Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals XX
[0] Duke Tobin held his normal press conference in Indianapolis before the combine.
[1] And while his presence was normal, his answers a little bit different than what we've come to expect from the Bengals de facto GM.
[2] Let's break it down.
[3] You are locked on Bengals, your daily Cincinnati Bengals podcast, part of the locked on podcast network, your team every day.
[4] What up Bengals fans and welcome to another episode of the Lockdown Bengals podcast.
[5] I'm your host Jake Lisko.
[6] He's your host James Rapine.
[7] We are Lockdown Bengals on the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day on YouTube and everywhere you get your podcasts.
[8] Everydayers know that this Duke Tobin presser was going to be interesting, that there were going to be takeaways that we were going to cover today.
[9] Welcome back to those of you that are everydayers, those of you who make us your first listen.
[10] We appreciate all of you so very much.
[11] And if you're new to the show, as the Bengals are preparing to embark on what sounds like a spendy offseason, if you listen to Duke Tobin, well, you're in the right place and you can subscribe on YouTube or anywhere you get your podcast to make sure you don't miss an episode.
[12] And there's a lot that we can talk about here today, James.
[13] We're not going to get to everything Duke Tobin had to say, but the most interesting.
[14] bits about this the highlights are reiterating some points and and clarifying i think his position on a few points that he was asked about when he talked to kelsey conway and jeff hobson in mobile alabama at the senior bowl about their intention around the bengal stars the bengal's money situation and we've got a word of the day later on in the podcast but it starts with the bengal stars and some long -term deals the bengals would like to get done yeah i thought that was The main thing for me, Jake, today is that the Bengals, you mentioned the word of the day and the word of the day we'll get to because I do agree with you.
[15] That should be the word of the day.
[16] But the thing, the theme of the day is two words, champagne problems.
[17] And that was a quote that Zach Taylor used sidebar, not on the podium.
[18] And this is going to be the Duke Tobin reaction episode mostly.
[19] Probably the only time I mentioned Zach in this episode.
[20] But that was interesting to me because he said this is champagne problems.
[21] Having Joe Burrow go out there and say, yeah, we want to pay T. Higgins and Trey Hendrickson and Jamar Chase.
[22] And having to pay Jamar Chase and T. Higgins and Trey Hendrickson.
[23] And Duke Tobin made it very, very clear from the jump when it came to T. Like, yeah, we've wanted to pay T for years.
[24] For years.
[25] I mean, that was one thing that he reiterated multiple times.
[26] So I do think that it's crystal clear, the Bengals' plan.
[27] Whether or not that plan will come together is a whole other topic, and we have plenty of time to discuss that.
[28] But as far as what they want to do and what their plan is as of now, Tuesday, February 25th, Duke Tobin made it clear.
[29] I'm in Indianapolis here at the Combine.
[30] the nice indianapolis convention center in this nice ballroom that they put together for the media and yeah this is it to me it was a message not only to the fans of course in media but to the rest of the league that's gathered here in indianapolis because you know that there are 31 other teams and at least half of those other teams would love for t higgins to get to free agency and at least 10 of them would probably make a strong push to sign him A lot of teams would love for Trey Hendrickson to be on the trade block or Jamar Chase to be on the trade block.
[31] And the Bengals made it very, very clear that they do not plan on that happening with any of these guys.
[32] And they want to keep them all long term.
[33] Yeah, it wasn't just those guys either.
[34] There was a mention of Mike Gusecki.
[35] The tone was different there.
[36] We'll get to that.
[37] But it did come up.
[38] And I found that interesting.
[39] I did find it interesting because it came up.
[40] And Duke had positive things to say about Mike Kusecki, and I do think the tone was different there.
[41] I also think the tone was actually a little bit different on Trey for a subtle reason that we'll talk about, but not significantly different.
[42] It's just that he is under contract, and so that does make his situation slightly different.
[43] He's under contract.
[44] It was his second contract, plus they had the year extension there.
[45] a different situation than T Higgins and Jamar chase.
