It appears that the Bengals and the Browns are in a competition to have the most contentious relationship possible with the counties where they currently play their home games.
And they’re both winning.
Not to be outdone by the current hostilities between the Bengals and Hamilton County over a new lease at Paycor Stadium, the Browns are battling with Cuyahoga County over the team’s determination to leave Cleveland for a domed stadium in Brook Park.
The latest escalation came on Monday, when Cuyahoga County executive Chris Ronayne sent a letter to Haslam Sports Group accusing Browns ownership of “greed and opportunism.” The one-page correspondence also says Jimmy Haslam and company are “distorting the facts” and “attempting to bully the public and fleece County taxpayers for [Haslam Sports Group’s] private gain.”
Ronayne accuses Browns ownership of “pushing a costly, risky, and poorly conceived plan that uses public subsidy to diminish our region, our communities, and our businesses.” He calls the team’s effort to build a $3.4 billion facility a “boondoggle.”
Last week, Haslam Sports Group COO Dave Jenkins sent a letter to Ronayne accusing him of “communicating misleading information” about the Brook Park project and describing the opposition to the domed stadium “truly disheartening.”
The exchange of nastygrams comes at a time when the Browns are trying to secure $600 million in Ohio funding through the issuance of bonds.
Separate from the funding fight is pending litigation between the Browns and the city of Cleveland regarding the application of Ohio’s Art Modell Law to the team’s effort to leave its downtown stadium.
Even if both teams end up getting what they want, there’s an ugliness to the process that is unhelpful and unbecoming to everyone involved. And while public unpleasantries are hardly unprecedented when it comes to stadium politics (e.g., the time the Browns left Cleveland 30 years ago), the two fronts of animosity in the Ohio cities that currently host NFL teams invite speculation as to one or both situations will eventually catch fire like the Cuyahoga River once did.
The Bengals are taking a look at some veteran help for their defensive line.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, defensive tackle Montravius Adams is visiting with Cincinnati on Monday.
Adams, 29, had been with Pittsburgh since 2021. He appeared in 11 games for the franchise last season, recording 14 total tackles with a sack in 188 defensive snaps.
A third-round pick in 2017, Adams has appeared in 96 games with 25 starts in his career for Green Bay, New Orleans, and Pittsburgh. He’s tallied 133 total tackles with 11 for loss, 10 QB hits, and 2.5 sacks.
When it comes to getting a new deal, Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson has tried everything. After listening to his stunning remarks to reporters on Tuesday, something occurred to me.
If he takes a stand and doesn’t show up for training camp, he’ll end up being Haason Reddick 2.0.
While we strongly believe that players should fight for every dollar they can get (especially when most fans and far too many in the media align with the billionaires in such battles), no player should overestimate his value — or his leverage.
Hendrickson has real value, but he doesn’t have much leverage. It’s one thing for a rookie who was stuck with a take-it-or-leave-it wage-scale deal to take a stand. It’s another for a veteran who signed a contract as a free agent to get to the later years and realize he did a bad deal.
When a player “outperforms” his second contract, that means the player and his agent failed to properly gauge his eventual value. Or to include devices that protect against overperformance, such as significant incentives or escalators tied to, for example, consecutive seasons of 17.5 sacks.
Hendrickson is due to make $16 million this year. The Bengals, we’ve heard, have offered roughly $28 million per year. Whatever the amount (and, as importantly, the structure), he wants more.
He had a chance to get it, when the team gave him permission to seek a trade. That went nowhere, because no one was willing to give him what he wants (especially since they also would have had to give the Bengals something in return).
Now, Hendrickson is stuck. His options are simple, and few. One, take the team’s best offer on a new deal. Two, play for $16 million and become a free agent in 2026 (unless they tag him). Three, hold out and hope the Bengals will cave.
Here’s the problem for Hendrickson. The Bengals will not cave. On matters of this nature, they do not care. Even as they reluctantly spend where they must (in order to keep Joe Burrow from losing his shit and demanding a trade), the Bengals continue to prioritize making money over pursuing championships.
It’s expensive to be good. Super Bowl trips ain’t free. Travel, hotels, events. It cuts into the piggy bank. (The league provides some assistance for the Super Bowl-week costs, but not much.)
And then, if you win, rings need to be purchased — at roughly $30,000 to $50,000 each. (The NFL apparently contributes $5,000 to $7,000 per ring, for up to 150 of them. Which, of course, means that the Bengals would be tempted to budget $7,001 per ring.)
If Hendrickson wants to skip mandatory minicamp and be fined by the team, that’ll be fine with Bengals owner Mike Brown. If Hendrickson wants to give up $50,000 per day to hold out of training camp, Brown will gladly accept the gift.
And if Hendrickson hopes to sacrifice $888,888 per game to stay away into the regular season, plenty of angels will be getting their wings as the Cincinnati cash register rings and rings.
So if Hendrickson refuses to show up, he’ll eventually be this year’s Reddick. The losses will grow by the day, and he’ll eventually show up.
For Reddick, the Jets gave him a face-saving tweaking of the final year of his contract. The Bengals won’t do that.
