The early focus of the Bengals offseason has been on whether they will be signing players like Ja’Marr Chase, Trey Hendrickson, and Tee Higgins to new contracts, but it looks like there’s another issue for them to sort out.
NFL Media reports that linebacker Germaine Pratt has requested a trade out of Cincinnati. Pratt is heading into the final year of his contract and is set to make a base salary of $5.25 million in 2025.
Pratt had 143 tackles, two interceptions, six passes defensed, two forced fumbles, and two fumble recoveries during the 2024 season. He has been a fixture in Cincinnati’s defense since being taken in the third round of the 2019 draft, but the team is moving in a different direction defensively this season after firing Lou Anarumo and hiring Al Golden as their defensive coordinator.
Trading Pratt would free up $5.85 million, which might be appealing given the other contractual issues that they’re trying to sort out over the coming months.
Jacksonville has completed another interview with a General Manager candidate.
The Jaguars announced on Wednesday that they’ve spoken with Bengals senior personnel executive Trey Brown for the role.
Brown has been with Cincinnati since 2021. He joined the team as a scout and was promoted to his current role in 2022. Brown has also spent time in the Patriots and Eagles’ scouting departments, serving as Philadelphia’s director of college scouting from 2016-2018.
In 2019 and 2020 he worked in the AAF and XFL for the Birmingham Iron and St. Louis BattleHawks, respectively.
Jacksonville previously announced this week that the club had interviewed Josh Williams, who currently serves as director, scouting and football operations for the 49ers.
Quarterback Joe Burrow has made it clear that he wants to continue playing with receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins for years to come and wants the Bengals to make that happen.
But with Higgins set to become a free agent next month, it’s not clear that Cincinnati will make a competitive contract offer for the 2020 second-round pick.
Over the weekend, Higgins said he’d like to stay with the core group of players he’s been around, like Burrow, Chase, Trey Hendrickson, and Mike Gesicki.
“Obviously, we want to build something here in Cinci, but it’s not in my hands right now,” Higgins said, via Joe Danneman of FOX19 Cincinnati. “So, I’ve got to do what I need to do. If that’s go to another team, then that’s what happens.”
Higgins, 26, has dealt with injuries over the last couple of years, playing just 12 games in each of 2023 and 2024. But he was still plenty productive this season, catching 73 passes for 911 yards with 10 touchdowns.
Higgins said he’s “for sure” proven he can be a No. 1 receiver.
But if that’s the case, then it stands to reason that Higgins will only get paid like one by going elsewhere.
Higgins said that he’ll take some time to clear his head over the next few weeks before his future becomes clearer in March.
“I’m just trying to stay away from it right now and clear my head, get away from the game, especially after this, after [the Super Bowl],” Higgins said. “Clear my head, get away from the game for a few weeks, and then obviously in March, that’s when things will start ramping up for me with the free agency coming up.
“And then, I mean, obviously I would love to be there in Cincinnati. I love it here. I love the city. I love the fans. I love the coaching staff, everything in the building. But, hey, it’s not in my control.”
With a touchdown catch on Sunday night, Eagles receiver DeVonta Smith started a new club of players drafted from Alabama who scored touchdowns in the Super Bowl. Smith also became the fifth member of a club full of big names.
Before Smith, only four players had won a Heisman Trophy, a national championship, and a Super Bowl. Smith is now No. 5.
The others were running back Reggie Bush, cornerback Charles Woodson, running back Marcus Allen, and running back Tony Dorsett.
Four other current players could join the club, potentially. Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, Ravens running back Derrick Henry, Browns quarterback Jameis Winston, and Panthers quarterback Bryce Young are just a Super Bowl win away.
The December 2024 burglary at the Ohio home of Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow has recently sparked two waves of arrests. And one member of law enforcement believes it’s just the start.
“These individuals seem to be the alleged tip of the iceberg,” U.S. attorney Kenneth Parker told the Associated Press.
Last month, four Chilean nationals were arrested for the Burrow heist, which allegedly resulted in more than $300,000 in property being stolen. More recently, authorities arrested two alleged fences in New York — and uncovered allegedly stolen items in a New Jersey storage unit.
While most criminal enterprises are brought down from the bottom up, the possibility that the alleged fences had items from other thefts (potentially including items taken from the homes of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce) could allow investigators to work down to the bottom before working up collectively to one or more masterminds of the crime ring.
The masterminds could be the alleged fences. By creating a cash market for items stolen from high-profile athletes: (1) who are likely to have expensive things in their homes; and (2) who have a publicly-known travel schedule associated with their employment, groups that smash and grab and flee will have a clear profile for their victims.
And to the extent that the groups are using common techniques for evading cameras and gaining access, someone is presumably coordinating all of it. It’s quite possibly the fences, who might have taught the burglars how to do what they’ve done. With the overriding goal of buying the stolen items low and re-selling them high.
It’s still early. But they call it organized crime for a reason. And it appears that the authorities are in the process of learning plenty about the possible extent of this specific organization of alleged criminals and its alleged crimes.