[46] Another thing about this that I found quite interesting, a couple of points that I wanted to bring up related to what you were talking about.
[47] One, I think that a lot of things Duke said in terms of who he was speaking to, you said, you know, he's speaking to the fans.
[48] He's speaking to other NFL teams because we saw reports this week that were the rest of the NFL skeptical of the Bengals getting this stuff done.
[49] Right.
[50] So yeah, it's talking to the rest of the league.
[51] I think for sure, when you hear it from the horse's mouth and then Zach's mouth, I guess two horses here, then that's a message to the whole league, right?
[52] That is the intention.
[53] That is the plan now.
[54] Like you said, whether or not it gets done, there's a negotiation to be had.
[55] The other thing that was curious to me is, you know, Duke says, oh, we always wanted to keep T around long -term.
[56] And I understand that people probably hear that and think, you tagged him and didn't negotiate with him last year.
[57] What are you talking about?
[58] You always wanted to do it.
[59] You didn't even try last year.
[60] And that's where, Again, it's relatively subtle.
[61] He was asked what changed, and he didn't want to draw a ton of attention to it, but he mentioned that the representation changed for T. Higgins.
[62] And that came up, reaffirms everything that we've thought and what we've been talking about really since December when Joe Burrow first brought this up and the agent change stuff was in the news, something has changed there.
[63] And now there's this agenda, this clear agenda.
[64] this plan has changed whatever they did last year they realized didn't work and it spurred and you heard this with the way duke was talking about their annoyance with the way the season went it spurred this plan that we've been talking about now for it feels like a couple of months i do think that the the agent frustration element it can't be understated and here's why because i asked duke i was like because we we did so we did a little sidebar conversations after with with zach and duke where he met with the local writers you're not going to see video of this there's only audio and it was it was interesting because i asked that i was like what changed with tea and he's like what do you mean what changed with tea he was he's like i've been wanting to pay tea for years for years and uh and then it got brought up that report that they Tried to reach out the sign and made him an offer in 2022.
[65] Obviously, that didn't happen.
[66] And then last year, it went the way it did after they tagged T. I don't think anyone thought a deal was getting done then, right?
[67] But then Duke was like, we've tried to sign T multiple times.
[68] And so I think that whatever bridge was there, it was beyond the point of being on fire between David Mulligetta and the Bengals.
[69] And I don't know why.
[70] The details are kind of irrelevant.
[71] But the point is, is something was in the way there because they love tea.
[72] It's not like they didn't want to pay tea.
[73] And, you know, I think that what that looks like is quite interesting.
[74] But clearly it wasn't as simple as Joe Burrow made a comment.
[75] And now, oh, my goodness, we got to keep tea.
[76] It's a scramble drill.
[77] Like, I think that there's this is far more planned out.
[78] There's more behind it.
[79] I think he's probably the first domino and I don't even just mean franchise tag would not shock me at all.
[80] If T is the first one to get done long -term, which if I would have said that four months ago, even six months ago, eight, you know, I mean, you could go back and back and back.
[81] You'd be like, what are you talking about?
[82] You're crazy.
[83] And yet it feels like that's probably the case.
[84] I mean, Duke practically said it.
[85] He's set to hit free agency.
[86] They're incentivized to get that one done.
[87] That one is the first on the docket.
[88] The Jamar Chase deal that is coming will make him the highest paid non -quarterback in the NFL, according to Duke Tobin.
[89] Not too worried about that one getting done, I would say at this point.
[90] Trey Hendrickson, a bit more nebulous, a bit more complicated.
[91] But that agent change, while significant for the Bengals, I do want to take a second here, James, to say that...
[92] At some point, they're probably going to have to work with David Mulligata, athletes first, those kinds of structures.
[93] It doesn't feel to me like they are eager to play in those waters.
[94] Duke Tobin spending a lot of time talking about how well they've managed their cap, how they don't have all this dead money on the salary cap to deal with.
[95] And so that gives them the opportunity to extend these guys.
[96] And he would probably tell you that maintaining their flexibility and not pushing a bunch of money into future years like the Eagles have puts them in a position this year.
