Bengals The Bengals have a crowded secondary after retaining S Vonn Bell and adding S Geno Stone during this free agency. Cincinnati HC Zac Taylor mentioned DB Daxton Hill will move to cornerback after spending his first two seasons as a safety. “We’ve seen it from him and we think it’s the best opportunity right now to help our team,” Taylor said, via Kelsey Conway of The Cincinnati Enquirer. “One of the reasons you took him was because of all the various things you’d seen on tape from him. He’s a superb athlete, he’s got great size, and he did a good amount of coverage at Michigan, playing i ..read more

Bengals 2024 second-round DT Jer’Zhan Newton was sliding in the draft which caused teams to call and inquire about moving up to grab him. The Bengals had immense interest, but the asking price surpassed what they were willing to give up. “In order to get him, they had to wait 10 excruciating picks after Braden Fiske became the fourth D-Tackle to go in five selections. The guy they coveted, Illinois’ Johhny Newton, was too far to go get and was gone by the fourth pick of the day at No. 36,” Geoff Hobson of the team’s website said. Ravens Ravens GM Eric DeCosta is “extremely excited” about WR Ra ..read more

Undrafted free agency is an important part of the team-building process. From a pure numbers perspective, the NFL has to rely on undrafted free agents to compromise somewhere between a quarter and a third of all active players — not even counting practice squads. There were 257 players drafted last month and at least that many, probably more than 300, will be signed as undrafted free agents.  That makes undrafted free agency a potentially important source of talent. Ninety percent of these players will be cut and wash out of the NFL in a few years. But there will be a couple dozen who sti ..read more

Bengals The Bengals selected 2024 first-round OT Amarius Mims on Thursday and he received criticism from former Alabama HC Nick Saban about his consistency at the collegiate level. Mims shrugged off the comments and reiterated his excitement of being a Bengal. “Everybody has their own opinions of me,” Mims said, via ESPN’s Ben Baby. “I don’t really care about what he said or what he had to say, honestly. I’m just glad to be a Cincinnati Bengal. I got a lot of respect for Coach Saban, even when he said that. He’s one of the greatest college head coaches. It is what it is.” Ravens Following the ..read more

Bengals The Bengals reinforced their receiving corps with WR Jermaine Burton in the third round. Bengals HC Zac Taylor raved about all the different things they saw Burton do well that made him stand out on their board.  “You can see him run all sorts of routes from all positions,” he said via the Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. “You see him make contested plays down the field. You see him run away from people down the field. You see no drops on tape this year. You didn’t see a single one. And you saw run after the catch. You saw great scramble awareness, getting in phase with the quarterback ..read more

Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Bengals franchise WR Tee Higgins was initially looking for a similar contract to the three-year, $70 million deal the Colts gave WR Michael Pittman this offseason. Pittman’s deal will pay him an annual average salary of $23 million. According to Conway, the Bengals never approached the $20 million per year range for Higgins in their contract talks. Conway says that due to the Bengals’ original offer, the two sides never advanced in contract talks. Higgins later requested a trade out of Cincinnati. However, the team has maintained that they ..read more

Bengals Bengals HC Zac Taylor took DE Trey Hendrickson‘s trade request in stride and said he anticipated the veteran being on the team this season: “You let Trey voice his concerns. I’m listening. I’ve got an open ear to him. I love Trey. I’ve told Trey that. We want Trey to play here next year for us. He’s gonna play here next year for us. He’s gonna have success, and we’re gonna have success and I’m excited for that.” (Paul Dehner Jr.) Browns Browns third-round G Zak Zinter said he’s fully recovered from his leg injury last season at Michigan: “I’m great. I’m ready to roll.” (Camryn Justi ..read more

Bengals Bengals director of college scouting Mike Potts believes the team is close to where they want to be. “We know we are close,” Potts said, via PFT. “We’ve got a really good roster. It’s far from perfect. There’s definitely some holes we need to fill. What our holes may be perceived as of right now are not necessarily what they could be in the future. There for sure is a sense of urgency. We think we are right on the cusp of being where we want to be. We’ve got 10 picks. We’ve got flexibility. If there’s certain guys that we really target and really covet and think can get us over that hu ..read more

Bengals ESPN’s Dan Graziano says he’s heard to watch the Bengals for a potential trade up the board, perhaps for Alabama RT JC Latham, though a trade up would be somewhat out of character for Cincinnati.  Notre Dame OT Blake Fisher took an official visit with the Bengals. (Matt Freeman) Browns ESPN’s Jake Trotter believes the Browns could look to take a receiver in the upcoming draft because of question marks about WRs Elijah Moore and Cedric Tillman and the age of WR Amari Cooper.  Notre Dame OT Blake Fisher took an official visit with the Browns. (Matt Freeman) Ravens ESPN’s J ..read more

Adam Schefter reports that Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson has requested to be traded from Cincinnati. Schefter says that Hendrickson is looking for more long-term security than Cincinnati has been willing to offer up to this point.  Hendrickson is owed to make $15 million for the 2024 season. The Bengals are in a tough position right now with Tee Higgins also requesting a trade and a big-money extension needed for WR Ja’Marr Chase. Hendrickson, 29, was selected with the No. 103 overall pick by the Saints out of Florida Atlantic in 2017. He finished his four-year rookie contract worth $3,106 ..read more