Around the AFCN

[Ewa PGH Fan]

The Bengals official statement isn't even on the team owned website..... They will ignore this as much as possible for as long as possible. Disgusting.

I wonder if the league will step in and suspend Jones?

 

[cincygrad]

I agree with you. I know you have to somewhat wait for the charges to play out but come on this is his 9th or 10th arrest. When is enough enough for the Bengals to FINALLY cut him?????????

I sorta hate the fact that it requires video for teams to act.... But that's been the recent standard. And now that there is video that basically proves everything the police have been saying all along, I think the Bengals need to cut him. I think the fact that they haven't released him yet shows that they either a) have no intention of getting rid of him or b) they are putting their toe in the water to see what sort of PR nightmare it might be to keep him. I think it's important to keep in mind that Pacman was abusive (verbally anyway) to police..... Like many cities, Cincinnati has some issues with community relations with the police department. I think this should weigh into the team's decision and I think it's clear they should cut him.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Has been for the last 2-3 years IMO

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Considering they were in, what, 8 games (at least) decided by single digits I wouldn't say they are in decline yet. A few of those games came down to kicking alone. So its easy to think that getting a reliable kicker could put them right back into playoff contention. It will be interesting to see how they play FA this season as they stand to lose some valuable pieces, but I think they will be in good shape. They still have a dynamic offense (when healthy), and a decent defense. If they can add a good DE & DB in the draft then they'll be set.

 

[cincygrad]

Considering they were in, what, 8 games (at least) decided by single digits I wouldn't say they are in decline yet. A few of those games came down to kicking alone. So its easy to think that getting a reliable kicker could put them right back into playoff contention. It will be interesting to see how they play FA this season as they stand to lose some valuable pieces, but I think they will be in good shape. They still have a dynamic offense (when healthy), and a decent defense. If they can add a good DE & DB in the draft then they'll be set.

To go along with this..... They were historically bad on drive that could tie or put them ahead in the 3rd and 4th quarters this year. I'd have to go back and find the source article, but their ineptitude late in games was worse than any other time in their franchise history..... And if you watched any of this team in the 90s, you'd know just how hard that must have been.

That said, while some of it is bad luck, I'm afraid some of it has to do with all the turnover...... The team lost a lot of good coaches in a short time.... And they're starting to lose a lot of their base of talent (to age and FA). If they had a healthy Eifert and Green, improvements in the running game, and a resurgenence along the line, I think they're right back in it. That's a lot of ifs though.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

To go along with this..... They were historically bad on drive that could tie or put them ahead in the 3rd and 4th quarters this year. I'd have to go back and find the source article, but their ineptitude late in games was worse than any other time in their franchise history..... And if you watched any of this team in the 90s, you'd know just how hard that must have been.

That said, while some of it is bad luck, I'm afraid some of it has to do with all the turnover...... The team lost a lot of good coaches in a short time.... And they're starting to lose a lot of their base of talent (to age and FA). If they had a healthy Eifert and Green, improvements in the running game, and a resurgenence along the line, I think they're right back in it. That's a lot of ifs though.

Particularly OCs, even though they may have kept the same basic plays, each guy has his own thumb print, it was eventually going to catch up with them. It'll be interesting to see how the young DT & CB that were lost for the season LY work out, but too much talent in CIN to repeat LY's record.

IMO BAL has a little more work to do than PIT and CIN, but it should be a dogfight for the North again next season.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

"Please don't let the Browns draft me... anyone? please?"

 

[ATL96Steeler]

"Please don't let the Browns draft me... anyone? please?"

Poor kid...he's going to CLE.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

What are your thoughts on this @blue_suns? The proposed cuts would be LB Dumervil, S Webb, CB Wright, C Zuttah, CB Arrington, and S Lewis. That would vault the Ravens' cap room from $15mil to $35mil. They could free up an additional $9mil if they cut WR Wallace & TE Watson. There are some big names out there in FA worth clearing the room for. Think about what Alshon Jeffery would do to Flacco's offense, and a quality CB like Stephon Gilmore would do to that secondary.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

$24.5mil cap number... HUZZAH!! Might be a correlation to being ranked 24th in passer rating last season lol. Would have been around $31mil had they not extended his contract last offseason. That is a ridiculous number for a QB of Flacco's caliber. Not trying to stir up a debate about the "elite" tag or what not, but simply stating that his level of compensation isn't worth the level that he is playing at. For comparison, Rodgers' cap number is at $20.3mil, Brees $19mil, Roethlisberger $18.2mil, and Brady $14mil.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

Yikes.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

My guess is somewhere between $5-10mil. But considering it was only 1 year of production & experience, basically a rookie at the position, I'd say its closer to $5-6mil. I'm sure he'll get closer $8 given the fact that there's always a team out there willing to overpay.

