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Bengals Booth Podcast: Who Stays And Who Goes · Bengals Booth Podcast

0:03
Speaker 1: Hi, get everybody. I'm Dan Horde and thanks for downloading
0:06
Speaker 1: the Bengals Booth podcast. The Who Stays and Who Goes?
0:10
Speaker 1: Edition coming up, My broadcast partner Dave Lapham joins me
0:14
Speaker 1: to discuss free agency, or specifically, on this edition of
0:17
Speaker 1: the podcast, the Bengals internal free agents, guys whose contracts
0:23
Speaker 1: are up, like Darquez, Denard, Tyler Eifert, C. J Uzama,
0:27
Speaker 1: and others. Will discuss the players that we think are
0:30
Speaker 1: the most likely and least likely to return. Plus we'll
0:34
Speaker 1: also discuss some key players going into the final year
0:38
Speaker 1: of their contracts and the likelihood that the Bengals signed
0:41
Speaker 1: them to extensions before the start of the season, most
0:45
Speaker 1: notably A. J. Greene and Tyler Boyd. And in this
0:48
Speaker 1: week's fun Facts interview, you'll get to know the Bengals
0:51
Speaker 1: Director of Player Personnel, Duke Tobin. Among other things, we'll
0:55
Speaker 1: look back at his memories of hanging around his dad's
0:59
Speaker 1: super old champion Chicago Bears, and we'll discuss Duke's career
1:04
Speaker 1: as a college and arena league quarterback. All of that
1:08
Speaker 1: is straight ahead, but first, here's a quick reminder that
1:10
Speaker 1: you can have the latest edition of this podcast delivered
1:14
Speaker 1: right to your phone, tablet, or computer by subscribing on iTunes, Stitcher,
1:19
Speaker 1: Google Play, or pod Bean. It's the greatest invention since
1:26
Speaker 1: the little indicator on the dashboard that shows what side
1:29
Speaker 1: of the car the gas tank is on. I rent
1:33
Speaker 1: cars on my travels quite a bit, and I always
1:35
Speaker 1: try to save a few bucks by refilling the tank
1:38
Speaker 1: before returning the car. It used to be a pain
1:41
Speaker 1: in the butt to pull up to the pump, get
1:43
Speaker 1: out of the car, only to discover that the tank
1:47
Speaker 1: was on the opposite side. Now you look at that
1:50
Speaker 1: little indicator and always pull up on the proper side.
1:54
Speaker 1: A simple but brilliant innovation. Time to talk football. The
1:59
Speaker 1: Bank Goals announced on Friday that they have extended tender
2:02
Speaker 1: offers to five players whose contracts expire next Wednesday, when
2:07
Speaker 1: NFL free agency begins. The most interesting move involved offensive
2:12
Speaker 1: lineman Trey Hopkins, who received a second round tender and
2:15
Speaker 1: thus becomes a restricted free agent. That means that Hopkins
2:19
Speaker 1: can negotiate with other teams, but the Bengals have the
2:23
Speaker 1: right to match any offer he receives. If they elect
2:26
Speaker 1: not to match the offer, the Bengals get a second
2:29
Speaker 1: round pick in this year's draft from the team that
2:32
Speaker 1: signs him. If trade does not agree to a deal
2:35
Speaker 1: with another team, he's guaranteed a big race from the Bengals.
2:39
Speaker 1: Second round tenders get good money, a one year deal
2:42
Speaker 1: for three point one one million in Hopkins case, unless
2:46
Speaker 1: he agrees to a longer deal. The Bengals also issued
2:50
Speaker 1: tenders to cornerback Tony McCray, guard Alex Redmond, defensive tackle
2:55
Speaker 1: Josh Tupo, and safety Brandon Wilson. That means the Bengals
2:59
Speaker 1: retain their exclusive rights for the upcoming season. Now time
3:03
Speaker 1: to bring him. My broadcast partner Dave lapham Lap. The
3:07
Speaker 1: topic for this podcast his free agents. They specifically the
3:10
Speaker 1: Bengals own free agents. Guys that their contracts run out,
3:14
Speaker 1: they become free agents, well, the Bengals try to bring
3:17
Speaker 1: them back. In some cases, you've got restricted free agents,
3:20
Speaker 1: and then you've got guys that aren't free agents this year,
3:23
Speaker 1: but it's coming and they may try to extend them
3:25
Speaker 1: now before they reach that point. So let's start with
3:28
Speaker 1: the guys that are unrestricted free agents, beginning with Darkques Denard.
3:32
Speaker 1: His contract ran out last year. They gave him his
3:36
Speaker 1: fifth year option as a first round draft pick made
3:38
Speaker 1: a lot of money last year, eight point five million bucks.
