Bengals defensive end Cam Sample’s 2024 season is over before it started.
Head coach Zac Taylor told reporters at a Monday press conference that Sample suffered a torn Achilles in practice last Thursday.
Sample was a 2021 fourth-round pick and he’s been part of the defensive line rotation since coming to Cincinnati. He has recorded 68 tackles and five sacks in the regular season and he had seven tackles and a sack in six playoff outings.
The injury leaves the Bengals without some key depth behind Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson on the edges of their defense. Joseph Ossai and 2023 first-round pick Myles Murphy will likely be a bigger part of those plans now.
The Bengals are set to get tackle Trent Brown on the field for the first time this summer.
Brown passed his physical on Sunday and the Bengals will take him off of the non-injury list as a result. Brown went on the list when camp opened last month.
The Bengals signed Brown as a free agent this offseason. He spent the last three seasons with the Patriots and also spent the 2018 season in New England before joining the Raiders for a couple of years.
Brown is expected to be the right tackle in Cincinnati with Orlando Brown Jr. on the left side. The Bengals also have first-round pick Amarius Mims on hand this season.
The Bengals had a scare in training camp today when first-round rookie offensive tackle Amarius Mims was carted off the field, but he said afterward that he’s fine.
It was a hot day in Cincinnati and Mims indicated that leaving practice early was a precaution because of the heat, rather than an injury.
“I’ll be back tomorrow. I’m good,” Mims told reporters after practice. “The heat is the heat. I’m fine, man. I’m good.”
At 6-foot-8 and 340 pounds, Mims is one of the biggest players in the NFL, and big linemen can be particularly vulnerable to overheating during sweltering August practices. Mims took care of himself today so he’ll be good to go tomorrow.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s return to game action is likely to come next week.
The Bengals open up the preseason at home against the Buccaneers on August 10 and head coach Zac Taylor said that the current plan is for Burrow and other starters to see action in that contest.
“The first game — I’ve got targeted the first game,” Taylor said. “I’m not setting anything in stone right now, but I’m optimistic that’s where it’s trending for our team.”
A full list of who will play wasn’t outlined by Taylor, but a few first-stringers would seem to be on track to miss the game. Wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase has not practiced at all since reporting to camp and Taylor said defensive ends Sam Hubbard and Trey Hendrickson are week-to-week with injuries that have kept them off the field.
Assuming the starters do play, it may be their only action of the summer. The team has joint practices with the Bears and Colts before their other exhibition contests and that may be enough work for them to get ready for the regular season.
The Bengals’ top pass catcher and top two pass rushers all remain out of practice at training camp in Cincinnati.
Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase and defensive ends Trey Hendrickson and Sam Hubbard were all out today.
Chase hasn’t practiced since camp opened, and although he and coach Zac Taylor won’t say why, Chase wants a new contract, and Bengals owner Mike Brown doesn’t seem inclined to pay him what he’s asking for. There has been no indication that the sides are close to a resolution, so it could be a while before Chase practices.
The Bengals say Hendrickson and Hubbard are both day-to-day with minor injuries. Hendrickson requested a trade early in the offseason and appears unhappy with his contract, but coach Zac Taylor says Hendrickson had an injury on the first day of camp and will be back when he’s cleared to return.
Cincinnati’s starting defensive ends are each dealing with an injury. But according to head coach Zac Taylor, neither is looking at anything too serious.
While Sam Hubbard was carted off the field during Sunday’s practice, Taylor said in his Monday press conference that Hubbard is day-to-day.
“Just had a little issue yesterday,” Taylor said. “Obviously, it wasn’t anything significant. And so he’ll just be limited or out for a couple of days this week.”
Trey Hendrickson is similarly classified as day-to-day at this point, Taylor added.
“Trey’s been day-to-day since something that popped up Day 1 in practice — he got run into,” Taylor said. “So, we’ll just continue to take him day-to-day, too.”
Taylor elected not to disclose the exact nature of the injuries since he isn’t required to. But Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer reported Hubbard’s injury is to his knee.
Hubbard registered 6.0 sacks, with seven tackles for loss and 17 quarterback hits in 2023. Hendrickson tallied a career-high 17.5 sacks with 16 tackles for loss and 25 QB hits last season.
Two of the Bengals’ top players are not practicing in training camp.