By complaining about coach Zac Taylor’s text message that missing mandatory minicamp comes with a fine, Hendrickson tipped his hand. He’s already doing the math on what it will cost to stay away.
So, basically, he can huff and puff all he wants, for now. When it’s time to report for work or face significant fines, he knows what the Bengals will do. And Hendrickson doesn’t seem to be willing to pay the price.
That’s one of the benefits of the Bengals’ unique brand of dysfunction. In situations like this, it’s not a bluff. If a player wants to stay home and increase the organization’s profit margin along the way, they’re fine with that.
At some level, they might even prefer it.
With the 49ers and Brock Purdy working out a long-term deal, there’s no other quarterback currently expected to get one in the immediate future.
Yes, there could be a tweaking of the ultra-long-term Patrick Mahomes contract, especially after the Bills tore up the last years of Josh Allen’s deal and replaced it with a $55 million-per-year-from-signing package. As it relates to guys who have never gotten a second deal, no one else is waiting to get paid.
The next one to get a new deal will be Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud. He’ll become eligible after the 2025 regular-season finale. (Which means that the Texans could sign him to a new deal between Week 18 and the playoffs, if the Texans qualify.)
Despite the availability of the fifth-year option, the Texans likely won’t take a page from the Cowboys’ playbook and drag their feet through the cheap (relatively speaking) fourth year. Especially since the Texans recently signed cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. after only three seasons.
Stroud’s spot on the list of highest-paid quarterbacks remains to be seen. Purdy landed in a tie for No. 7. Stroud, with a better offensive line and overall improved offense, could put himself in position to fall between Allen and Dak Prescott and the cluster of guys who are in the vicinity of $55 million in new-money average.
Remember, the cap keeps going up. That means the market should keep going up, too.
Beyond Stroud, no one else from the 2023 draft class seems to be destined to get paid after the coming season. Panthers quarterback Bryce Young possibly could position himself for a second deal, with a breakthrough season. Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson first has to win the starting job before he can earn a second contract. Beyond Will Levis and his endorsement deal with Big Mayo, the 2023 quarterbacks won’t be getting big money.
In the interim, other quarterbacks in their second contracts could be getting a third deal. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson could be jostling for a correction, especially now that he has fallen to No. 10 in new-money average. Ditto for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who has fallen out of the top 10, and for Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who is making as much money as Trevor Lawrence and Jordan Love.
The quarterback big contract wheels will always keep on turning. For now, though, the Purdy deal seems to press pause on the process — unless and until Mahomes or Jackson or someone else in his second decides to make a play for another new contract before training camp opens.
To put a twist on Sam Wyche’s legendary quote, “You don’t work for Cleveland! You work for Cincinnati!”
The in-state rivalry has taken an off-field turn, with the Bengals claiming that Hamilton County is using a consultant who is also trying to help the Browns get a new stadium paid in part by funding from Ohio.
Via Ben Baby of ESPN.com, the Bengals said in a statement issued on Thursday that David Abrams, a consultant hired by Hamilton County to help with Paycor Stadium lease negotiations, is also providing consulting services to the Browns.
The county explained that someone else from Abram’s firm, Inner Circle, is working for the Browns.
“Mr. Abrams has no involvement with the Browns, their stadium project and/or related matters,” Hamilton County said, via Baby. “This was explained to the team and they were previously given Abrams’s contract and scope of work, which does not include any state lobbying.”
While not the same as if Inner Circle was working directly for the Bengals, there’s an argument to be made, based on the relative value to the firm of the two contracts, that Inner Circle could prioritize getting a successful result for the Browns over getting a successful result for Hamilton County. If, for instance, Inner Circle were to delay or to derail efforts to ensure the Bengals’ long-term viability in Cincinnati, Inner Circle might be better positioned to deliver for the Browns.
Given that the Browns and Bengals are competing for the same finite pool of state funding, the two teams definitely are at odds on this issue.
“The county can decide how it wants to proceed, but the team felt it appropriate to share concerns over whether parties involved in discussions were working exclusively to advance local interests -- or whether other conflicts might exist,” the Bengals said.
The fact that the Bengals have opted to publicly point a cynical finger at Abrams reconfirms the toxic nature of the current relationship between the Bengals and Hamilton County. The Bengals, put simply, seem to be suspicious that someone working for Hamilton County could be hoping to throw a wrench in the gears in an effort to blow up a potential Bengals deal. All in the name of helping the Browns.
At a minimum, the Bengals potentially believe Abrams could steer the funding options for Paycor Stadium renovations away from Ohio taxpayer money, thereby making it easier for the Browns to get what they want.
If Hamilton County isn’t concerned about the potential Inner Circle conflict of interest, why should the Bengals care? Of course, the fact that the Bengals do care will make it harder, not easier, for the team and the county to work things out.
Maybe that’s the Bengals’ play. To pressure Hamilton County and, in turn, Abrams to go out of their way to get a deal done to the Bengals’ satisfaction. With as much Ohio funding as possible.
The team’s statement also ensures that the Browns are aware of the potential conflict, which could prompt them to pose some pointed questions of their own to Inner Circle.
In a nutshell, this development makes a messy situation in Cincinnati even messier. Which won’t make it any easier to get a long-term lease negotiated.