3:41
Speaker 1: What do you think how likely is it that he
3:44
Speaker 1: is retained. I think there's a good chance they retained
3:47
Speaker 1: Darkues Denard. I think a lot of people thought that
3:50
Speaker 1: he may get extended, but it didn't happen. I do
3:54
Speaker 1: think you know a guy that can play slot in
3:57
Speaker 1: outside like he's shown, he's very good inside. He's an
3:59
Speaker 1: excellent tackler coming out of Michigan State with Mark D'Antonio,
4:03
Speaker 1: the guy that we know a lot about. I mean,
4:04
Speaker 1: he's he's unbelievable. He doesn't mismit very many tackles at all.
4:09
Speaker 1: But the primary thing for the guy in the back
4:11
Speaker 1: end has to do is cover people, and he's shown
4:14
Speaker 1: that he can. He can do it on the inside
4:16
Speaker 1: and the outside. And I think he's a good locker
4:18
Speaker 1: room influence. And there's a lot of reasons to sign
4:21
Speaker 1: dark Ques Denard, but sometimes you know it just doesn't fit.
4:25
Speaker 1: The player wants more than than is budgeted, and you
4:29
Speaker 1: feel like you'd better spend better off to spend your
4:31
Speaker 1: money elsewhere, and those decisions are going to be made.
4:34
Speaker 1: But my mind, Darkus Denard is a guy that I
4:37
Speaker 1: would consider, you know, signing to a new contract for sure.
4:41
Speaker 1: I would imagine he is going to get close to
4:43
Speaker 1: the top of the scale for a slot corner, which
4:46
Speaker 1: isn't the kind of money that the outside guys make.
4:49
Speaker 1: And to me, that probably makes it a little easier
4:52
Speaker 1: to bring him back. I think it does, and I
4:54
Speaker 1: think too worst case scenario, a guy like darkus Denard
4:58
Speaker 1: I think could kick inside to safety, you know, because
5:01
Speaker 1: he tackles so well and he's physical that way. I mean,
5:04
Speaker 1: he'd be a very good cover guy at the safety position. Now,
5:07
Speaker 1: you don't pay safeties like you pay cover corners like
5:09
Speaker 1: you're talking about, and if you can place a lot corner,
5:12
Speaker 1: no reason to kick him inside to safety. But if
5:14
Speaker 1: you sign him to a long term deal and toward
5:19
Speaker 1: the end of it, if it's like you know what, jeez,
5:21
Speaker 1: maybe he's going to have to go inside. That's happened
5:23
Speaker 1: many times in the NFL. You don't find in the NFL.
5:25
Speaker 1: You don't find guys going the other way. You don't
5:27
Speaker 1: find him going safety getting kicked outside the corner. But
5:30
Speaker 1: toward the end you do find them periodically going from
5:33
Speaker 1: corner inside to the safety position. But it all depends
5:36
Speaker 1: how well you know stocked you are at safety. But
5:38
Speaker 1: I do think that dark Oise Denard gives you a
5:41
Speaker 1: lot of position versatility and a lot of football IQ
5:44
Speaker 1: and you know, a very tough, physical football player. The
5:48
Speaker 1: Bengals top three tight ends on the depth chart when
5:51
Speaker 1: healthy are all unrestricted free agents this year. Let's start
5:54
Speaker 1: with Tyler Eiferd. He came back last year on a
5:56
Speaker 1: heavily incentivized deal based on how healthy he could stay.
6:00
Speaker 1: Unfortunately for Tyler and the Bengals, he was not able
6:03
Speaker 1: to stay healthy. I guess he wound up making about
6:06
Speaker 1: five and a half million. He could have made eight
6:08
Speaker 1: and a half million. Does he come back to Cincinnati
6:10
Speaker 1: on a similar deal or does he go elsewhere in
6:12
Speaker 1: a similar deal? Why? I mean, I think I think
6:16
Speaker 1: it's almost going to be like hit the redo. You know,
6:18
Speaker 1: like when you're playing in your backyard and you can't
6:22
Speaker 1: decide which play which way of the place should have
6:24
Speaker 1: gone to a duover. You know, it might be a
6:27
Speaker 1: duover with the exact same structure, and I think his
6:30
Speaker 1: mindset would be the exact same. You know, there might
6:32
Speaker 1: be there were other teams that were interested in Tyler
6:34
Speaker 1: Eifford out there, and I mean he felt a sense
6:38
Speaker 1: of obligation to stay with the Bengals because you know,
6:40
Speaker 1: they've been so good to him through all of these
6:43
Speaker 1: injury issues and rehabilitations, and so I could almost see
6:48
Speaker 1: the exact same thing, bring him back again for a
6:50
Speaker 1: one year deal, highly incentivized and because man, we know
6:54
Speaker 1: Dan when he's out there, it's different. It is totally different.
6:58
Speaker 1: Every snap he took last year, they never played based defense.
7:02
Speaker 1: One time they were nickels. So you know, I mean,
7:05
Speaker 1: the Bengals offensive coaches knew when Tyler vats on the field,
7:09
Speaker 1: they knew exactly what they were facing. And he still
7:12
Speaker 1: gets favorable mismatches. He gets matchups that are you know,
7:16
Speaker 1: positive for him. So he's he's different. I mean, his
7:20
Speaker 1: injury I think was the first of the dominoes that
7:23
Speaker 1: that started a fall and really disassembled that offense. I mean,
7:27
Speaker 1: it was a shell of itself as a season unfolded.
