that they
were last year. And I certainly think there's a world
where this team wins eighty five, eighty six, eighty eight games.
If you forced me to pick a number of games
they'd win this season, I'd go eighty three or maybe
talk myself into eighty four. But the big off season

(01:15:27):
addition is Terry Francona. Now, Back in early October, when
the Reds hired Terry Francona and surprised a lot of people,
I think all of us agreed that if Terry Francona
is the only acquisition, the only big acquisition this offseason,
then this offseason hasn't gone so well. And as it
turns out, they've made some moves that on an individual

(01:15:49):
level don't move the meter that much. But I think
when you stack them on top of each other, that's
a pretty productive offseason. They've addressed some needs, they've bolstered
their depth, They've acquired what they've needed. I still think
they're like a guy Away would have loved to get
a real thumper for the middle of the lineup. They
didn't do that, but I think they had a productive offseason.
What's hard to quantify, I think, and one of the

(01:16:12):
reasons why a lot of these projections just don't matter
to me all that much. I think it's really hard
to quantify mathematically the role of the manager. When the
Reds have had teams that we knew were going to
be bad, I didn't care who the manager was when
they had teams completely bereft of talent. I didn't care

(01:16:33):
who the manager was when you couldn't figure out who
could make up a five man starting rotation. I didn't
care who the manager was when you couldn't identify who
the core of the team was. I didn't care who
the manager was. This roster has its imperfections, and this
roster has its holes, and I think we're going to

(01:16:54):
spend the summer talking about whether or not they plug
them at the trade deadline, and I wish they would
have in January and February. But it's not a roster
completely devoid of talent by any stretch. There are a
lot of young players, even though this team as a
whole isn't that young. There are a lot of players
that I think even some of the better teams in
this sport would like to have. They'd all love Elie

(01:17:15):
Della Cruz. They'd all love Hunter Green, they'd all love Niicolodolo.
They I think most would really like Andrew Abbott, even
though he's dealt with shoulder issues. And I think there
is a role on a good team for a guy
like Spencer Steer. And I think teams would like to
have Matt McClain I think a lot of teams would
like to have Tyler Stevenson, and we'll see if we
could add to that list. And so what's the hope

(01:17:35):
this year? The hope is, well, some of these guys
continue to improve. Some of these guys start to improve,
some of these guys stay healthy. Some of these guys
make major leaps. It's gonna happen with some of them.
It's not gonna happen with others. Hopefully we're not talking
as much about health this year. But what's the X factor?

(01:17:57):
It's the manager, because now is when I care who
the manager is. What's the X factor? How many wins
is Terry Francona worth. I've talked with somebody who's opinion
I really really respect because he worked in the game,
who said I think he's worth from five to ten wins.

(01:18:18):
I've heard from a friend of a friend from a
former player who believes Terry Francona is worth ten to
fifteen wins. I don't know what the answer is, but
I think there's going to be a positive impact. It's
hard for me to believe that Terry Francona's impact on
this team isn't going to be positive. I think that's
really hard to quantify. I think it's really hard to
factor that in when you look at projections. Now you

(01:18:42):
might say, well, you could say that about a lot
of teams. Yeah, but a lot of other teams have
players with longer track records, groups of players with longer
track records. With the Reds, you're dealing with a lot
of guys who don't have much of a track record,
and you're also dealing with a manager who's being tasked
to help some of these guys individually harness their talent

(01:19:04):
and collectively blend everything together, maybe better than David Bell
was capable of. And I don't know, I don't know
how you go about attaching a numerical value to that.
I did a radio interview in Milwaukee yesterday and the
gentleman who had me on asked me about, you know,

(01:19:25):
the team and projections and the expectations for the season,
and I said, you know, you've never heard me do this,
but I for the first time in a very long time,
I bring it back to the manager because he is
a great manager, and he's had a lot of success,
and he's beloved in the sport. He's universally respected for
his leadership and his ability to get the most out
of people, and he's talked extensively about holding guys accountable

(01:19:46):
and what he could do specifically with a guy like
Ellie de la Cruz, And so yes, there are hopes
and not unreasonable ones, that some of these guys play
better right and stay healthy and perform more consistently. But
then there's you know, Terry Francona having a role in

