Cincinnati Bengals

Joe Burrow's father has a simple request for what his son should buy after the quarterback agreed to a four-year, $36.1 million contract Tuesday: his own place.

Speaking to 104.5 FM ESPN Radio in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Jimmy Burrow joked the life-changing money will allow his son to finally move out of the family's Ohio home.

"We finally got him outta our basement," Burrow said (h/t AllBengals' James Rapien).

Jimmy Burrow is far from the only father who is ready for his son to leave home after a summer of living in the basement, but he's one of the few whose child could buy the home from them and kick them out, so he may want to tread lightly.

Not to mention, there are more than a few hundred thousand Cincinnati Bengals fans who'd love to have the No. 1 overall pick as a roommate.

Jimmy Burrow may have to wait a bit longer before Joe moves out, however.

Back in February the former LSU star told TMZ Sports the first thing he's looking forward to having when he gets to the NFL, and it isn't a house.

Instead, Burrow wants a personal chef.

"I'm a healthy eater, so whatever he or she can make that tastes good and keeps me shredded," Burrow told TMZ Sports.

If Burrow's dad isn't so quick to kick the quarterback out, he may get to enjoy some of the benefits that come with a private chef in the house.

He'll just have to put up with his son living in the basement a bit longer to do so.

The new era for the Cincinnati Bengals seems to have begun.

Joe Burrow, who the AFC North team selected with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2020 NFL draft, reportedly agreed to his rookie contract Tuesday. It is for four years and $36.1 million, per Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Per Schefter, Burrow will receive 100 percent of his $23.88 million signing bonus within the first 15 days of signing his deal.

ESPN's Field Yates reported in April that the value of the contract was set at just more than $36.1 million with a signing bonus of more than $23.8 million for a four-year deal with a fifth-year option.

Now comes the task of turning around the Bengals.

Cincinnati is coming off a 2-14 campaign and hasn't enjoyed a winning record in any of the last four seasons. The team's last playoff win was during the 1990 season, and it has never won a Super Bowl.

Fortunately for Burrow, the cupboard is not exactly bare for the Bengals, especially compared to the team that went 2-14. 

Star wide receiver A.J. Green is expected to return after missing the 2019 season with injury, running back Joe Mixon ran for more than 1,100 yards last year and the combination of Tyler Boyd, John Ross and rookie Tee Higgins gives Burrow plenty of secondary weapons should opposing defenses focus too much attention on Green.

Burrow proved just how effective he can be with weapons at his disposal during his final collegiate season when he led LSU to a national championship and won the Heisman Trophy behind 5,671 passing yards, 60 touchdown passes and only six interceptions.

It was one of the best individual college football seasons in history, and Burrow shot up draft boards as a result.

There was little doubt the Bengals were taking him No. 1 overall by the time April's draft arrived, and they.  now look set for him to be their franchise quarterback.

The Cincinnati Bengals announced Friday wide receiver A.J. Green signed the one-year, $17.9 million contract tender associated with the franchise tag. 

"A.J. is one of the best receivers in the NFL," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. "He's an important part of our plans, and we're thrilled to have him in the fold from Day 1. We're looking forward to the impact of his talent and leadership on our offense this season."

Green said the decision is part of his long-term plan to finish his career in Cincinnati.

"Play another four years and I hope to retire as a Bengal," he told Geoff Hobson of the team's official website.

Green quickly emerged as one of the league's top playmakers after the Bengals selected him with the fourth overall pick in the 2011 draft. He earned Pro Bowl selections in each of his first seven years and was named Second Team All-Pro three times over that span.

The 31-year-old University of Georgia product has missed significant time with injuries over the past two years, though. He was limited to nine appearances in 2018 because of a toe injury and missed the entire 2019 campaign after suffering an ankle injury in training camp.

"It's a process of trying to be great. You play this game long enough, you're going to have these bumps in the road and you have to keep fighting. That's where I am," Green told Hobson in May. "Still fighting. I still love the game. I'm just ready to get back and play."