Star wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase hasn’t practiced since camp opened, and although he and coach Zac Taylor won’t say why, Chase obviously wants to get paid a lot more money than the $1.055 million base salary he’s due this year. Bengals owner Mike Brown has indicated he doesn’t see a new contract for Chase coming any time soon. They’re at an impasse and Chase appears to be in no hurry to get on the field for a team that won’t pay him what he thinks a player of his caliber deserves.
And defensive end Trey Hendrickson has now missed three practices in a row after participating on the first day of training camp. Hendrickson requested a trade early in the offseason, but he later said he wants to play for the Bengals a long time. Hendrickson is due to make $15 million this season and $16 million next season, so he’s not as underpaid as Chase is, but he clearly thinks he deserves more. Given that he has 39.5 sacks in his three seasons with the Bengals, including a career-high 17.5 last year, it’s hard to disagree.
The team isn’t saying much publicly, and neither is either player. But no team wants its best pass catcher and its best pass rusher to be on the sideline, and that’s where the Bengals’ best pass catcher and best pass rusher are now.
Rookie tight end Erick All has been cleared to start practicing with the Bengals.
The team announced that All was activated from the non-football injury list on Sunday. All tore his ACL while playing for Iowa last October, but the Bengals still took him in the fourth round of this year’s draft.
All transferred from Michigan to Iowa last year and had 21 catches for 299 yards and three touchdowns before his injury. He also missed most of the 2022 season because of a back injury, but had 38 catches for 437 yards and two scores for the Wolverines in 2021.
Mike Gesicki, Drew Sample, and Tanner Hudson are also on the tight end depth chart in Cincinnati.
Patrick Mahomes has seen plenty of items on his cell phone device in recent days about quarterbacks from other teams making more and more and more money. Because the media has generally accepted new-money annual average as the universal currency for ranking player pay, it looks like Mahomes is woefully underpaid.
The three-time Super Bowl winner, whose worst outcome in any of his six seasons as a starter is losing in overtime of the AFC Championship, has a new-money APY of $45 million. Three quarterbacks (Joe Burrow, Trevor Lawrence, Jordan Love) are at $55 million. Five others (Tua Tagovailoa, Jared Goff, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts) are north of $50 million.
But there are other ways to look at these contracts. One way is to focus on the cash to be paid in the coming years.
And from 2023-26, as well as 2024-27, one player still leads the way in four-year cash flow. It’s Mahomes.
Here’s the four-year cash flow from 2023 through 2026, per a source with access to the numbers:
1. Mahomes: $210.6 million.
2. Lamar Jackson: $208 million.
3. Deshaun Watson: $184 million.
4. Joe Burrow: $181 million.
5. Daniel Jones:: $160 million.
6. Justin Herbert: $157 million.
7. Jalen Hurts: $157 million.
8. Kyler Murray: $153 million.
9. Josh Allen: $136 million.
10. Matthew Stafford: $121.5 million.
With recent deals included, here’s the four-year cash flow from 2024 through 2027:
1. Mahomes: $215.6 million.
2. Burrow: $213.9 million.
3. Jared Goff: $193.6 million.
4. Tua Tagovailoa: $186.1 million.
5. Jordan Love: $186 million.
6. Hurts: $184 million.
7. Herbert: $182.6 million.
8. Kirk Cousins: $180 million.
9. Jackson: $179.2 million.
10. Trevor Lawrence: $155.5 million.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the player will cash every check. Jones, for example, has little chance of making the $160 million he was due to earn from 2023 through 2026. Ditto for Cousins and his $180 million in Atlanta.
It’s still a factor. An important one. Along with other important factors, like signing bonus, full guarantee at signing, practical guarantee at signing, and the number of years until the team can activate an escape hatch from the rest of the deal.
For some reason, the media at large only ever looks at new-money APY.
Yes, Mahomes still lags on that factor. But he was due to make more than anyone from 2023 through 2026. And he’s due to make more than anyone from 2024 through 2027.
And that’s still a bargain for the Chiefs and for the NFL.
Although the Bengals are still a little cheap when it comes to spending money, they’ve become more creative when it comes to making money. They’ve sold the naming rights to their stadium, for example. And they have a sports-betting partner.
Well, they had one.
Via the Cincinnati Business Courier, Betfred is pulling the plug on its deal with the team, because the company is leaving Ohio next month.
The Bengals will look for another sports book partner.
Sports betting has become big business for the NFL, a money-for-nothing enhancement to the bottom line.
Does it matter for the companies who do the deals? Betfred’s association with the Bengals didn’t move the needle. It ranked 15th out of 19 mobile Ohio sports-betting providers in May.