(01:20:07):
cleaning up the slop. I was thinking about this because
the Inquiry today has a piece on Terry Francona's impact
on the team this year, and it goes extensively into
this team getting better defensively, getting better defensively with largely
the same guys, and how Terry Francona is emphasizing this
during spring training. Well, you know, mathematically, how do we

(01:20:27):
account for the role that the manager has in the
team being better defensively, throwing the ball to the right base,
enforcing things when a guy doesn't do something defensively that
he's supposed to do, same thing with base running. Like,
I think the impact of this manager this year has
a chance to be really, really big, really big. And
I'm the guy who every year sort of shoots down

(01:20:48):
when anybody wants to blame the manager. Typically, I don't
care the team's not good enough. But if the team
has talent and the leadership is really really good, well
winning formula, that's a formula at least worth being optimistic about.
But from a projections perspective, that can't be factored in,

(01:21:09):
that can't be you. I do not think you can
factor in the role of a manager when you're trying
to project how many games a team is going to win.
And this has been a very long witted way of
me saying that. So I still look at Zip's projections
and I still see what some of the folks on
fangrass right about. And I respect, I love these websites.
They're they're good, useful tools, but I'm not sure you

(01:21:32):
are really able to wrap your brain around the positive
impact manager has on a team that has a lot
of guys who don't have that much of a track record,
who individually aren't that established and maybe not that set
in their ways. It is seven away from five o'clock.

(01:21:55):
More of your phone calls are coming up five one, three, seven, four, nine,
fifteen thirty got a pretty nasty email about the PA
but the wireless Mike Scott Springer on the Bearcats. Coming
up at five thirty, you see getting set to play

(01:22:15):
Baylor tonight. More on Duke Tobin and Zach Taylor as
well on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 1 (01:22:24):
Naddie's ESPN fifteen thirty.

Speaker 4 (01:22:27):
All right, it's four minutes after five o'clock. This is
ESPN fifteen thirty. I'm oegar. Thank you for listening. I
hope you're having a great Tuesday afternoon. An hour from
now the NKU Coaches Show on ESPN fifteen thirty, we're
gonna talk some Bearcats basketball. Coming up in thirty minutes,
you see getting set to play Baylor tonight in the

(01:22:47):
second to last home game for uc Cats, looking to
make it too straight before they go to Houston on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (01:22:55):
You'll hear a little bit later on of Duke Tobin.

Speaker 4 (01:22:58):
Both Duke Tobin and Zach Taylor have spoken in Indianapolis today,
their turns, their respective turns at the podium. And there's
a lot there because there's a lot going on right,
I mean, just right now. There's the Jamar Chase thing,
There's the t Higgins thing, there's the Trey Hendrickson thing,

(01:23:19):
There's the Mike Kasiki thing, There's the thing called the draft,
which is so huge for this team. Let's not forget that, man.
You know, in many respects, the success of the Bengals
in twenty twenty five is going to have more to
do with the draft than any of the other guys
we have spent months on end talking about. Jamar Chase

(01:23:41):
is under contract to play for the Bengals this year.
He's great, He's elite, and if they get a long
term deal done well, he's going to be great in
the lead for the Bengals for basically the rest of
the decade. The t Higgins we will see. I still
feel like the smart money is on him being on
the team, and Trey Hendrickson will be a Bengal in
twenty twenty five unless the Bengals trade him. He's under

(01:24:02):
contract with the team regardless of what they do. Regardless
of the approach, the draft for the Bengals this year
is essential. Now, the draft is essential for every team,
but this has been a franchise that in recent years,
not nearly as much this past season, but in recent
years has not gotten much of an immediate return on

(01:24:26):
its draft picks. We're still waiting to see if Miles
Murphy can play. We're still waiting to see what Dax
Hill can do, what position he should play. Way too
many guys that haven't done all that much, a bunch
of bad draft classes. That's got to change this year,
and it's got to change this year, regardless of what
they do in free agency, regardless of how much they Payemar,
regardless of what they do with t regardless of what

(01:24:49):
they do with Trey Hendrickson, and the scouting combine kind
of sets the draft process, which lasts for the next
two months, in two months in motion, and we're going
to be talking extent about it. But the draft itself
and what the Bengals will be looking for and what
they'll be doing, and what they'll be prioritizing takes a
little bit of a back seat to the questions that

(01:25:10):
are the biggest ones being asked right now in the NFL.