7:29
Speaker 1: I think he was the he was the lead domino. CJ.
7:33
Speaker 1: Zama wound up being their top tight end last year,
7:36
Speaker 1: career high forty three catches for four hundred and thirty
7:38
Speaker 1: nine yards. He also played special teams. It's a late pick.
7:41
Speaker 1: So he has not made a lot of money, and
7:43
Speaker 1: this to this point of his career two and a
7:45
Speaker 1: half million dollars over four years. He's got a chance
7:47
Speaker 1: to get paid he does. And and the other thing
7:50
Speaker 1: that he did as as a former player, he played hurt.
7:53
Speaker 1: I mean at shoulder was not good and he played
7:57
Speaker 1: all but probably twelve of the sixteen games he played
8:00
Speaker 1: in pain. He played, uh, you know, sacrifice him for
8:03
Speaker 1: the better of his teammates. So I think I think
8:06
Speaker 1: everybody in the locker room looked at him, and a
8:08
Speaker 1: lot of guys told both of us during the course
8:11
Speaker 1: of your Man that dude's he's a battler man, that
8:14
Speaker 1: that's one tough guy. I mean, he's sucking it up.
8:16
Speaker 1: He's doing this, you're doing it. So I think he
8:20
Speaker 1: really got a long line of admirers based on the
8:23
Speaker 1: way he performed and how he had to perform him,
8:26
Speaker 1: you know, with respect to not being one hundred percent
8:28
Speaker 1: physically for a good part of it, and still put
8:30
Speaker 1: up the numbers he put up. So I think he's
8:33
Speaker 1: going to get paid. I agree with you. Then there's
8:35
Speaker 1: Tyler Croft, third round draft picked two years ago. He
8:38
Speaker 1: was really good as a red zone weapon. This past year,
8:40
Speaker 1: he only played in five games because because of a
8:42
Speaker 1: foot injury. I don't know if he can bring them
8:44
Speaker 1: all back. Is he the odd man out? If if
8:48
Speaker 1: C j Uzama signs and maybe Eyford decides to return.
8:52
Speaker 1: I know the thing is that you're you're always because
8:56
Speaker 1: of the Tyler Eifford injury question. You're always like, how
9:00
Speaker 1: many do I need? Do I need another one? As
9:01
Speaker 1: an insurance policy? But how much money can you spend
9:04
Speaker 1: at the tight end position? Um? You know, you can't
9:07
Speaker 1: pay all of them like their Pro bowlers, you know.
9:09
Speaker 1: So it's it's gonna be it's gonna be interesting. They're
9:12
Speaker 1: gonna have to make make some decisions there. But it
9:15
Speaker 1: is incredible that uh, that that that that room. You know,
9:19
Speaker 1: it's like somebody, you know, some terrorists dropped a bomb
9:22
Speaker 1: in that room. I mean they're all beaten up and
9:25
Speaker 1: um and Uzami. You know, even though he played, he
9:29
Speaker 1: was another one. They didn't have very many healthy bodies
9:32
Speaker 1: uh to deal with at that position group, which is
9:35
Speaker 1: a very very key position in today's NFL, particularly in
9:38
Speaker 1: this offense that Zach wants to install. Tight End's big
9:42
Speaker 1: tight end is a big factor so you have to have,
9:45
Speaker 1: you know, multiple guys that can perform um a lot
9:49
Speaker 1: of variation in their physical abilities, you know, and doing
9:52
Speaker 1: different things. So it is a very very key position
9:55
Speaker 1: for this offense. Preston Brown came to town last year
9:59
Speaker 1: on a one year, four million dollar deal, wound up
10:01
Speaker 1: playing seven games, played okay, considering he had a bad ankle.
10:05
Speaker 1: What do you think is Preston Brown come back? Yeah,
10:07
Speaker 1: that's a that's a great question. That's going to be um.
10:10
Speaker 1: You know, obviously the linebacker position was a was a
10:13
Speaker 1: real disappointment last year. It's it's almost like Murphy's law.
10:18
Speaker 1: I mean, the guy didn't miss any games in college,
10:20
Speaker 1: doesn't miss any games in the NFL, comes to Cincinnati
10:23
Speaker 1: and barely plays, misses a bunch of games when he
10:27
Speaker 1: returns to his hometown. So I mean, yeah, they've they've
10:31
Speaker 1: got they've got limited tape. I think to evaluate him
10:35
Speaker 1: on when he was healthy, he was trying to play
10:37
Speaker 1: through it through the injury, and I think it really
10:40
Speaker 1: did affect his play. Um. But but he's a he's
10:44
Speaker 1: a big body guy that runs pretty well. But you
10:47
Speaker 1: know they're going to go in other other directions, other
10:50
Speaker 1: areas at the linebacker position. His his is a difficult one.
