“We’ll see if we can do that.”
Tobin might not have given up those goods, but he did dish on a number of topics when he met with reporters.
1. Re-signing Jessie Bates
Tobin said the team wants the star safety, who is a free agent, to be a part of the franchise moving forward — if they can work out a new contract.
“Jessie’s a success story for those of us that work in personnel,” Tobin said. “We drafted him. We developed him. He’s been a great player. He’s highly coveted, and we want him to be a part of what’s going on here, too. And so it’s important for us to work to try to get that done. And that’s something that is going to be front and center. He’s a guy we want.”
He declined to say if the team might use the franchise tag on Bates to prevent him from signing with another team.
2. Destination for free agents
The Bengals long had a reputation for being reticent to get too involved with free agents, but they have brought in some big names the past two years, including defensive linemen D.J. Reader and Trey Hendrickson.
Whether or not that continues to be the case remains to be seen, but Tobin agreed the organization could become more appealing thanks to a Super Bowl run and the presence of quarterback Joe Burrow.
“I’ve always thought Cincinnati is a destination spot — I don’t know about you guys,” he said with a laugh. “But it’s nice that people respect you and believe in what you’re doing. And whether the money works out — that’s the big thing in the NFL when you’re talking to players and their representatives, the money has to work out. All things equal, if they are choosing us because we’re a contending team which we believe and they believe in the culture that (head coach Zac Taylor) has set than that’s even better. That gives you a little better chance.
3. Re-signing their own free agents
Tobin noted the team only has 46 players under contract, so there is a lot of work to do aside from deciding who to bring in.
Others who are free agents include tight end C.J. Uzomah, offensive linemen Riley Reiff and Quenton Spain, defensive linemen Larry Ogunjobi, Josh Tupou and B.J. Hill, cornerback Eli Apple and punter Kevin Huber.
“Sometimes I think that gets lost in the shuffle, but free agency includes those guys. Some years, your team has really guys that aren’t going to be high-level guys you pursue internally and so you get maybe a little more external guys, and then this year will be a blend. We’ll look outside our organization, but we’ll certainly look within our organization for the guys who don’t have contracts going forward that we want to continue to work with and guys that got us where we got this year.”
4. Dominating the AFC North
“The easiest path to playoffs is to win your division and so we have nothing but high regard and respect for the teams in our division,” Tobin said. “Our division doesn’t go away, it just doesn’t. It’s full of teams that are well-organized, and they are well coached and have good players. We feel like if we can develop a team that can win our division, we also have a team that can beat the other divisions as well.”
5. Bullish on offensive line, including Fairfield High graduate Jackson Carman
“Think highly of him,” Tobin said. “He’s a young player that’s developing. He’s got a lot of physical traits. He’s got a taste of what the NFL’s all about. He provided valuable snaps for us, and we feel like he’s on track.”
Carman was drafted in the second round out of Clemson with thoughts of him winning a starting job at guard.
He ended up playing 462 snaps on offense (about 42 percent) and started six games while D’Ante Smith (fourth round pick, East Carolina) played 50 snaps and Trey Hill (sixth round, Georgia) played 211.
“The playing experience they got will be invaluable, and often offensive linemen make their biggest jump from year one after feeling the intensity of the NFL and playing against NFL guys,” Tobin said. “And believe me, they played against good NFL players. So they’ll carry that forward, and that will be a real benefit going into year two with some of these guys.”
Nonetheless, identifying offensive linemen is tough for a variety of reasons.
“It’s such a tough position to play, and they’re playing against such great athletes,” Tobin said. “There aren’t enough superstars and top level guys to go around to 32 teams. There just aren’t. There’s not enough to service all the colleges. It’s just a very demanding, tough position. It’s big athletes, and those are the rarest people on the planet. So yes, we want big athletes, but we know that they’re hard to come by and hard to find. It’s our job to try to get the best ones that are available.
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