Speaker 2 (01:25:14):
Are they going to get a long term deal done
with Jamar.

Speaker 4 (01:25:16):
Chase Well Duke Tobin said they are planning to make
him the highest paid non quarterback in the NFL. Now,
it's worth pointing out that what the Bengals and Jamar
Chase were haggling over. Wasn't so much the total value
of the contract or the average annual value of the contract,
but the guarantees involved and how it was going to

(01:25:38):
be structured. And so we'll see if they can find
common ground on that. Duke Tobin said he wants t
Higgins on the team the exact quote quote. I want
him on my football team, and I'll do whatever I
can to get him. Preference is a long term deal
and they're working on it. They're working on it. Also
talked about Trey Hendrickson. I think made it clear he

(01:26:01):
feels like they can pay everybody. I think made it
very clear he feels like there's a way to do
this to get the big three signed, to keep the
big three here long term. And I'm excluding Joe Burrow
intentionally because he's under contract for a while. But I

(01:26:21):
walked away feeling like Duke Tobin certainly didn't do anything
to throw cold water over the suggestion that they can
sign each one of these guys. I think that press
conference today should make you feel if if you are
looking at this as the short term objective needs to
be get Jamar done, get Tea done, get tray done

(01:26:44):
and then fix the other stuff. If that is what
you hope to see happen. I certainly don't think you
should walk away from listening to Duke Tobin today feeling
like it's not likely. I think there were two different
translations from both of which may work with each other.
One is, yeah, I want what Joe Burrow wants. Joe

(01:27:08):
Burrow has made no bones about it. You do not
have to follow the Bengals on a consistent basis every
single day to know what Joe Burrow wants.

Speaker 2 (01:27:15):
He has made it abundantly clear.

Speaker 4 (01:27:18):
Anybody with even a passing interest in the National Football
League knows what Joe Burrow wants the Bengals to do.
Duke Tobin said, I want what Joe Burrow wants. That
to me, it puts the ball I think in two
different courts. I think it puts it in the court
of ownership. Duke Tobin is the director of player personnel.

(01:27:39):
He makes a lot of decisions. He's in charge of
the roster, he drafts the players. He's not as into
the weeds as ownership when it comes to negotiating contracts.
Joe Burrow has been putting pressure on the upper reaches
of the franchise to keep these players here, to get

(01:28:01):
rid of the distraction of players playing with one year
left on their deal, players playing under the franchise tag.
Joe Burrow has been putting pressure on ownership, say what
it is. It doesn't mean he's being a jerk about it,
but I think he's putting pressure on ownership to financially
find a way. When Duke Tobin says, I want what

(01:28:24):
Joe Burrow wants, that to me at least is Duke
doing almost exactly the same thing, yet Joe wants ownership
to figure it out financially, Well, I want what Joe wants.
That's Duke Tobin. That Duke has a lot on his
plate too, He's got a lot of pressure on him.
He used the word alignment a lot, and he used

(01:28:47):
it in reference to the to the defense and al Golden,
which would suggest the alignment between Duke Tobin and louenn
Romo not quite there. And frankly, the results would suggest
that right where Duke drafted players, Lou had to get
a lot out of him. Lou didn't get enough out
of them, so he's not here anymore, and so alignment,
to me, there is Yeah, I'm gonna draft some guys

(01:29:07):
on defense. Al Golden's got to get a lot out
of him almost instantly, which I think we would all
agree has to happen. But the big Duke Tobin takeaway
from me is number one, he wants what Joe Burrow wants.
Joe Burrow wants ownership to get this done. So that
means Duke Tobin is pointing the finger at ownership. I also, though,
think to a degree, he's kind of pointing the finger

(01:29:29):
right back at Joe Burrow. Yeah, I want what Joe
wants too. I want t Higgins here. Why would I not?
And I yeah, I want Jamar Chase to get his money,
want him to get paid, want him to get his
deal done.

Speaker 2 (01:29:41):
We don't want this to be a distraction.