10:53
Speaker 1: I think for this uh, for this new coaching staff
10:55
Speaker 1: to evaluate, that's going to be an interesting one. Let's
10:58
Speaker 1: go to the O line. Bobby Heart started every game
11:01
Speaker 1: a right tackle, didn't get particularly rave reviews from Pro
11:06
Speaker 1: Football Focus and others. Is he on this roster next year?
11:10
Speaker 1: I don't think so. You know, I think that I
11:13
Speaker 1: do think that that Bobby Hart gave everything he had
11:16
Speaker 1: to give. Bobby Hart maximize his abilities, and Frank Pollock
11:21
Speaker 1: helped him maximize his abilities. But I think, but man,
11:26
Speaker 1: you have to line somebody up out there at the
11:27
Speaker 1: tackle position. I mean, how many can you draft that?
11:31
Speaker 1: That's one area and free agency that you got to think, Man,
11:34
Speaker 1: if there's an and there's never any good ones out there,
11:38
Speaker 1: you know, it's always a guy just hanging on at
11:41
Speaker 1: the tail end of his career, whatever the case may be,
11:43
Speaker 1: that's out there in free agency. I mean, Andrew Worth
11:46
Speaker 1: was such a such an anomaly for him to be
11:48
Speaker 1: out there for the Rams to jump on, and they did.
11:51
Speaker 1: There's no question about it that that doesn't happen very often.
11:54
Speaker 1: A Pro Bowl caliber offensive tackle out there in free
11:57
Speaker 1: agency that you can gobble up. But man, if they
12:00
Speaker 1: can find some kind of you know, a guy in
12:02
Speaker 1: his seventh year, you know, it's still has some years
12:05
Speaker 1: left and could be a real leader of the group
12:07
Speaker 1: and stabilized, you know, the outside at that tackle position,
12:11
Speaker 1: because you know, it stands to reason that a way
12:14
Speaker 1: here and Fisher probably won't be back. So, you know,
12:18
Speaker 1: because of that reason, I guess you can't eliminate Bobby Hart,
12:22
Speaker 1: but I'm sure if they could go in another direction,
12:24
Speaker 1: they probably would. There are some restricted free agents. The
12:28
Speaker 1: most intriguing name to me, Trey Hopkins, only made half
12:32
Speaker 1: a million last year, played well. One called upon to
12:36
Speaker 1: fill in its center. He did. You know, I think
12:38
Speaker 1: that you know, center might be his best position. It
12:41
Speaker 1: really is. With those long arms. We talked about the
12:43
Speaker 1: advantage that a long arms center has at nauseum, but
12:47
Speaker 1: it is it is a point, you know, a simple
12:49
Speaker 1: thing is extending the ball out so the defensive guys
12:51
Speaker 1: and this should not under your grill and you have
12:53
Speaker 1: a little bit of separation there before you know, at
12:56
Speaker 1: the line of scrims to snap it. But he's smart,
13:00
Speaker 1: not incredibly gifted athletically, obviously, or he would have been
13:05
Speaker 1: drafted higher and probably would have played sooner and all
13:08
Speaker 1: those sort of things. But when you get him in
13:10
Speaker 1: a game, he plays, he doesn't he doesn't hurt you.
13:14
Speaker 1: So it would not surprise me if they bring him
13:18
Speaker 1: back because he does have position versatility. I stink with
13:22
Speaker 1: his long arms, he could be an emergency tackle for
13:24
Speaker 1: you as well. But he's shown he can play guard,
13:26
Speaker 1: he's shown he can play center. Is he going to
13:29
Speaker 1: light it up and be a Pro Bowl candidate? No,
13:32
Speaker 1: but you know not everybody's going to be in the
13:34
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl. All right, Let's talk about a couple of
13:37
Speaker 1: guys that aren't free agents to be. They're still less
13:40
Speaker 1: signed through the coming year. Two wide receivers, starting with
13:44
Speaker 1: Tyler Boyd. Final year of his four year rookie deal
13:47
Speaker 1: coming up. He was not a first round draft pick,
13:49
Speaker 1: so they don't have the fifth year option. It's been
13:51
Speaker 1: a bargain. He'll make a nine hundred eighty thou approximately
13:55
Speaker 1: this year. Did they try to extend him before this season?
14:00
Speaker 1: And begins pay the man? Got to pay the man.
14:04
Speaker 1: He's he's earned it. Yeah. I think he's gonna try
14:06
Speaker 1: to extend them. Um, you know, in my mind, what's
14:10
Speaker 1: the priority? Deniard first, Boyd's second, other way around. You know,
14:15
Speaker 1: I think whichever whichever agent comes to the table most realistic.
14:19
Speaker 1: You know, I I'd pursue both of them almost on
14:22
Speaker 1: a simultaneous basis, and tell both representatives money's on the table,
14:27
Speaker 1: who wants it now? Boyd is signed through this year,
14:30
Speaker 1: whereas Denard you'd have to sign him to bring him back, right,
14:33
Speaker 1: That's true. So and I would. I'd probably have separate
14:37
Speaker 1: pots a little bit, but it would still be coming
14:40
Speaker 1: out of that overall, kittie, you know, So I'd i'd basically,
14:44
Speaker 1: you know, try to try to stimulate Boyd's agent too.
