With the addition of randrusher Trey Hendrickson, the corners of Mike Hilton and Chidobe Awuzie and the protégé Larry Ogunjobi of Geno, the Bengals are ready to start two defensive starters from Taylor’s first game that opened the 2019 season in Seattle. The Fab Five zoomed everyone in on a March frenzy Friday with the Cincinnati media. No question, they said, Burrow was a draw.
“Just to see what they’re building. Over these four years playing against these guys, I saw what type of players they had and what they built,” said Hilton, the former Steeler. ‘After they brought in Joe (Burrow) to be the franchise guy, he showed me what he’s capable of, and that definitely attracted me here. I’m excited to be here and get the train rolling.
With the players in the kraal on Thursday night and Reiff on his recruiting visit, Taylor deftly brought everyone together in an upstairs room at The Precinct, Ruby’s eastern venue. Burrow was the front and center of his recruiting effort, and Reiff apparently greeted quite a bit.
“Just the way he acts,” Reiff said. “Wear himself. Looks like an earthy Cincinnati-type guy. We just sat there a little bit. But we were very impressed with him. … Tough, Midwestern, blue collar. Get to work.”
Hilton, who played with Big Ben in Pittsburgh, also sensed Burrow’s large presence. All five of them saw it as they moved through the rehab room and Hilton saw it during the meal.
“Man, just talk to him. “Like I said, he has an aura about him,” Hilton said. “He’s a young man, but he commands the room. He’s proud to be the leader of the team and just embraces the room.”
Reiff, 32, is resisting the Bengalis’ week-long free agent effort led by pro-reconnaissance director Steven Radecivic.
The Bengals started looking for offensive lineouts as well as fringe hunters this week. They had one plan in which the $ 15 million price cut of $ 15 million thought they would have a chance to grab two edge hunters while also running at a guard.
But they were also prepared when prices were at pre-pandemic levels, and like last year on the first day of free agencies, when they quickly climbed off the lineout balance, they adjusted to the increasing numbers and to a different plan gone what they estimated.
They knew they only had to raise a large number to one rusher, and that was when they put Hendrickson on a club record of $ 60 million on the first night of free agency. Also that first day, they were apparently interested in the best keeper on the market, Joe Thuney. But as the bid stretched more than $ 50 million, they also knew Reiff was out there, and they noticed that there were some good cornerbacks as well. Eventually they got two entrees in Hilton and Awuzie for what many paid for one corner defender.
Ogunjobi was a thorn in the side of the Bengals while playing in Cleveland, and they had high points on him. While fulfilling the need for a three-technique on Wednesday night, Radicevic was constantly on the phone to visit Reiff on Thursday.
“My agent reached out to me and was like, these guys are pretty persistent,” Reiff said. “Do you want to go see what it’s all about? I absolutely said. Because I was not in this division, we really did not have much transition, but once I got here I was very impressed with the guys, coaches and I is excited.
“Tell you the truth, if it did not work out. I just wanted to see the stadium. If it did not work out, I played nine or ten years, usually you play in a lot of stadiums and I did not play here. If everything else would have failed, I could say I saw the stadium. ‘
Reiff was the key. The Bengals wanted to give him more than just a tour. Thuney did not get them, but they also knew they had a chance at Reiff, one of the NFL’s most consistent linebackers since the Lions took him out of Iowa in the first round in 2012. A proven protector for Burrow has always been a priority.