[97] where they have that option and they could go a number of different ways if they wanted to.
[98] And that's not wrong, but you give something up to get there and they gave up.
[99] I mean, Joe Burrow got hurt two years ago.
[100] They gave up a season to get there.
[101] And so it's not all sunshine and roses.
[102] I think they do have to get to a point where they can work with this kind of agency, this kind of representation.
[103] And while it's a positive for the Bengals, that T. Higgins decided that he would like to have an earnest effort to stay in Cincinnati and that the Bengals are now interested in getting the deal done, that there is a long -term issue there, I think, with the agent as well.
[104] And there is a whole lot more to get to here with Duke Tobin's comments.
[105] We've hardly scratched the surface.
[106] We'll continue the conversation coming up next.
[107] And Jake, I think...
[108] from a structure standpoint, I did ask him about getting creative just to try early on.
[109] And he was like, well, yeah, we got to be creative.
[110] Now, creative is relative to a degree, right?
[111] But I do think, I don't necessarily want them, just in their defense, to always do the...
[112] the guarantees in year two and year three.
[113] I don't need that.
[114] The reason they can get out of Rankin so quickly, just this bust of a free agent signing, is because of the way they structured some of them.
[115] Now, to your point, and hopefully they see this, Jamar Chase, there's no question marks, baby.
[116] He's just a dude that's about to go out there and ball out, and that's it.
[117] And I think...
[118] He's going to be the one that breaks that.
[119] Maybe T does a little bit with the guarantees in year two, but Jamar Chase is going to shatter that.
[120] And a main takeaway from today is Duke Tobin saying Jamar Chase is going to be the highest paid non -quarterback in football.
[121] Let's get it done.
[122] And the way he talked from an urgent standpoint, it was like Duke had...
[123] listened to all of the naysayers from the timing standpoint to the money standpoint to the, oh my goodness, are they going to trade here?
[124] And was responding that way.
[125] And so we'll see.
[126] The action's got to back it up.
[127] But clearly from an urgency standpoint, I do think that it sounded like it was there.
[128] Now, will it be there?
[129] That's much different.
[130] But it sounded like it was there today when Duke talked.
[131] Yeah, and the highest paid non -quarterback in the NFL for Jamar Chase, that should be obvious to everyone who has listened to this podcast, who's paying attention.
[132] The highest paid non -quarterback in the NFL right now is Justin Jefferson.
[133] So Duke isn't breaking any news there.
[134] Wide receiver is the second highest paid position in the NFL right now.
[135] The next one is Bosa, the edge rusher.
[136] The only edge rusher over 30 million is the only other player in that range with CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson.
[137] So Jamar Chase is...
[138] set to make more than justin jefferson because the cap has gone up so even if you wanted to give him the same contract as a percentage of the cap and we've talked about this a ton not going to spend too much time here it would be more than justin jefferson made last year being the 38 million dollar range now if that goes up to 40 it shouldn't be seen as surprising but it would be historic because then you're talking about touching jerry rice's number as the biggest cap adjusted contract ever And so while, again, it shouldn't be seen as a massive surprise or anything like that, it would be historic for Jamar Chase in more ways than just a simple number because the numbers will always get bigger.
[139] It's when you adjust them that I find it more interesting and historic.
[140] But the other side of this, James, is the Trey Hendrickson bit.
[141] I think we should talk about that one a little bit more as its own item.
[142] because the Bengals are still portraying a lot of confidence with T. Higgins, and I don't think Jamar Chase is a question.
[143] And the reason that we haven't seen the franchise tag is, as the Bengals reiterated today, or Tuesday, I guess, in Indianapolis, that they're working on a long -term deal.
[144] With Trey Hendrickson, they're also working on rewarding him with an extension, and Trey is doing podcasts, talking about how he wants to help the Bengals win a Super Bowl, doesn't want to be a distraction, and that's all very noble of him, and I'm sure he means it.
[145] I'm not saying that to be sarcastic, but...
[146] Duke Tobin's tenor here was just slightly different.