14:48
Speaker 1: Obviously he's going to say, look, you know if he
14:50
Speaker 1: plays this year out, you guys won't be able to
14:52
Speaker 1: afford him. Well, you know, it's going to be interesting
14:55
Speaker 1: how that, how that negotiation U unfolds. I think he's
14:59
Speaker 1: going to be unbelievable fit for this offense as well.
15:02
Speaker 1: I think he's gonna eat it up. And because he does.
15:07
Speaker 1: He does two things well, he catches the football and
15:12
Speaker 1: he's tough. So in a crowd, I mean Andy Dalton
15:16
Speaker 1: will he's open when he's covered because he knows he'll
15:19
Speaker 1: fight for the football He's not gonna you know, he's
15:22
Speaker 1: not gonna let the other guy come down with it
15:24
Speaker 1: if it's a fifty fifty proposition. He's very physical, tremendous
15:29
Speaker 1: route runner, has a real sense for finding openings in defense.
15:32
Speaker 1: Haven't played the quarterback position. He's he's the real deal.
15:35
Speaker 1: He's a legitimate guy. But in my mind, you know, speed,
15:39
Speaker 1: all that stuff's important, But can he catch it? And
15:42
Speaker 1: is he tough? He checks both those boxes big time.
15:46
Speaker 1: Then there's a j Green turns thirty one in July.
15:49
Speaker 1: He's already received two hefty contracts from the Bengals. His
15:53
Speaker 1: four year, sixty million dollar deal runs out at the
15:55
Speaker 1: end of this year. Arguably the best player in franchise history.
16:00
Speaker 1: He's right up there with Anthony Munio's. He's got a
16:02
Speaker 1: third contract coming from Cincinnati. You would think he would,
16:05
Speaker 1: I mean, not only for what he's done on the field,
16:08
Speaker 1: but the way he's comported himself off the field. The
16:11
Speaker 1: guy has been a franchise dream, you know, he really has.
16:14
Speaker 1: I mean, I think that probably every owner, general manager,
16:21
Speaker 1: head coach would like to say, here's here's an example
16:25
Speaker 1: of how to handle yourself as a as a professional
16:29
Speaker 1: in the National Football League. This guy's got all kinds
16:32
Speaker 1: of talent um. I mean, look at look at Antonio
16:35
Speaker 1: Brown and Levi and Bell. Look what happened in Pittsburgh.
16:37
Speaker 1: I mean, and the just the antithesis of that is
16:42
Speaker 1: aj Green. It's it's incredible. So he has he has
16:46
Speaker 1: that type of skill set that those guys have. He
16:48
Speaker 1: has the unbelievable like wow factor. I mean, he makes
16:52
Speaker 1: as we've seen all the years in training camp, ractice
16:54
Speaker 1: in the players say he makes catches every week. That's
16:57
Speaker 1: like what so, I mean, he hasn't any diminishing physical
17:03
Speaker 1: skill sets. You know, you can still run, jump, do
17:07
Speaker 1: everything he's done. Has been hurt though two out of
17:09
Speaker 1: the last three years. Yeah, he has had a little
17:11
Speaker 1: bit of an injury bugaboo. I don't know, maybe maybe
17:13
Speaker 1: some of it, maybe you maybe you structure it to
17:17
Speaker 1: try to try to cover yourself that way. But with
17:20
Speaker 1: a guy his caliber, that's awful tough to do. I mean,
17:23
Speaker 1: that's very, very tough to do. But yeah, he's a
17:26
Speaker 1: guy that. I mean, when Anthony Munios was holding out
17:31
Speaker 1: all of us, like what the hell they're not going
17:34
Speaker 1: to sign him? Well, how the hell are we going
17:35
Speaker 1: to sign a contract. Nobody can do anything more than
17:38
Speaker 1: he's done for this football team on and off the
17:40
Speaker 1: football field. My god. And I think that's how players
17:43
Speaker 1: would feel. You know, if a J. Green got into
17:46
Speaker 1: a contentious situation, my god, they're not going to sign him.
17:49
Speaker 1: Who are they going to sign? Yeah? I guess the
17:51
Speaker 1: question is in his case, do you get it done
17:54
Speaker 1: before this year as you did the last time he
17:57
Speaker 1: was up, or do you say, you know what, let's
17:59
Speaker 1: let this one play out. See if he's healthy still,
18:02
Speaker 1: See if he's still the aj that he's been, and
18:04
Speaker 1: if so, open the vault and pay I'm the going rate. Yeah,
18:08
Speaker 1: that that could be the way, depending. I think it's
18:12
Speaker 1: all pieces of the puzzle that will you'll put into
18:15
Speaker 1: into the bigger puzzle as it happens. I mean, I
18:18
Speaker 1: think it's all going to be all right, Well, here's
18:20
Speaker 1: here's stuff that's out there. If somebody bites and jumps
18:24
Speaker 1: on it, okay, we'll move that piece. And now we
18:26
Speaker 1: have to adjust these. There's not as much for this
18:28
Speaker 1: and much for that anymore because he took his so
18:32
Speaker 1: there is a little bit of pressure like, m Okay,
18:36
Speaker 1: do I take take this opportunity and maximize this or
18:39
Speaker 1: do I say I'm going to play it out and um,
18:43
Speaker 1: you know, because I mean it takes two to tango.
