It was not until this week did I start really questioning if the NFL season was going to happen. It was triggered by the cancellation of the Hall of Fame Game, then 1/3 of Clemson football players testing positive for COVID and now watching to see how the MLB and NBA play out. I have firmly moved into the camp that it is a 50/50 shot if the 2020 NFL season even happens and that makes me sad. I wanted to take a look at the potential things to think about if 2020 were not to happen so we can start stewing on them.
Rookies
Could this be the end of the Joe Burrow era before it even starts? Hear me out. Joe Burrow has not signed a contract yet, nor has any rookie. What if he doesn’t? In normal times this would allow him to re-enter the draft (however that would then work) and could be selected by another team (if the draft order is then changed). Is this going to happen…no…maybe…who knows but probably not. What we really need to think about is a lost season of development for all of our picks. They would be a year removed from college with no NFL experience and no overall development.
Free Agents
This is the big one to me. Here is the list of FA’s in 2021 as of right now. Some questions that I have on this list. Would we want to sign a 34 year old AJ Green? He is currently on the franchise tag which might get us to milk one more good year out of him to help Burrow’s development. If he is not in the long-term plan then he will never suit up in stripes again. The John Ross experiment would be over; it would likely mean that he tries to get on with another team who is wow’d by his underwear speed and will get him more offensive snaps.
Mackensie Alexander…thanks for taking a promo pic but he would never even play for the Bengals. Remember he is the replacement for Dennard who is also not on the team….so we are out a slot corner which is desperately needed in today’s NFL; Josh Bynes is in the same boat. Kevin Huber and Randy Bullock could also be gone. It would be more likely we would lose Bullock than Huber but at age 36 it is still a risk for one of the best Bengal punters of all time.
It is likely the Bengals would bring back Willian Jackson III but the dude is going to get paid then. He has been really good but not a top tier corner like we thought he could be. The potential loss of Alexander would push us to keep him. Joe Mixon would also be someone here that I would think they put a long-term deal in place with. It is surprising that it has not happened yet but wouldn’t a team love to snatch up Mixon and drop some serious coin on this guy….probably.
Auden Tate (RFA) and Carl Lawson are probably the last two worth highlighting. Tate shows so much progress it is crazy to think that we would let this young and budding star go…but he also might realize his value is pretty high and the Bengals might not be wiling to pay it. Carl Lawson is still coming off of injury and with Carlos Dunlap aging it would be nice to add some young depth with Sam Hubbard to keep the great edge pressure rolling.
Veterans
The next concern would be aging veterans. Some of our top players come to mind: Geno Atkins, Carlos Dunlap, AJ Green (again). There was some speculation that Dunlap could have been traded or be phased out over this season in favor of younger talent. If you give the guy an IG follow his body still looks like a 22 year old and he clearly maintains himself for peak performance. Geno being another year older hurts and D.J. Reader is not exactly his successor (two totally different types of players). We want to maximize our years with these two studs because their names will be in the rafters one day in Bengals stadium (not PBS likely) and Atkins will have a gold jacket on.
Offensive Line
A year lost of cohesion. Right now our OL is not set with the lineup and it appears some positions are up for grabs. Bobby Hart could be replaced by Fred Johnson. Billy Price has a playoff with Xavier Sua’-Filo and Michael Jordan will need to prove that he can start. None of these guys have a chance to play for their spot and we would enter into another offseason where we still have major question marks. The pro could be that we can land a new RT and guard to help Burrow but we need to see Jonah Williams play and what we have with this squad before major overhaul decisions can be made…albeit cutting Bobby Hart.
Fans, it pained me to even write about not seeing a 2020 season but it has to be at least considered. Why talk about it if it isn’t a certainty? Well if you haven’t noticed it is the dog days of sports news but just because we haven’t had this happen doesn’t mean we can ignore it.