Welcome To Bengals: Bengals Head Coach Announced The Four New Signing….
INDIANAPOLIS _ Owners of a new franchise free agent in wide receiver Tee Higgins, Bengals head coach Zac Taylor and director of player personnel Duke Tobin met the national and local media here Tuesday at the NFL scouting combine.
The highlights:
The Bengals didn’t put the $21.8 million tag on Higgins to trade him.
“We tagged him with the intent of him playing for us. He’s a good player. We want good players. He fits us perfectly,” Tobin said. “We tagged him for that reason. The hypotheticals of what could happen, it’s hard for me to comment on.
“We want him on the roster.”
Asked about the possibility of three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase going into the slot more in response to the potential departure of unsigned slot receiver Tyler Boyd as a way to get him away from constant double coverage, Taylor talked about why it’s hard to also take Chase out of the game even when he’s on the outside.
“The thing about when you’re playing outside and it’s single safety, he has to cheat further to you,” Taylor said. “And when you have Tee Higgins on the other side of you, that’s a price you have to pay sometimes if you’re willing to do that.”
That’s not to say Chase won’t be seen more in the slot. Taylor points to last season’s win in Arizona when Chase caught a franchise-best 15 passes.
“I think we’re always looking for the best way to use Ja’Marr. And whether that’s outside on the left or the right slot number two in the slot three in slot backfield. Getting Ja’Marr Chase the ball is good for all of our health,” Taylor said. “And so we are doing everything we can to find the right spot for him game by game and give him those opportunities. And I think we looked at the Arizona game when he got all of those touches. He was everywhere.”
JOE UPDATE: No news is good news. No update and no timelines on Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow’s throwing wrist. Wednesday is the 100th day since Burrow underwent season-ending surgery for a torn tendon.
“Everything has been positive. Everything has been on schedule,” Taylor said. “Six years on the job, I’ve learned not to give a timeline on injuries, so we’re certainly encouraged. Everything has been positive. He’s right on course. Excited to get close to the offseason so we have a better sense of all the involvement he’ll have day one of the offseason. He does everything we’ve asked him post-surgery.”
FREE AGENCY PEEK: With the salary cap a record-breaking $255 million and such key free agents like Boyd, nose tackle DJ Reader, and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie looming, Tobin had a take on the upcoming free agency period that begins in mid-March.
“I won’t get into our strategies for roster building, but I will tell you that if there’s more money, there’s more opportunity to add people and that’s just the reality about it,” Tobin said. “There’s also more opportunity for the other 31 teams to add people too, so maybe it provides a little flexibility. Hopefully, if you’re talking about the same people just being paid more, it doesn’t really fit the club. But as long as we can use those dollars to maybe supplement what we would have otherwise done, then I think it is a benefit for us.”