18:45
Speaker 1: The organization, you know, has has a number, the agent
18:49
Speaker 1: has a number. And if the agent says, let's play
18:51
Speaker 1: it out, I mean it could could work either way.
18:54
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it is. It's a total roll of
18:56
Speaker 1: the dice. But when you're doing salary, you have a
18:59
Speaker 1: salary cap to work with. You're trying to figure it
19:01
Speaker 1: all out. It's it's like a moving target, you know.
19:04
Speaker 1: It's it's whoever steps up and come to the comes
19:06
Speaker 1: to the plate first, and then you adjust accordingly. Before
19:10
Speaker 1: we wrap it up, congratulations are in order for Aj
19:13
Speaker 1: and Miranda Green on the birth of their second son,
19:16
Speaker 1: Gunner Blaze Green. Is that kid going to be an athlete?
19:21
Speaker 1: About that? It's got a great name, Gunner Blaze Green. Wow. Yeah,
19:27
Speaker 1: I'm just like with his first son, I want to
19:30
Speaker 1: sign up first to be representative of that young man
19:32
Speaker 1: because I'm sure he'll be He'll be as physically gifted
19:35
Speaker 1: as as as possible. That's great. What a great family
19:39
Speaker 1: that really is. I mean, AJ Green, you know they
19:42
Speaker 1: throw around that term pros pro. This guy Webster's Dictionary.
19:46
Speaker 1: If that term pros pros in there his pictures right
19:49
Speaker 1: there man, Thanks Lap, there will be tons of NFL
19:53
Speaker 1: news next week. Teams are allowed to negotiate with the
19:56
Speaker 1: agents of upcoming unrestricted free agents from Monday to Wednesday.
20:01
Speaker 1: Then at four o'clock on Wednesday, March thirteenth, the new
20:04
Speaker 1: league year officially begins. That's when last year's contracts expire,
20:10
Speaker 1: the trading period officially open, so trades we've heard about
20:14
Speaker 1: in recent days don't become official until then, and free
20:18
Speaker 1: agents can officially sign new contracts. Now. Time for this
20:22
Speaker 1: week's edition of fun Facts, and my guest is Duke Tobin,
20:26
Speaker 1: a member of the Bengals front office since nineteen ninety
20:29
Speaker 1: nine and one of the most important people in the organization.
20:32
Speaker 1: He oversees the draft, plays a key role in trades
20:36
Speaker 1: and free agency, and took part in the hiring process
20:40
Speaker 1: of new head coach Zach Taylor. Got for some fun
20:43
Speaker 1: facts for the Bengals Director of Player Personnel, Duke Tobin.
20:46
Speaker 1: And Duke, for those who don't know, your dad is
20:48
Speaker 1: a former NFL GM your uncle, Vince is a former
20:52
Speaker 1: NFL head coach, So you've been around the game your
20:54
Speaker 1: whole life as a kid, Did your dad let you
20:57
Speaker 1: hang around his teams? Oh? Absolutely, It's really all I
21:00
Speaker 1: did other than playing sports myself. And then when I
21:03
Speaker 1: had free time, I'd be up at Hollis Hall or
21:06
Speaker 1: being a ball boy, or work in security, or pulling
21:09
Speaker 1: the nuts at the games, or just hanging around the
21:11
Speaker 1: locker room. So yeah, I grew up around pro football
21:14
Speaker 1: and that's really all I've ever known. Did you realize
21:17
Speaker 1: as a kid how lucky you were? Well, I don't
21:20
Speaker 1: think you ever realized. I don't think any kid ever
21:22
Speaker 1: realizes how lucky they are. It was just standard. It
21:27
Speaker 1: was part of life. It was it was every day
21:30
Speaker 1: for me, and so no, you don't as a kid
21:33
Speaker 1: reflect on how lucky you are really ever. We're doing
21:36
Speaker 1: fun facts with Duke Tobin. Your dad was largely responsible
21:39
Speaker 1: for building one of the greatest and most colorful teams
21:42
Speaker 1: in NFL history, the nineteen eighty five Chicago Bears. We're
21:45
Speaker 1: talking to Walter Payton, the Fridge, Jim McMahon, Mike did etc.
21:49
Speaker 1: You were fifteen at the time. What are your memories
21:52
Speaker 1: of that team. I've got great memories of that team.
21:55
Speaker 1: They had. They had ability, they had character, they were
22:00
Speaker 1: they enjoyed the game. Uh, they were a team, they
22:03
Speaker 1: enjoyed each other, they had fun. It was more than
22:07
Speaker 1: a job. It was their lifestyle. And when I look
22:10
Speaker 1: at players today, those are the players I compare them to.
