The on-field workouts at the Scouting Combine begin on Thursday, but the activities surrounding the annual event are up and running.
On Tuesday, we were sprinting. We interviewed 20 coaches and General Managers. One happened during Tuesday’s PFT Live, when we chatted with Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh. After the show ended, we ripped through 19 more.
The full list included Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, Chiefs coach Andy Reid, Eagles G.M. Howie Roseman, Bills G.M. Brandon Beane, Bears coach Ben Johnson, Bears G.M. Ryan Poles, Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles, Buccaneers G.M. Jason Licht, Seahawks G.M. John Schneider, Raiders coach Pete Carroll, Raiders G.M. John Spytek, Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel, Bengals coach Zac Taylor, Falcons coach Raheem Morris, Titans coach Brian Callahan, Panthers coach Dave Canales, Jaguars coach Liam Coen, Chargers G.M. Joe Hortiz, Titans G.M. Mike Borgonzi.
All interviews will be posted on our NFL on NBC YouTube channel. And you’ll see the clips posted in PFT stories in the coming days.
We’ll be back at it tomorrow.
The Bengals have a plan in place to keep star receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
Duke Tobin, the team’s director of player personnel, expressed optimism that the Bengals can make Chase the highest-paid non-quarterback in the NFL and sign Higgins to a long-term deal. He also needs to take care of edge rusher Trey Hendrickson, who is due a raise after making 17.5 sacks each of the past two seasons.
“We want them signed,” Tobin said. “Is it easy? No. Are we up to it? We are up to it. We’ve done a lot of these things.”
The Bengals want to reward Chase, who is scheduled to play this season on the fifth-year option of $21.816 million, after he won the league’s receiving triple crown. Chase will top Justin Jefferson’s annual average of $35 million per year.
“He is going to end up being the No. 1 paid non-quarterback in the league,” Tobin said. “We’re there. Let’s get it done. The earlier we can do some of this stuff, the freer it gives us to build the rest of the team. We have other needs that we want to build, and so we want to get these kinds of things done early enough to where we can really focus on building out the rest of the football team, but they’re all priorities to us but the ones that aren’t signed, are the ones that are on the table first.”
Higgins, who played last season on the $21.8 million franchise tag, is scheduled to become a free agent next month. He is the top free agent in PFT’s top-100.
“Seems like three, four, five years I’ve been talking about Tee,” Tobin said. “I think you guys all know how I feel about Tee Higgins. I think Tee Higgins is a fantastic football player, and I want him on my football team. Whenever I’m in charge of a football team, I want Tee Higgins, so I’m going to do what I can to get Tee Higgins. Our preference with Tee Higgins is to do a long-term agreement. Always has been, and it continues to be, and we’ll work hard to get that done.
“We are fortunate. We’ve got a lot of really good football players, fantastic football players, and we’re fortunate to be in position to fit them all in. We’ve managed our cap well. We’ve got low debt money. We want a high payroll and low-debt money, so the people in Cincinnati playing for us can get all the money. That’s what we want. We’re in position to sign these guys, and it’s a good position to be in. It really is. We’re going to attack it. We don’t want to just re-sign these guys and have the same football team we had last year. We want to add to it as well. We want to re-sign these guys, reward them for their ability level, and add to the football team. So, it’s a tall task. We think we’re up to it.”
The Bengals are hiring Sean Desai as senior defensive assistant, Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports.
Desai spent last season in the same role with the Rams, helping the team with game planning.
He is a two-time defensive coordinator, having served in that role with the Bears in 2021 and with the Eagles in 2023. Both were one-year stints.
Desai, 41, began his NFL coaching career as a defensive quality control coach with the Bears in 2013. He worked his way up to the safeties coach (2019-20) before becoming the coordinator.
He also has coached with the Seahawks (2022).
Desai worked with new Bengals defensive coordinator Al Golden at Temple and the University of Miami.
The Bengals have secured the return of long snapper Cal Adomitis for another season.
The team announced that they have re-signed Adomitis for the 2025 campaign. Adomitis was set to be a restricted free agent and getting the deal done now takes something off of the team’s to-do list ahead of the start of the new league year.
Adomitis has appeared in 49 games for the Bengals over the last three seasons. He has been credited with six tackles in those appearances and he also made one during the team’s 2022 playoff run.
Kicker Cade York is the team’s only other restricted free agent. He closed out the year with the team while Evan McPherson was on injured reserve, but isn’t likely to be tendered with McPherson already under contract for 2025.
Cincinnati will be moving forward without one of its veteran defenders.
The Bengals announced on Friday that defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins has been released.
Rankins, 30, signed a two-year deal with Cincinnati last offseason. He started seven games in 2024, recording 18 total tackles with one sack.
Rankins finished the season on the non-football illness list.
By releasing Rankins, the Bengals will gain $9.62 million in cap savings with $2 million in dead money.
A Saints first-round pick in 2016, Rankins has recorded 30.5 sacks, 44 tackles for loss, and 69 quarterback hits in 116 career games.