Speaker 4 (01:29:42):
We don't want this to be a thing that just
lasts all throughout the offseason and goes and seeps into
training camp in the preseason.

Speaker 2 (01:29:49):
We don't want that.

Speaker 4 (01:29:50):
And yeah, man, I want to sign Trey Hendrickson too.
I want what Joe wants. But Joe has also acknowledged
there are some things that maybe he can do to
help get that done. And so there's a part of
me that listens to Duke today, and I think, you know,
he's kind of pointing an ownership. It's kind of putting
it on them, But to a degree, it feels like

(01:30:12):
he's also kind of putting the onus a little bit
on Joe Burrow. Now, I don't believe for a second
that Joe or any player has an obligation to take
less money, do a restructure or anything like that. Joe
has a contract, and if I'm Joe, I want the
Bengals to live up to that contract.

Speaker 2 (01:30:29):
Right, I have.

Speaker 4 (01:30:30):
Earned the money that I'm making. But yes, would it
be easier if he were to give them some financial flexibility?

Speaker 1 (01:30:41):
Sure?

Speaker 2 (01:30:41):
Yes, would it be cool if he did it? Yes?
Should he be obligated to do it?

Speaker 4 (01:30:46):
No?

Speaker 2 (01:30:46):
Would it be cool if he did it?

Speaker 6 (01:30:47):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (01:30:48):
And the way I kind of heard it from Duke today,
and again we'll have some of the audio for you
at the end of the show, the way that I
heard it was kind of like, yeah, I want what
Joe wants too. Well, when Joe expresses what he wants,
that has certainly recently come with him outlining like yeah, man,
there are some things we can do, and he's even,
you know, kind of dived into some specifics, and so

(01:31:10):
I can't help but wonder if that's a little bit
of Duke going, yeah, well, Joe wants this, I want this.
Joe knows he can have a role in helping us
get this done. And so since I want what Joe wants,
I'd kind of like to see him, you know, actually
maybe be flexible when it comes to the structure of
his contract.

Speaker 2 (01:31:28):
We will see.

Speaker 4 (01:31:29):
I think the big sort of thirty thousand foot takeaway
for me is that there is there's no reason to
listen to Duke today and feel more pessimistic if you
already feel pessimistic, or to start feeling pessimistic if you
feel optimistic that the Bengals are going to get this done.

(01:31:54):
I think the big question is if they do, when
does it happen? Like the Jamar Chase thing. For me,
we've talked, We talked a lot as the season came
to an end about how well, just go ahead and
get the Chase thing done. Now, if you legitimately have
a plan in place to make him the highest paid
non quarterback in the league, well that seems to me

(01:32:15):
to be something that should get done pretty easy. But
you know, if you're also working from the framework that
you had last year when you didn't get a deal
with Chase done. Chances are that's been blown up. And
then so maybe this last deep into the off season
and goes into the summer and creeps into training camp
and is something we're still talking about during the preseason.
Do they do they get things done to the extent

(01:32:40):
that with Jamar and with t and with Trey, there
are resolutions well before training camp begins. If you believe,
and I do that financially, you can get these deals
done and make your team better. And if you believe
that is a likely outcome because it's what Joe Burrow

(01:33:01):
wants and I believe those things to be true, then
the question becomes when the question is not so much
if the question is when, and the when matters, right,
We've heard a lot about the Bengals dealing with noise.
We've heard a lot about well, you know, they've got

(01:33:22):
to figure out ways to get off to quicker starts,
which I think we would all agree with, right, And
the easiest way to do that is to have the
most serene, normal training camp possible, to have the most
serene normal preseason possible, to have the most serene, normal
offseason possible.

Speaker 2 (01:33:40):
What gets in the way of that.