22:13
Speaker 1: Those are the guys I'm always trying to find. And
22:15
Speaker 1: you know, Walter Payton be in the number one, you
22:17
Speaker 1: know that's uh, when you're great a guy that's kind
22:20
Speaker 1: of the high end of the scale, and then how
22:22
Speaker 1: good is he compared to And a lot of those
22:25
Speaker 1: bears of the of the eighties or guys that that
22:28
Speaker 1: kind of shaped my opinion of what a football player
22:30
Speaker 1: should be. Where did you watch that Super Bowl? I
22:33
Speaker 1: was on the field. It was exciting. It was I
22:39
Speaker 1: would say nerve wracking, but it really wasn't because you
22:42
Speaker 1: felt like there was wasn't anything that could stop that team.
22:46
Speaker 1: It just had had a chemistry and a uniqueness to
22:48
Speaker 1: it that it was gonna happen, and I think the
22:51
Speaker 1: players players felt it, and certainly all the support staff
22:55
Speaker 1: felt it. We're doing fun facts for the Bengals Director
22:57
Speaker 1: of player Personnel Duke Tobin. Duke, you are a fine
23:00
Speaker 1: athlete in your own right and went on to be
23:02
Speaker 1: a college football quarterback. I found an old Chicago Tribune
23:05
Speaker 1: storing about you from your high school days. The headline
23:08
Speaker 1: was Tobin in relatively good shape, which sounds like it
23:12
Speaker 1: could be about you now, but it was actually kind
23:14
Speaker 1: of a play on the fact that you had these
23:16
Speaker 1: family ties. The article said that your dining room table
23:20
Speaker 1: was covered with brochures and letters from college teams. Did
23:23
Speaker 1: you enjoy the attention, Well, I think any young guy
23:27
Speaker 1: enjoys the attention. We had a successful team, and the
23:33
Speaker 1: high school football experience is still by far the best
23:35
Speaker 1: football experience I've ever had, and I think for most
23:38
Speaker 1: people that's that's true. The recruiting experience was a little
23:42
Speaker 1: bit nerve racking, a little bit stressful. I was fortunate
23:46
Speaker 1: to have a choice of a lot of places to
23:48
Speaker 1: go to, and you know, I tried to make the
23:52
Speaker 1: most of it and tried to make the best decisions
23:55
Speaker 1: for me, and I had a lot of good help too.
23:58
Speaker 1: So you started out close to home, Illinois, playing football
24:01
Speaker 1: and baseball, and the starting quarterback when you got there
24:04
Speaker 1: with Jeff George. You went on to be the number
24:06
Speaker 1: one overall pick in the NFL draft. You evaluate talent
24:09
Speaker 1: now for a living strictly in terms of armed talent,
24:13
Speaker 1: How good was Jeff George? Well, he was really good.
24:16
Speaker 1: It's humbling throwing next to a guy like that because
24:18
Speaker 1: it shows all your deficits pretty quick. And so when
24:24
Speaker 1: I showed up there, it was he was a little
24:27
Speaker 1: bit on inspiring to watch how the ball came out
24:29
Speaker 1: of his hand. One of the strongest arms, quickest releases
24:32
Speaker 1: that you can see and that I've ever seen. And
24:36
Speaker 1: I was fortunate to be on some good college teams,
24:38
Speaker 1: and I think for my job right now, that kind
24:41
Speaker 1: of helped me in shape. You know what I look
24:44
Speaker 1: for and what a good college player is because those
24:48
Speaker 1: Illinois teams were good. And then when I went to Colorado,
24:51
Speaker 1: we had some very fine teams there and a lot
24:53
Speaker 1: of very good players that played in the NFL. You
24:55
Speaker 1: finished your college career with two years at Colorado, and
24:58
Speaker 1: the quarterback there when you got to Colorado is Cordell Stewart.
25:02
Speaker 1: Not the arm talent of Jeff George, but another guy
25:05
Speaker 1: that had practiced. It was probably kind of intimidating seeing
25:07
Speaker 1: slash his athletic ability. Yeah, and I wouldn't underestimate his
25:11
Speaker 1: arm strength either. He had a strong arm and could
25:15
Speaker 1: throw it a long way, a different style quarterback than Jeff.
25:18
Speaker 1: Jeff wasn't mobile at all, but Cordell could really run
25:20
Speaker 1: and make plays when things broke down. Things broke down
25:23
Speaker 1: a lot, and so he had to do that. Whether
25:26
Speaker 1: it broke down because of what he was doing or
25:27
Speaker 1: what the rest of the offense was doing is probably
25:31
Speaker 1: is probably a pick him. But the other guy we
25:34
Speaker 1: had there was Vance Joseph, and Vance didn't have a
25:37
Speaker 1: weak army either. Vance could really sling it too. So
25:40
Speaker 1: it made a lot of good connections there, and I
25:42
Speaker 1: have a lot of good friends from those days. Duke.