[147] I think there is still an intention to reward him and extend him and give him the security that he's looking for.
[148] But again, there's this emphasis from Duke Tobin that he's still under contract.
[149] And it's not just a give, it's a negotiation.
[150] And so this comes up again.
[151] And it comes up, I think, specifically for Trey when he brings up the one year left on the deal.
[152] The negotiation was a more general comment.
[153] a very subtle difference there that suggests that that one could play out a little bit differently.
[154] There wasn't that kind of urgency as to when it will get done, even though Duke would like these things to be done sooner than later.
[155] So they have a clear financial picture for free agency.
[156] My impression was since he's under contract, that one doesn't have such a big cap implication, right?
[157] So there's not as much of a rush there from their end.
[158] No doubt.
[159] No doubt.
[160] And I think that's how it should be.
[161] And also, A lot of people don't want to admit this because it's, and I get it, you're waiting for the Bengals to get these guys done, and you're eyeing that side of it.
[162] He only has so much leverage.
[163] Notice he's doing the messaging.
[164] I don't think Trey's going to demand a trade tomorrow if talks aren't where he wants them to be, like last year.
[165] It's been the opposite.
[166] It's been the, oh, well, I just want the Bengals to win.
[167] And I'm not saying he's wrong either in doing that.
[168] But the messaging is important.
[169] Just like the messaging with the Bengals today is important.
[170] Why do they want that?
[171] They've clearly heard people calling them cheap, saying that they can't get their stars, saying all these things.
[172] And so they're addressing it.
[173] Well, why is Trey saying, oh, well, I want the Bengals to win the Super Bowl?
[174] Because he wants to be the good guy here.
[175] He knows forcing his way out isn't going to work.
[176] And he's trying to say, all right, well, let's be reasonable one way or the other.
[177] And I think the Bengals want to be reasonable.
[178] there's not much Trey can do other than either play this year out unhappily or if the Bengals are making him a fair, like if they're giving him, and I'm just going to talk in average annual value numbers here, like if they're offering him $28 million per, is he just going to scoff at that even though it's a two -year extension instead of a three, let's say, all the way to August?
[179] And it would be a big raise.
[180] And I think the question then would be how much money is up front.
[181] And that's where the Bengals would have to sweeten the deal.
[182] But you know what I'm saying?
[183] So like, yeah, I would never defend the Bengals if they're offering him 21 million.
[184] Like that's dumb.
[185] Like you should never.
[186] But if they're at 28 and there's a signing bonus up front, that's going to get him a little cash in that Hendrickson bank account, baby.
[187] Get that little cash.
[188] Well then, yeah, get it done.
[189] Because yeah, you would get more on the open market.
[190] You're not on the open market.
[191] That's why the Bengals would use the tag on T on the fourth if they have to.
[192] which is one week from when we're recording now, because I can look at that.
[193] It's next Tuesday.
[194] So that's it.
[195] It gives you a little leverage in like, yeah, all right, well, we can play this out or we can get something done for both sides that makes everyone happy.
[196] And I think that's why they, not that they're slow playing, Trey, I think they would love to get it done right now.
[197] But I also understand T being a major priority.
[198] Jamar being a priority.
[199] And he also said that they can juggle all three from a negotiating standpoint.
[200] So it's not like they have to go one, then the other, then the other.
[201] So that's worth noting as well.
[202] Yeah, he called it parallel tracks.
[203] Is that the verbiage he used?
[204] It was parallel something.
[205] And he said that several times.
[206] Not quite the word of the day, though.
[207] We will get to that coming up in a few minutes.
[208] Like I said, not a big cap implication this year.
[209] And if you're the Bengals, honestly, you mentioned two years instead of three.
[210] You shouldn't be too shy about a third year.
[211] There's nothing guaranteed in third years for 99 % of NFL contracts.
[212] And if they give him a signing bonus to accelerate some cash flow to get him to sign on the dotted line, that third year is going to effectively be a team option, as most third years of contracts are in the NFL.
[213] That's just the way it works.