Getting him back on the field will be critical this season after the Bengals invested the first overall pick in the 2020 draft on Joe Burrow, who's coming off winning the Heisman Trophy and leading LSU to a national championship in his final collegiate season.

Green, Tyler Boyd, John Ross III and Auden Tate give Cincinnati one of the league's deepest receiving groups if the team's top target can stay healthy this season.

Add in running back Joe Mixon and the Bengals have the potential to make a massive jump after ranking 26th in total offense last year.

Green, Burrow and Co. are scheduled to open the regular season Sept. 13 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Cincinnati Bengals were unable to work out a long-term extension with star wide receiver A.J. Green by Wednesday's deadline to sign franchise-tagged players to a multiyear contract, per ESPN's Adam Schefter, so he'll play out the 2020 NFL season under the franchise tag.

He was one of 12 players unable to reach a multiyear deal after receiving a franchise tag.

Cincinnati applied the tag to the 31-year-old in March, ensuring he'd be guaranteed at least $17.9 million for the upcoming year.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported last week some inside the Bengals organization "don't sound overly optimistic" that a new deal would come to fruition:

One could sensibly argue Green is smart to bide his time and hit the open market in 2021.

Unless he's willing to sit out a second year, he has few other alternatives to signing the franchise tender. He might have reservations about committing to the Bengals for anything beyond 2020, though.

Cincinnati owned the NFL's worst record (2-14) in 2019 and appears to be well off the pace necessary to contend in the AFC North again.

The team's dismal campaign at least meant the arrival of Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow, and the Bengals selected Clemson standout Tee Higgins in the second round of the 2020 draft. Add in leading rusher Joe Mixon, and the offense is showing more promise than it has in a while.

Still, nobody will blame Green if he ultimately prefers to play for a ready-made contender in 2021 rather than waiting for the Bengals' potential to materialize.

More than anything, this was a less-than-ideal time for Green to sign a new contract.

Fowler alluded to the ankle injury the seven-time Pro Bowler suffered almost immediately after training camp officially opened last offseason. The injury continued to linger to the point he didn't play a single snap.

A toe injury limited Green to eight games in 2018, too. Whatever the Bengals were willing to offer him, it's safe to assume it would have been more if he had been coming off a year in which his production mirrored his career averages. Between 2011 and 2018, he failed to eclipse 1,000 receiving yards just twice.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a major wild card as well.

Nobody knows for sure how the coronavirus will affect the upcoming season or how the 2021 salary cap will be impacted. It's safe to assume the NFL's overall revenue will be lower, and that's assuming it can have a season with at best limited attendances.

With so much up in the air, 2021 free agents are left in a tough position.

By virtue of the franchise tag, Green maximizes his earning power in the short term while allowing himself to rebuild his value on the field. And once he's approaching free agency, there should be more clarity as to how much the pandemic has altered the NFL's financial landscape.

The Cincinnati Bengals reportedly believe star wide receiver A.J. Green will play under the franchise tag in 2020.

ESPN's Jeremy Fowler appeared on SportsCenter on Saturday and noted that while Green has yet to sign his franchise tender, the expectation from the team is that he ultimately will:

"He has not signed the tag. I've talked to some sources involved. They don't know either if he's going to or if a long-term deal is going to get done. They don't sound overly optimistic in Cincinnati that their best pass-catcher will be locked up long-term. They expect that he'll play this year under the tag. It's sort of a feeling-out period for both parties because Green practiced all but five minutes last year with various injuries, including a foot issue, and so they still consider him one of the best wide receivers when healthy. They know he's ready to go right now and finally healed up, so maybe a one-year pact is best for both parties."

The Bengals have until Wednesday to a sign Green to a long-term extension, or else he will only be able to play under the franchise tag in 2020, which would pay him $17.865 million.

Green, 31, missed the entire 2019 season with an ankle injury and entered the offseason with some uncertainty surrounding him, but the Bengals decided to franchise him rather than allowing him to sign elsewhere.

When Green is healthy, he is undoubtedly one of the best wideouts in the NFL. The No. 4 overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft was named a Pro Bowler in each of his first seven seasons from 2011-17 and reached the 1,000-yard mark in six of those seasons.