Speaker 4 (01:33:41):
A star player holding in a lah Jamar Chase, more
questions about a player and his franchise tag, a lah
T Higgins, more players requesting trades a lah T Higgins
and Trey Hendrickson last year. So if you believe this
can get done, and if you believe this will get done,

(01:34:03):
primarily because Joe Burrow is the main driver, then the
question really becomes does it get done in a timely
enough manner to avoid anything creeping into the preparations for
the season. I don't have the answer. I don't know
that Duke Tobin has the answer, But that becomes the

(01:34:24):
next question, Right, all right, we know it's gonna happen.
We know that they've got a plan in place to
make Jamar the highest paid non quarterback in the league.
Duke wants t Duke wants Trey, Duke wants everything, Joe wants.
Duke acknowledges we can pay players, but have also got
to make the rest of the team better. And if

(01:34:46):
he believes there's a way to do that, then it
really becomes about can you get this done early enough
that when training camp starts. None of these things are
a thing. There may be something else that becomes the thing.
I don't know what it is. Maybe they don't find
a team to take Jermaine Pratt off their hands and
he's with them during training camp.

Speaker 2 (01:35:06):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (01:35:08):
Maybe there's someone else making noise about their contract or whatever.
Maybe there's some sort of weird off field thing that happens.
But if everybody acknowledges we want this to happen, and
it can happen, then let's make it happen now and
do things relatively quickly to ensure that when we are

(01:35:31):
done with free agency and the draft is in the
rear view mirror that when it's time to start preparing
for a season, that the Bengals can legitimately compete to
win the Super Bowl. In that that's the primary focus
come late July, that's the primary focus through all of August,

(01:35:51):
and it's the primary focus as September gets here.

Speaker 2 (01:35:56):
That's what I want to know.

Speaker 4 (01:35:59):
We're not going to get that answer today, not going
to get that answer from Duke, not going to get
that answer from Zach Taylor. But if you have such
confidence that we can get these deals done and we
want to get them done, and we want what Joe
wants and our ownership will get it done. Do it now,

(01:36:19):
but do it asap, do it in March. Do it
so that when we really turn the page to next year,
none of these side shows, if you want to call
it that, none of these distractions, if you want to
call it that, none of these things become a thing.

(01:36:40):
I made it sound very easy. I know it's not
quite that simple, but to a large degree, it should
be pretty easy if this is what you want, so
we'll see. But I walked away from listening to Duke
Tobin today feeling like there's no reason for added pessimism

(01:37:01):
that the Bengals will get it. You may just believe
the Bengals will screw it up because there are the Bengals,
and you might not have much faith in ownership, and
you might think, you know, Tea is if he hits
free agency, is just going to go find the most money.
And Duke was noncommittal, by the way when asked about
the team using the franchise tag on him. But I
don't think that listening to Duke Tobin should make you

(01:37:22):
feel like there's less of a chance of these things
getting done these things, meaning Jamar t and Trey Hendrickson.
I do think you could listen to Duke Tobin and
feel like he was kind of pointing upstairs. Yeah, I
want what Joe wants, and Joe's been putting pressure on ownership,
so I'll piggyback on that, and I think there's a

(01:37:43):
reason to feel like Duke Tobin was successful in making
us feel like they will do what we all want.
So then the next question I have is when, by
the way, he find Zach Taylor. That's a question I
have too. All Right, you're gonna sign these guys, You're
gonna get the deals done when, Like, I don't want

(01:38:06):
to deal with this in July. I don't want to
be asking questions about I want my players on the
practice field, I don't I don't want this to be
an issue a problem.

Speaker 2 (01:38:12):
I don't want there to be noise.

Speaker 4 (01:38:13):
I want to get the team ready to start the
season fast for the first time since twenty twenty one.

Speaker 2 (01:38:19):
We will see.

Speaker 4 (01:38:19):
We'll have part of Duke Tobin for you if you
missed it, coming up right around five fifty five, one, three, seven, four,
nine fifteen thirty UH is our phone number. We'll switch
Gears talk some UC hoops coming up in fifteen minutes.
Twenty after five o'clock on Moegar. Glad you with us
Today on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports.

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(01:40:07):
Gvin just called him Gavin. No, wait for Gavin, Gavin,
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Speaker 2 (01:40:11):
What's going on?

Speaker 8 (01:40:13):
Perfect? I like it.

Speaker 13 (01:40:14):
I love Tee Higgins when he's on the field, but
the problem is he can't stay on the field. I mean,
he misses what five six games a year, And you
can't sign a guy to a twenty eight million twenty
eight million dollar contract or whatever it's going to be
unless it's very heavily incentive lady as far as his participation,
I mean, I love the guy, great player, but you

(01:40:37):
think the older he gets, do you think these problems
are going to become more frequent or less. I think
it's going to become more frequent, and that's the problem.

