BENGALS TRANSACTIONS.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

03/17/2018 Signed QB Matt Barkley (UFA-Ariz.); Re-signed TE Tyler Eifert (UFA-Cin.); HB Jeremy Hill (UFA-Cin.) signed with New England.
03/16/2018 Signed LB Preston Brown (UFA-Buff.); OT Andre Smith (UFA-Cin.) signed with Arizona.
03/15/2018 Re-signed P Kevin Huber (UFA-Cin.); QB AJ McCarron (UFA-Cin.) signed with Buffalo; DE Chris Smith (UFA-Cin.) signed with Cleveland;
03/14/2018 Acquired OT Cordy Glenn, a first-round pick in the 2018 draft (No. 21 overall) and a fifth-round pick in the ’18 draft (No. 158) in a trade with the Buffalo Bills for a first-round pick in the ’18 draft (No. 12) and a sixth-round pick in the ’18 draft (No. 187).
03/08/2018 Signed DT Chris Baker (FA).
02/14/2018 Signed OT/G Bobby Hart (FA).


ANYBODY FAMILIAR WITH THOSE PICKED UP.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

WE LOST JEREMY HILL, AJ MCARRON, ANDRE SMITH, CHRIS SMITH, NOT SURE WHO ELSE EARLIER.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

I HEARD PACMAN WAS GONE, BUT DIDN'T SEE IT. AND I HEARD BURFICT IS LOOKING MAYBE AT A 4 GAME SUSPENSION FOR PED'S. CAN WE GET RID OF THIS TUMOR ALREADY.

[farmer]

Pacman was announced he would not be offered a contract but that could change.
Burfect is appealing the PEDS. Saying it was prescribed meds for injuries last year. As long as Marv is there he will be. Signing Preston Brown is a player who plays the game and makes tackles. Not as skilled as Burfect but gets where he is supposed to be and makes more tackles. Without the drama. Shop Burfect if the Raiders want him.

Lost center Bodine to the Bills on Monday.

[cbolt]

Wow can't believe they let Hill walk, and of all people Belichick nabs him up.Shows how valuable he was I also would like to have seen more of McCarron. He showed some promise in the little bit of time he got.

[farmer]

Hill was not as productive last year. With the Bengals wanting to give more time to Mixon. Hard to be to productive behind that poor line. They tried to trade him with no offers. McCarron had more value not playing and not knowing what he could do than trying to play behind that line. Some said they should have kept him and got rid of Dalton. Hopefully getting improved line play will help Dalton and the offense.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

thanks.

[cbolt]

Yes I forgot about Mixon, Hill is expendable as long as Mixon stays healthy.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

we traded our center Russell bodine, who I always thought was undersized, and not effective enough. would love to see rimington award winner billy price there. it all begins with the snap

[farmer]

Bodine left as a free agent. Was said though that the Bengals offered him a long term contract. But took 2 years and more per year with the Bills. His rating as a center was near the bottom of the NFL anyway. So Bengals got a break by losing him. He has already peaked in his play anyway. The Bengals did like his backup but that talk could have been like they thought the 2 tackles would have a great year.

Center position sure helped the Cowboys when they drafted Frederick. They took a lot of slack for that. They know they would be set for at least 10 years of solid dependable play.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

oh I see thanks farmer. I wasn't real sold on him from jump street either. but wish him luck in blustery buffalo.

[YOU'RE TIGER BAIT]

With Russell Bodine (left) now in Buffalo, T.J. Johnson (60) figures to move over a spot to center.

Not only has the Bengals’ offensive line started its overhaul with new players at the key positions of left tackle and center, it looks like it is undergoing a culture change in practice under new offensive line coach Frank Pollack.



Pollack, the Cowboys former offensive line coach, is ordering a bevy of field equipment ranging from medicine balls for balance to “Big Brutus,” a 350-pound swinging weight. Plus, he’s got more sleds than Santa, something called a trap-and-chute, and arches.

It’s in marked contrast to the practices of Paul Alexander, the Bengals’ long-time offensive line coach before he swapped jobs with Pollack in January. He pretty much used only blocking shields during a run he was considered one of the top line coaches in the league.

“It’s the first different offensive line coach in 23 years, so it’s a different thought process. A different set of eyes, says Jeff Brickner, the Bengals director of operations. “Frank’s got a plan and along with (head coach) Marvin Lewis we’re just trying to give him what he needs.”

Better? Who knows? That’s a philosophical question. Save that one for the clinics. But different? Yes, different.

As different as the new center they’ll have when Russell Bodine signed in Buffalo Monday. Bodine played every game since the Bengals drafted him in the fourth round in 2014. If you knew Kyle Cook in the 2013 Wild Card Game was the last non-Bodine start, go to the head of the class.

Lewis and Pollack indicated they wanted Bodine back for the experience he brought to an offense already undergoing a bunch of changes and maybe even more on the offensive line. But his number was too high early last week and when the Bengals got other deals done as the week went on, they figured there weren’t enough numbers left for a player that drew so many different reactions in the organization.

There was the fact he never missed a game with toughness and durability, but there were also his annual position rankings on profootballfocus.com that were perennially in the bottom ten: 34, 35, 30, and 32.

The conventional wisdom is the trade for Bills left tackle Cordy Glenn that drops them to No. 21 from No. 12 puts them in prime position to draft one of the top prospects at center. If not, later, since the draft is considered deep in the interior.

Until then, the leader-in-the-clubhouse is T.J. Johnson, a reliable vet and a solid center at South Carolina before the Bengals took him in the seventh round in 2013. He’s started just five NFL games and none at center, but the prospect of losing Bodine is why they signed Johnson to a two-year deal last year.
Trey Hopkins, who started 12 games at right guard last season, has also taken practice snaps.

Whoever lines up there, it doesn’t matter. They’ll be taking on Big Brutus and all the other equipment that Pollack, an intense stickler, uses to work on the tiniest of techniques that he used to help make what many thought to be the league’s best offensive line in Dallas.




Equipment managers Sam Staley (left) and Adam Knollman putting together a new field apparatus.

There’s the trap-and-chute, where the linemen must stay low near their stance and power through without touching a tight tunnel. The arches are also designed to keep them low when they simulate the movement in trap plays. There are pop-up bags, sand bags, and small tire-like objects that the feet must be balanced on while they catch medicine balls.

And there are two different kinds of sleds. Pollack had a custom-made one-man sled built in Dallas with a pop-up bag that he’s getting here. And there are a pair of two-man sleds each with an 85-pound weight on the pan.

“From what we saw on the video,” says Bengals equipment manager Adam Knollman, “he’s got it working full with four guys going all the time.”

If it sounds organized, it is. Knollman says Pollack plans to meet with assistant equipment manager Sam Staley every morning of practice at 7 to go over what he wants on the field that day.

“The guys in Dallas said he was great about it. Really organized,” Knollman says. “Meeting with Sam, that will just make sure we don’t have to drag everything out there every day. It depends on the practice. That makes it easier for us.”

The Bengals were looking for different up front. They got it.

“Different strokes for different folks,” Brickner says.

Now they just have to figure out who the folks are