For his career, Green has caught 602 passes for 8,907 yards and 63 touchdowns in 111 games, making him one of the most accomplished receivers in the league currently.

Injuries have been a major issue for Green in recent years, however. He missed six games in 2016 and was then limited to nine games in 2018 and finished with just 46 receptions for 694 yards and six touchdowns. Green didn't play at all last season, which means he could be somewhat rusty when the 2020 season begins.

Andy Dalton has been Green's quarterback for his entire NFL career, but that won't be the case in 2020, as Dalton was released and signed with the Dallas Cowboys in free agency after the Bengals selected Joe Burrow with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2020 NFL draft.

Burrow enjoyed a historic season at LSU in 2019 as he completed 76.3 percent of his passes for 5,671 yards, 60 touchdowns and six interceptions. Burrow led LSU to an undefeated season and national title, and he won the Heisman Trophy as well.

While rookie quarterbacks usually have a steep learning curve to adjust to, playing with a young, talented quarterback like Burrow is something that could potentially appeal to Green.

The Cincinnati offense had seemingly been getting stagnant for the past few years, but Burrow should inject some new life into the unit, and having Green as his go-to target for even one season would likely aid significantly in his development.

Signing a long-term deal with the Bengals and helping Burrow grow is certainly an option for Green, but if he wants a chance to test the market next offseason, playing one year with a talented, young quarterback like Burrow could be a good way to increase his individual value.

Quarterback Joe Burrow hasn't even taken a snap for the Cincinnati Bengals, but he is already making a massive difference in his home state of Ohio.

On Thursday, the rookie signal-caller announced he partnered with the Athens County Food Pantry and Foundation for Appalachian Ohio to create the Joe Burrow Hunger Relief Fund:

Ben Baby of ESPN noted the fund held $700,000 as of Thursday afternoon "between the pantry's donation and a dollar-for-dollar match" from the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio.

Burrow said in a statement:

"I'm so grateful for the outpouring of support from people across the country around the food insecurity issues faced by those in my region. The initial funds that were raised have had an immediate impact for people throughout Athens County, and I am honored to lend my support and voice to this new initiative that will ensure that impact lasts long into the future."

This comes after Burrow talked about hunger in the Athens County area, where he grew up, as part of his victory speech when he won the Heisman Trophy in December for his efforts at LSU.

According to Baby, a fundraiser stemming from those comments led to approximately $650,000 in donations.

While Burrow's off-field accomplishments are already notable at 23 years old, Cincinnati selected him with the No. 1 overall pick of the 2020 NFL draft following his incredible season for the Tigers, when he led them to a College Football Playoff national championship behind 5,671 passing yards and 60 touchdown throws.

Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown reportedly "begged" the team's players not to kneel during the national anthem before a September 2017 game against the Green Bay Packers.

Former Bengals safety George Iloka told Elise Jesse of WLWT the players held a meeting after President Donald Trump suggested owners should release any player who took a knee during the anthem, but they couldn't reach a consensus about how to move forward.

"It was about 50 percent African Americans and 50 percent of my Caucasian brothers and it was only about 30 people," Iloka said Monday. "The meeting left pretty much just like, the African American players feeling like we want to kneel, and then it was the white players telling us, 'You guys don't need to do that.'"

An anonymous player said the situation led to an emergency meeting Saturday night during which Brown addressed the organization.

"He just begged, like really begged," the player told Jesse. "That was my first time seeing or hearing anything like that—very emotional. That was my only time seeing that it was different. The bottom line is that he was begging us, please do not kneel. He didn't want the backfire that was going to come from it."

Another member of the 2017 Bengals explained Brown feared backlash from the fans.

"He pretty much says, 'I don't want you guys kneeling.' He said our fans will crush us," the player said.

Iloka said the owner's comments created an internal conflict in large part because players saw former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick fail to receive a contract during the 2017 free-agency period after starting the anthem movement in 2016.