Speaker 4 (01:40:46):
I love the guy, and that's the hang up, and
I think that's why we are where we are. I
think that's where where the Bengals original hesitancy was laid
with was was there was their fear that But exactly
what you just articulated, which I'm stumbling on, which is
that as as he gets older, a guy who has

(01:41:09):
missed four games a year and each of the last
two years is only going to miss more and more time, exactly.

Speaker 8 (01:41:15):
And I love the guy.

Speaker 13 (01:41:16):
I mean he's a great player when he's on the field,
but sure the ability is availability, as Dave Laughin likes
to say, and the guy's just too often hurts and
not a fault of his own. I mean, he played
hard when he's on the field, and that's Tallengery's happened.
I mean you can look at TJ. Friedel for the Reds,
same thing. Love the guy, but he can't stay on
the field and you can't give him a bunch of

(01:41:38):
guaranteed money.

Speaker 4 (01:41:39):
I don't think well, I think the question becomes, you know,
what are you willing to put up with? Because I
think if you said, all right, well, you know, let's
let's build in t is going to miss three out
of seventeen games per year, you might go, you know what,
in the fourteen games we would have him, the production
is so good that we will live with that. Now,
as you mentioned, he has missed five games per season

(01:42:00):
to the last two years, right, so you know, all right,
you know is five too many? Like? What is the
number that you're willing to put up with? None of
us know what the answer is going to be. And
then how do you calculate the likelihood of him missing
even more time as he gets That's why we're here.

(01:42:20):
I think that's why. That's why this hasn't gotten done.
I think that's what everybody is wrestling with. I think
the prevailing sentiment is going to be that him being
on our roster, though we might have to deal with
his lack of availability at times, is still worth it.

Speaker 2 (01:42:35):
They may be wrong about that. They may be wrong.

Speaker 4 (01:42:38):
About that, and other teams would would maybe shy away
from t Higgins for that same reason. But I think ultimately,
at the end of the day, they're going to go, look,
what he brings to the table is so good and
so valuable that we are willing to incur the risk.

Speaker 2 (01:42:52):
It may work, it may not, but I'm going to
guess that that's how they view it.

Speaker 8 (01:42:57):
And how does that work?

Speaker 13 (01:42:58):
I mean, I don't know as far as LPA the
contractual arrangements that they have with ownership, but can they
build or structure a contract where it's, okay, you miss
this many games, we don't have to pay you as
much or is that pretty much? He gets a guaranteed
number and then he gets this if he's done, still

(01:43:19):
on the roster. How does that work?

Speaker 4 (01:43:20):
You know, Well, for a player of this caliber, you're
you're obviously at this at this stage in the evolution
of the NFL, you're locking into a lot of guarantees
and you know, look, he could he could be cut
every year. But if he makes the team and he's
on the team after cutdown day, his salary for the
year is guaranteed. Now, there are incentives you can build
in for you know, playing a certain number of snaps,

(01:43:41):
that kind of thing. But a player like t Higgins,
you know, first of all, if you franchise tag him,
which they could still do, and he signs the franchise
tender and you don't get a long term deal done,
he's making twenty six whatever it is. Twenty six point
two million dollars. No matter what, and it doesn't matter
if he plays one snap or every snap. It doesn't

(01:44:01):
matter if he plays in one game or every game.
He's gonna get that set dollar amount. If you get
a long term deal done, you can build in some incentivize,
some incentives based on availability, but the basic structure of
the contract is not going to be based on how
many games he plays. Okay, no, thanks, yeah, thank you,
and I mean, at the end of the day, I

(01:44:23):
think that's that's why this has lasted as long as
it has. Number One, The main reason is Jamar Chase
is on the team. But I think things would be
a lot different for t Higgins had he not missed
five games in twenty twenty three, and by the way,
in some games.

Speaker 2 (01:44:38):
He played through pain, he played while hurt.