[214] There will be a small dead cap hit if things aren't working out at that point, and you'll be able to get out of that deal if you need to.
[215] So those sorts of things shouldn't be terrifying to the Bengals.
[216] You know, that should be something that, if that's the issue, just understand the reality of things and be flexible there, is what I would say.
[217] And I don't know if it is, by the way.
[218] I'm just, you know.
[219] But, yeah, I think it could be, Trey wants $35 million per year.
[220] Because he just led the NFL in sacks.
[221] Like, who knows?
[222] I would ask for that, by the way.
[223] Second in DPOY and, you know, just says, hey, look, look at what I did this year.
[224] I would start there.
[225] It doesn't mean that's where you end, you know?
[226] I think people would laugh at the starting points for both sides in a lot of these contract talks.
[227] Like, because it's ridiculous, but that's...
[228] That's it.
[229] Ask car dealerships that have had to deal with me and where I start versus where we end up.
[230] Really, really working on those Daewoo dealers, huh?
[231] That's the longstanding joke for every day I've heard.
[232] I'll give you $5 .99, Daewoo.
[233] There you go.
[234] I do want to talk about Mike Kasecki here just a little bit before we get to alignment.
[235] The word of the day.
[236] Spoilers.
[237] Word of the day.
[238] alignment.
[239] We're going to talk about that in just a second.
[240] You can't even align that, Daewoo.
[241] You can't even get it aligned anymore.
[242] It's so bad.
[243] Again, I want to go back to the audience's point because you're talking about Duke's talking to the league and everything.
[244] You mentioned this, and I just want to reiterate it.
[245] Duke Tobin, I think, acutely aware.
[246] of all of the criticisms going on with the front office right now and all of the skepticism around the Bengals offseason and quality of the Bengals football team.
[247] I think that he was speaking to the skeptics today, and I think that those people are unmoved.
[248] I think that those people are still echoing what Trey Hendrickson said, what was it, Ross Tucker podcast, that actions speak louder than words.
[249] And so that's what I think people are still waiting to see.
[250] So Duke's acknowledgement of what's going on with the defense, where they're at, what they have to do, the fact that it's not just paying more for the same team that they need to get better is, again, speaking to some self -awareness.
[251] And what's next is setting the stage by getting the actions done.
[252] And that's what's coming next for the Bengals.
[253] Coming up next, let's talk about that word of the day.
[254] Let's hit Mike Gusecki.
[255] Let's wrap up day one of the Combine here on Locked on Bengals.
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[268] All right.
[269] You're trying to make it a big four, Jake.
[270] You're trying to.
[271] You're trying to.
[272] You're trying to.
[273] It's a big three world.
[274] Or on this podcast, it's a big two.
[275] It's the dynamic duo.
[276] But Big Three World, you're trying to make it a quartet with Mike Gusecki.
[277] Go ahead.
[278] It just came up is all.
[279] And I was surprised because it wasn't prompted.
[280] Maybe it was prompted.
[281] It was that.
[282] He was asked about Mike Gusecki.
[283] Yes.
[284] And there was an understanding that Gusecki was a fit.
[285] There was.
[286] verbiage used to discuss the desire to bring Mike Gusecki back.
[287] There was also a corollary to that, as Duke did when he was asked about Jermaine Pratt as well, and I don't think we're going to get to Jermaine Pratt in much depth today.
[288] That's called a missed tackle.
[289] That they've been really good at bringing in tight ends that can produce.
[290] You're going to get me in trouble, man. What are you doing?
[291] Me. Take accountability for your actions.
[292] Accountability.
[293] The Bengals have been good at finding tight ends for one year.
[294] And they missed with Irv Smith, but they've gotten it right a couple of other times.
[295] And he also spent some time talking about Eric Hall and lamenting the injury there.
[296] So clearly not as high a priority, but there is at least some desire.
[297] They will explore it.
[298] I think this is going to be a more traditional Bengals thing where they have a number in mind for Gusecki.
[299] If that number is...
[300] scoffed at, that might just be it.
[301] He might just go test the market and see what he can get.