25:44
Speaker 1: You did get to start a game at Colorado when
25:47
Speaker 1: Cordell was injured. What are your memories of that day? Well,
25:50
Speaker 1: the better game for me was the game leading into that,
25:52
Speaker 1: the Baylor game. I was able to come in and
25:55
Speaker 1: had some success down in Waco, and then the start
25:58
Speaker 1: didn't go the way it should of, at least the
26:00
Speaker 1: way that I wanted it to, and uh, you know,
26:03
Speaker 1: we ended up winning the game at the end, but
26:06
Speaker 1: that was up in Minneapolis. Probably not my finest hour,
26:09
Speaker 1: but oh you move on and move forward, and that
26:13
Speaker 1: probably galvanized me in a lot of ways, so probably
26:17
Speaker 1: grateful for it. Playing football wasn't finished after college. You
26:21
Speaker 1: went to a play in the Arena League for a
26:23
Speaker 1: couple of years with the Orlando Predators in the Memphis Pharaohs.
26:27
Speaker 1: Did you make any money playing Arena League football? Uh?
26:31
Speaker 1: You know, for a guy just out of college, any money,
26:34
Speaker 1: it seems like a lot of money. And so yeah,
26:36
Speaker 1: we we We made a little bit and they put
26:38
Speaker 1: us up. They give us a place to live and
26:41
Speaker 1: room and board and you know, an automobile to drive,
26:45
Speaker 1: and so there were some positives to it. We had
26:47
Speaker 1: a good team there as well. And I think a
26:50
Speaker 1: lot of college football players don't want to admit that
26:53
Speaker 1: it's that it's over. I probably fell into that bucket
26:56
Speaker 1: and said, hey, why not give it another year or two,
27:00
Speaker 1: ended up getting hurt and it wasn't worth giving your
27:05
Speaker 1: knee ligament for it for sure, and started scouting soon
27:08
Speaker 1: after that I realized where my lot was. A couple
27:11
Speaker 1: more fun facts with the Bengals Director of Player Personnel
27:14
Speaker 1: Duke Tobin. Let's go inside the Bengals war room, so
27:17
Speaker 1: to speak. On draft Day, who is the most animated
27:20
Speaker 1: person that weekend? I like to think we're all pretty
27:25
Speaker 1: common collected. Probably the most animated person is whoever is
27:29
Speaker 1: the position coach for the position that we're talking about
27:32
Speaker 1: at that given moment. But we try to stay level
27:35
Speaker 1: headed and calm. We try to get all of the
27:38
Speaker 1: discussions out of the way in the weeks leading up
27:43
Speaker 1: to the draft, so that there aren't a lot of
27:44
Speaker 1: animated discussions. We kind of know where we're heading, and
27:48
Speaker 1: if there were differences, we try to cross those bridge
27:51
Speaker 1: those differences prior to that moment in there. So a
27:54
Speaker 1: lot of it is fans would be very shocked. It's
27:58
Speaker 1: people sitting around and you know, reading their iPads and
28:01
Speaker 1: watching TV and watching the clock tick away and crossing
28:05
Speaker 1: off names and so it's a it's a pretty common
28:09
Speaker 1: room for the most part. You alluded to this earlier.
28:11
Speaker 1: There are a lot of folks out there that make
28:13
Speaker 1: mock drafts. It is a cottage industry for people to
28:17
Speaker 1: people that know what you do for a living try
28:20
Speaker 1: to get insight for their own mock draft. I don't
28:24
Speaker 1: believe so, I don't. I don't get questions that way.
28:27
Speaker 1: I think that people are interested in what we feel
28:31
Speaker 1: and how we look at players, and we do try
28:33
Speaker 1: to have some events as the year goes on and
28:36
Speaker 1: as the draft approaches, we have some events for sponsors
28:40
Speaker 1: and suite holders and season ticket holders and so forth
28:43
Speaker 1: that we try to give them an insight into what
28:45
Speaker 1: we do and how we do it. And we even
28:48
Speaker 1: put on some film and to say, hey, this is
28:50
Speaker 1: what we like in a player and this is what
28:52
Speaker 1: we don't like in a player. So we do try
28:53
Speaker 1: to explain the process two important people and business partners.
28:57
Speaker 1: But I don't get a lot of us from people
29:00
Speaker 1: trying to put together mock drafts. No, all right, you're
29:03
Speaker 1: off the hot seat. Thanks for the time. That's going
29:06
Speaker 1: to do it for this episode of the podcast. If
29:08
Speaker 1: you haven't done so already, don't forget to subscribe on iTunes, stitch,
29:12
Speaker 1: your google Play, or pod Bean, and if you have
29:15
Speaker 1: a minute, give it a rating or leave a comment.
29:18
Speaker 1: Your feedback is always appreciated, and five star ratings help
29:21
Speaker 1: more Bengals fans find this podcast. I'm Dan Horde, and
29:25
Speaker 1: thank you for listening to The Bengals Booth Podcast.