Speaker 4 (01:44:41):
I think this would be a little bit of a
different situation had he not missed two games I'm sorry,
three games. One was the Cleveland game where it didn't count,
but he missed time in twenty twenty one. There have
been concerns about his injury history, and by the way,
only amplified by the fact that on two different occasions
he had to miss time in twenty twenty four. But
I think, and I think a lot of teams would

(01:45:03):
view it this way. You would go, all right, he's
not even close to thirty yet, he's still just twenty six.

Speaker 8 (01:45:11):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (01:45:13):
What he brings to the table is so valuable and
what he does is so valuable that we are willing
to take on the risk. I'm gonna guess there are
teams that would look at t you Higgins and go,
you know what, We're not going to take on the risk.

Speaker 2 (01:45:33):
He does miss a lot of time.

Speaker 4 (01:45:35):
He does have a long issue, a lengthy history of
leg injuries, and so yeah, he's a very good player,
but it's not worth it. It's not worth us having
to constantly adjust for his absence. My guess is the Bengals,
and my guess is other teams if he did hit
free agency, would say, yeah, we.

Speaker 2 (01:45:53):
Know he has a lengthy injury history.

Speaker 4 (01:45:55):
But the type of player he is, what he does
bring to the table, And I think, specifically for the Bengals,
the kind of guy that he is matters to I
do think specifically with the Bengals, this is a part
of this awesome teammate, guy who will try to play
hurt at least does everything you ask Team first. Guy

(01:46:18):
doesn't let the business part of this get in the
way of his preparation for the season or his performance,
and I think that's worth paying for as well. But sure,
you can't talk about t Higgins without acknowledging that he
does have a lengthy injury history, and no matter which
team you are, no matter which method he signs with you,
whether it's a long term dealer, even one for just

(01:46:40):
this season under the franchise tag, you have to acknowledge
there are more concerns about Tea's availability than a lot
of other players at his position. Scott Springer on the Bearcats.

Speaker 1 (01:46:51):
Next Cincinnati's ESPN fifteen thirty traffic.

Speaker 7 (01:47:01):
Called five one three five eighty five. UCCC emergency crews
on the scene of an accident blocking off eastbound two
seventy five between Kellogg Avenue and US fifty two. Traffic

(01:47:23):
is backed up to four seventy one suthbound seventy five
left two lanes blocked from an accident between Paddock Road
and Town Street. I'm at Ezeleic with traffic this report.
I mentioned this before we carried this for you Live
on ESPN fifteen thirty. By the way, Paul Danner Junior
is going to join us tomorrow from Indie four.

Speaker 4 (01:47:42):
Reaction to everything that went down today, Maybe Paul's interpretation
of what Duke Tobin had to say is a little
bit different.

Speaker 2 (01:47:49):
We will see. Uh Duke did talk today.

Speaker 4 (01:47:52):
Here is the director of player Personnel of the Cincinnati
Bengals talking about T Higgins wanting what Joe Burrow wants
and Trey Hendrickson.

Speaker 6 (01:48:01):
Yeah, T Higgins.

Speaker 10 (01:48:03):
Seems like three or four or five years I've been
talking about T. I think you guys all know what
I feel about T.

Speaker 6 (01:48:09):
Higgins.

Speaker 10 (01:48:10):
I think T Higgins is a fantastic football player, and
I want him on my football team. Whenever I'm in
charge of a football team, I want T Higgins, and
so I'm going to do what I can to get
T Higgins. Our preference with T Higgins is to do
a long term agreement. Always has been, it continues to be,
and we'll work hard to get that done. You know,
we are fortunate, We've got a lot of really good

(01:48:32):
football players, fantastic football players, and we're fortunate to be
in a position to where we can fit them all in.
We've managed our cap well, we've got load dead money.
We want a high payroll and load dead money so
the people that are in Cincinnati playing for us can.

Speaker 6 (01:48:50):
Get all the money. That's what we want.

Speaker 10 (01:48:52):
And we're in a position to resign these guys and
it's a good position to be in. It really is,
and we're going to backet and hopefully you know, we
don't want to just resign these guys and pay more
for the same football team we had last year. We
want to add to it as well. So we want
to resign these guys, reward them for their ability level,

(01:49:14):
and add to the football team. So it's a it's
a tall task. We think we're up to it, and
Katie's got us in position to attack it. Well, Yeah,
what do I see or what.