 

[blue_suns]

What are your thoughts on this @blue_suns? The proposed cuts would be LB Dumervil, S Webb, CB Wright, C Zuttah, CB Arrington, and S Lewis. That would vault the Ravens' cap room from $15mil to $35mil. They could free up an additional $9mil if they cut WR Wallace & TE Watson. There are some big names out there in FA worth clearing the room for. Think about what Alshon Jeffery would do to Flacco's offense, and a quality CB like Stephon Gilmore would do to that secondary.

All those guys are expendable except Wallace imo. The problem is whether the Ravens can find equal or better production in the off season. Doubt the Ravens cut all of them, but they should replace Zuttah, Watson, and Wright. Webb and Doom can be backups if they take a pay cut.

 

[FaCe-LeE-uS]

All those guys are expendable except Wallace imo. The problem is whether the Ravens can find equal or better production in the off season. Doubt the Ravens cut all of them, but they should replace Zuttah, Watson, and Wright. Webb and Doom can be backups if they take a pay cut.

The FA & draft pools are deep this offseason so replacing those players should be manageable. Ozzie should be able to work some magic with the right amount of cap space.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

All those guys are expendable except Wallace imo. The problem is whether the Ravens can find equal or better production in the off season. Doubt the Ravens cut all of them, but they should replace Zuttah, Watson, and Wright. Webb and Doom can be backups if they take a pay cut.

Not seeing the Ravens every week, but certainly enough to know this team a little bit, imo they were 8-8 because the OFC was not consistent enough. If letting these guys go frees up enough cash to re-sign Williams, the DEF can probably replace the rest of them and not see much of a drop.

Both PIT and BAL have the same problem on DEF imo...their best edge rusher is still effective but past his prime.

On OFC...they need to solidify some pieces. Wallace is expensive, but w/o SR. they need some vet experience along with his deep game....TE was stacked with bodies, somebody younger than Pitta needs to break out of the pack and be that security blanket for Joe.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

What are the top AFCN draft needs? Just 1st round thoughts.

Everyone picks before the Steelers so it's possible there could be poaching.

BAL...16th...for the 1st time in a while the Ravens could use up grades at more than one position on both sides of the ball so they could go a number of ways...Edge, CB, ILB, WR, S. They are in prime position to get an impact player. I think they will go BPA and my gut says that will be a DEF player.

CLE...1st & 12th...we all know the Browns need multiple positions, but QB is still a priority and OT was a sore spot for them as well....unless somebody knocks their socks off they are going to take (and should) the DE, Garrett from TXAM...noted by many to be the best player in this draft....the question will be do they go QB at 12 or wait until 33? Depends on the board obviously, but I think they will go QB 12 and come back for a OT at 33.

CIN...9th...2011 was the last time the Bengals had a top 10 pick and they drafted AJ Green. Clearly they need Robin (WR)on the other side of their star WR1. They should get their #1 pick from LY back so I'm not expecting them to go CB, but I can see them going Edge rusher, the kid from Stanford Thomas, or Barnett from TN are both scheme fits for them. They've spent fairly high picks on OL that have yet to yield much, but I don't see them going back to the well this early. This is where you get your plug and play players, top 10, so we'll have to see where they go with this one but the WR from W. Mich is probably getting a lot of attention from them at the combine this week.

PIT...30th...Edge, CB, ILB...we've already talked a good bit on the 2017 draft board about the Black & Gold, but I think the 30th pick is going to go on one of these 3 positions. I'm seeing mocks where edge guys are flying off the board early, and I'm seeing mocks that have 4 QBs, 2 RBs, 3 WRs, and 2 TEs go early, (i.e heavy OFC) so it's wide open in terms of what the board is going to look like at 30.

 

[Wamu]

CLE...1st & 12th...we all know the Browns need multiple positions, but QB is still a priority and OT was a sore spot for them as well....unless somebody knocks their socks off they are going to take (and should) the DE, Garrett from TXAM...noted by many to be the best player in this draft....the question will be do they go QB at 12 or wait until 33? Depends on the board obviously, but I think they will go QB 12 and come back for a OT at 33.

The Cleveland Clowns are so dumb it wouldn't surprise me if they go after Colin Kaepernick.