[302] It might be a Jermaine Pratt -like situation where he goes and checks out the market, and if the market isn't what the Bengals expect or what he expects and is more what the Bengals expect, then that's a scenario where you can see him come back as well.
[303] Yeah, and I think it's twofold.
[304] I think Mike Gasicki wants to get paid because he feels like he's a really good tight end and never got paid, never got that true second contract.
[305] And I think the Bengals really value him.
[306] But here in Indianapolis, we're going to be talking a lot about how good this tight end class is.
[307] And Duke said, oh, yeah, we're really good at identifying.
[308] Like, can you find someone that can give you a decent amount of that?
[309] Can you find a young guy that could come in and be your next Eric Hall?
[310] Like, there are options.
[311] So I think it's almost twofold.
[312] You'd love to have Mike Kosicki on the right number.
[313] But I don't think that number is 10 million per, right?
[314] And so I don't know what that number is, though.
[315] But I do think that the front office and that the coaching staff would be aligned in their vision of that.
[316] And Jake, that was obviously the word of the day.
[317] Much like your Daewoo, it didn't seem like Lou Anarumo and the front office were necessarily aligned over the past 18 months to two years.
[318] And alignment got brought up a ton when talking about the defense specifically, which I thought was interesting.
[319] Yeah, Duke was asked about Al Golden and how that changes the process for talent acquisition and how that impacts things.
[320] And it obviously isn't going to be a significant change.
[321] But when he was asked about Al and how that changes things, I lost track of the amount of times Duke Tobin used the word alignment.
[322] Zach Taylor echoed that when he was on the podium as well.
[323] You heard the word alignment from Zach Taylor as well.
[324] And when Duke's talking about it.
[325] And you can listen to the way that he was glowing about Dax Hill at the end of this podium.
[326] And we won't have time to dive into those comments today either, but he was effusive in his praise of Dax Hill.
[327] Yay, he was.
[328] Yay, he was.
[329] Remember back to last offseason when we thought that Dax Hill maybe was going to be the canary in the coal mine for the split between the front office and the defensive staff.
[330] The sign that there was not the alignment that you needed between the front office and having a plan for those players.
[331] And so there's this emphasis that we've heard since Al Golden was hired that everyone that is involved with a player that is going to have their hands on that player in some way, whether it's drafting, whether it's training, whether it's skills specific to the football field, whether it's scheme, needs to be aligned with what the plan is for that player.
[332] And something that I think the way it was emphasized clearly, was not up to the level where Duke Tobin wanted it to be and is perhaps part of, maybe not perhaps, certainly is a big part of the reason that Lou Anarumo is no longer with the Bengals and could be pointed to as part of the root cause of some of the defensive issues they've had in recent years.
[333] I'm going to put the sidebar conversation with Duke and Zach into audio files and tweet them out and by our next show, hopefully.
[334] And so I'll pub them.
[335] But because I'm referencing stuff that no one can find anywhere outside of quotes that you'll be able to read.
[336] But I asked Duke and this was after his entire 30 minute media availability on the podium and probably about 15 minutes into this sidebar conversation we had at a conference room down the hall.
[337] And I was like, how how important is it to.
[338] To have a vision and be.
[339] I didn't use the word aligned, but have a vision for these versatile chess piece type guys that you can draft year in and year out.
[340] And obviously Dax Hill is the previous one, but I'm thinking about the Alabama linebacker, Jihad Campbell, someone who I think a lot of people are going to talk about.
[341] He had just got asked about a linebacker question.
[342] Campbell could be a candidate for 17.
[343] Maybe he goes top 10, but certainly could be in the mix at pick 17.
[344] you're not going to just put him in the middle of your, you know, right next to Logan Wilson and do that.
[345] Like, you're going to want to move him around.
[346] And he was like, oh, well, defensive coaches love versatility because you can hide and disguise and do all these things.
[347] And I was just like, man, like, I bet they were just losing their mind that Dax Hill was not getting more run early, early on because he is versatile.
[348] Because he can do a bunch of different things.
[349] And he is an elite athlete.