Speaker 6 (01:49:39):
What do I think?

Speaker 10 (01:49:40):
When I see Joe, I think, Uh, there's our quarterback
and I'm glad we have them. And uh, I haven't
heard anything he said that that I'm not in complete
alignment on. I want the good players to and I
think that they ought to be paid to their ability level.

Speaker 6 (01:49:56):
And that's what we're going to do.

Speaker 7 (01:50:00):
Are you until Wonder League sloped.

Speaker 10 (01:50:08):
The questions on how re signing them or is going
to impact our ability to build the defense. I think
we have ability to build the defense if we can
get clarity on it and structure them in a way
that that is beneficial. But if they linger it, it
kind of creates a little bit of uncertainty. But we're
going to attack the defense, and.

Speaker 6 (01:50:27):
We already have. We know our defense wasn't good enough,
you know it.

Speaker 10 (01:50:32):
It couldn't get stops when we needed it, couldn't protect leads,
it didn't get off the field, and then you know,
in critical moments when the game was on the line,
it didn't rise to the occasion fourth and sixteen against
Kansas City.

Speaker 6 (01:50:45):
You know, that's one play. We win one game.

Speaker 10 (01:50:47):
Now we're in the playoffs, but that's countless games throughout
the year. Whether it's our offense converting a first down
to run the clock out to win the game, whether
it's our special teams converting a field goal to win
in the game, but multiple times a fumble going into
the end zone. All the things that happened, it was
a crazy year. We're a championship level team that didn't

(01:51:08):
get an opportunity, and that irritates us.

Speaker 6 (01:51:11):
It irritates all of us, it irritates our fans, and.

Speaker 10 (01:51:16):
We're not happy about it, and we're going to attack
the off season to make sure it doesn't happen against.

Speaker 12 (01:51:25):
You have to get creative structurally how you do these
contracts first of the.

Speaker 10 (01:51:31):
Past, So we have to get creative structure in the
content tracks. Well, sure, I mean, you're always creative because
the other side wants you to be creative. And so
we're going to do what we can to satisfy whoever
we're negotiating with to get a deal done. And I
hope they recognize, you know, the restrictors we have a

(01:51:55):
negotiation has just said it's a negotiation.

Speaker 6 (01:51:57):
It's not an I ask and you say yes, And
we don't expect them to just do what we want.
And they have to.

Speaker 10 (01:52:05):
Expect some negotiation because we're putting together a big picture
and our players want a good football team, and we're
going to attack that and and respect that, and also
respect the level of production and ability level our players have.
We're not trying to insult anybody, particularly at the top
of our football team. We're fortunate to have fantastic football players,

(01:52:27):
and we're going to treat him as such.

Speaker 2 (01:52:33):
In terms of expections.

Speaker 10 (01:52:38):
Trey, Yeah, Tray, super passionate, makes It's exactly what makes
him a great football player. And he is super engaged
and and we're cognizant. He's been a great signing for us.
We've been a great fit for him. He's been a
great fit for us. We would like to extend that.

Speaker 6 (01:52:55):
We would like to keep him not only happy, but
with us on on a longer term basis.

Speaker 10 (01:53:01):
And we're gonna talk. You know, he's under contract right now,
and we're gonna talk as the off season goes and
hopefully come up to come come up to an agreement
that everyone's acceptable of.

Speaker 6 (01:53:13):
You know, But are we there yet? We're not there yet.

Speaker 4 (01:53:16):
Duke Tobin earlier today, More reaction tomorrow also on the
show plus Paul Dayner Junior. We have a UC offensive lineman,
Kevin Gerhart. He joins us at four thirty three. Sam
Brookhouse from Summer Sports from the NFL combine in the
three o'clock hour, Chris Whittingham calling FC Cincinnati this weekend.
He joins us from Apple TV. Rick Buring on the
show as well at three forty five. Reaction to UC

(01:53:39):
Baylor and so much more, We are done. Show is over.
The NKU Coaches Show with the aforementioned Rick Brooring is
next on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports Station.

Speaker 1 (01:54:12):
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