If you follow @Statspost on IG you have likely seen them toil with the idea of redrawing divisional lines within the NFL. The AFC North makes a lot of sense currently with the exception of Baltimore being a 7 hour drive away and on the East coast. Here is an example of one they did which puts the Colts and Lions in our division and kicks out Pittsburgh and Baltimore:
While it would be nice to dump the two best teams in our division and get two lesser teams I am not advocating for that. We all hate Pittsburgh and it is part of the fun of being a fan. I think most fans are indifferent about the Ravens even thought it is fun to own them once a year at their stadium. I do think that eventually the NFL could expand and it would likely need to add four more teams to a division. Given their geographic disbursement (London, Mexico, Canada, San Antonio, San Diego, St. Louis) it is unlikely that they would end up in their own division.
So if this magical scenario were to occur who would make the most sense to pair in the AFC North? Certainly mileage would matter and these are the top six candidates: Cleveland (250), Indianapolis (112), Pittsburgh (288), Nashville (273), Detroit (263), Chicago (295). You also have to take a look at how you would regionally pair other teams. It would make sense for a Cleveland-Pittsburgh-Detroit-Buffalo division. In that case the the Bengals would be paired with Indianapolis, Nashville and Chicago. If St. Louis were to get a replacement team for losing the Rams, then certainly Chicago would get the boot.
The Titans could also just as easily be paired with Atlanta, Carolina and Jacksonville as @StatsPost suggests. This scenario certainly pushes the Bengals into a division with Indy, Cleveland and Detroit which is how they came to that conclusion.
All of this is really just fun to play with from a “what if” scenario. Any realignment would likely be to the benefit of the Bengals since it would remove Baltimore from the equation. The AFC North is a tough division and always has two teams in the playoffs. Our hope is that the Steelers struggle to find a long-term replacement to Big Ben; and we hope that Baker Mayfield is the next Tim Couch. Lamar Jackson is the next RGIII? Is this how we rule the AFC North for the next decade?