[350] And so they still believe in him.
[351] And he's going into his fourth year.
[352] So I do wonder, coming off the ACL, what it's going to be like.
[353] But, yeah, I do think the alignment is big because that's how you maximize what you get.
[354] The resources you're going to use.
[355] Let's say you want a defensive tackle at 17.
[356] You want Al Golden.
[357] You want Jerry Montgomery, the defensive line.
[358] You want everybody to be like, boom, boom, boom.
[359] This is how it's going to be.
[360] with an offensive lineman at 17.
[361] And I'm going with those two positions because a lot of people want them to go trenches.
[362] Well, guess what?
[363] You want Scott Peters to feel the same way about this guy that Duke Tobin does.
[364] And you don't want there to be any eye rolling or, ah, I guess I'll get the most out of him.
[365] No, no, no, no. Everyone be in lockstep.
[366] So hopefully they can get that this year in the draft and in free agency.
[367] Alignment, word of the day.
[368] Word of the offseason.
[369] Last offseason it was communication.
[370] And we didn't see the kind of optic that was necessary by improving communication.
[371] And the reason I bring that up is because it sounds great.
[372] And if it works and everyone is aligned and they can implement their plan, then it probably does work.
[373] But talk is cheap is the reason I bring it up.
[374] So are day moves.
[375] Yep.
[376] Despite everything Duke Tobin said today that I think was what you want to hear.
[377] Again, I think you're largely hearing the kinds of things you want to hear if you're a Bengals fan.
[378] It now comes down to, okay, what happens when rubber meets road?
[379] And there are a lot of people that I saw on social media, in my replies on social media, when I had a few little quick reactions to Duke Tobin's comments that still are thinking, I don't know.
[380] I'll believe it when I see it.
[381] Or even are going so far as to say, is this Duke Tobin applying pressure to the family?
[382] And I don't see it that way.
[383] I don't think that I interpret any of the comments that way.
[384] I think that Duke is speaking knowing what his conversations have been with the family, with the Blackburns, with those that make the financial decisions and hold the wealth that runs the Bengals.
[385] I don't think it's pressure.
[386] The fact that people are going there tells you a little bit about where the mentality is in the fan base right now as far as needing to see it to believe it.
[387] And that's fair.
[388] It's fair to feel that way.
[389] That's how you should feel.
[390] And this was the first step.
[391] Now, you've noted this.
[392] These things don't get done in February.
[393] So if it was going to start to get done next week, this is what would be said.
[394] This would be the plan.
[395] All right.
[396] Words said, plan in place, stage set, go handle business.
[397] It's going to be a fun few months, Jake.
[398] Let's go.
[399] And especially the next week or two weeks, we saw the first significant.
[400] I mean, he said add to the team too.
[401] We didn't even get to this.
[402] We will.
[403] But like add to the, not just the big three, but add to the team.
[404] Maybe they just like listening to Lockdown Bengals, man. Maybe they're just like, yeah, let's just do this Jake and James plan, man. I did feel like Duke was talking to me at one point, but not agreeing with me about some of the ways they structure deals and stuff.
[405] I felt like that was directed at some of my criticisms a little bit.
[406] I'm not saying he listens to us, but that's what it felt like.
[407] Yeah, we'll see what happens next week.
[408] Next two weeks.
[409] Very interesting.
[410] He's not listening to you.
[411] You drive a Daewoo.
[412] Stop it.
[413] We saw the first deal of the offseason on Tuesday.
[414] Khalil Shakir is the first significant deal that we've seen since December.
[415] I drive a Daewoo.
[416] You drive a Benz.
[417] Let's be real here.
[418] I'm just trying to finish the show, James.
[419] Khalil Shakir.
[420] The first deal since December of any significance.
[421] So that's the first one.
[422] Let's see if some dominoes start to fall in the next couple of weeks.
[423] We will have a ton more for you from the combine this week, and that's going to do it for this episode of the lockdown Bengals podcast until next time.
[424] Thanks for listening.
[425] Who day and have a good alignment.
[426] I realize.