"My heart was beating because he's the owner, and you already saw what happened to Kaepernick," Iloka told Jesse.

Kaepernick's actions have become a talking point again over the past month amid worldwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality, the same issues at the heart of the 2016 movement, after George Floyd was killed while in Minneapolis Police custody in May.

Ultimately, no Bengals players took a knee before the team's 27-24 overtime loss to the Packers.

"Mr. Brown met with all players while the team was in Green Bay. A positive and open discussion ensued," a team spokesperson said in a statement to WLWT. "Mr. Brown shared with players his preference, but said he was not directing them what to do."

Linebacker Preston Brown, who was with the Buffalo Bills in 2017, called not kneeling after Trump's comments his "biggest regret," but added he probably wouldn't have landed in Cincinnati as a free agent in 2018 if he would have knelt, per Jesse.

"If I were to take a knee that day, I definitely wouldn't have played for the Bengals,' he said. "It was in OTAs or something like that, we had a meeting of like 20 guys, and they asked me and Cordy [Glenn] because we came from Buffalo where guys had taken a knee, and they said, 'We are not going to do that here. We don't need that attention. We don't need that type of display of protest,' and that was something that was weird to me."

The Bengals spokesperson told WLWT the team hasn't decided how to handle potential protests during the 2020 NFL season.

Cincinnati is scheduled to start the regular season at home Sept. 13 against the Los Angeles Chargers.

The early returns from Cincinnati Bengals rookie quarterback Joe Burrow during the virtual offseason have been positive. 

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor recently told Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer that he's "been really impressed with him [Burrow] but not surprised."

Taylor explained to Breer that the coaches got creative with offseason workouts for Burrow since they've been unable do things in person because of the coronavirus pandemic:

“We'd make a 20-play cutup, create a script off that cutup, and initially I'd just call a play out loud, so everybody could hear me, the quarterback could repeat, and call the cadence. And we'd just go through, 'O.K., center, Trey Hopkins, make the initial call here.' And we'd be showing a clip from the end zone view, and he'd make his call, the appropriate linebacker. Then, 'O.K., right tackle, who do you got? O.K., quarterback, any checks? No? O.K., call the cadence.'"

Burrow is preparing to be the starting quarterback when the regular season begins. Breer noted that Taylor didn't hesitate to say "absolutely" when asked if Burrow would take the first snap in training camp.

The NFL and NFL Players Association agreed to a deal in April that includes no on-field workouts until all 32 teams can reopen their training facilities. 

Cincinnati is currently scheduled to open training camp for rookies July 24 at Paul Brown Stadium, with veterans reporting two days later. 

After being selected No. 1 overall in the 2020 NFL draft, Burrow is going to have high expectations right out of the gate. Last season, he set an NCAA record 60 passing touchdowns, won the Heisman Trophy and led LSU (15-0) to a national championship. 

The Bengals are coming off a 2-14 record in 2019, tied for the worst single-season mark in franchise history (2002).                

Former NFL defensive back Ken Riley died Sunday morning at the age of 72, Florida A&M University announced.

Riley starred for Florida A&M as a player before becoming a coach and athletic director for the school after his playing career.

He spent 15 years in the NFL from 1969 to '83, all with the Cincinnati Bengals, compiling 65 interceptions in his career and a first-team All-Pro selection in his final season.   

The cornerback is tied with Charles Woodson for fifth in NFL history in interceptions, and each of the top four players on the list are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Riley is a member of the Bengals Hall of Fame, Black College Football Hall of Fame and FAMU Athletics Hall of Fame.

As a coach, Riley led the Rattlers to a 48-39-2 record from 1986 to '93, winning two MEAC Coach of the Year awards.

Current FAMU head football coach Willie Simmons provided a statement Sunday:

"I woke up this morning with a heavy heart as I learned of the passing of FAMU and NFL great Ken Riley. Coach Riley was one of the first to welcome me to the FAMULY and having him speak to our team before our first Orange and Green game is definitely at the top of my list of unforgettable moments as head coach here at FAMU. My deepest condolences go out to his family and we as football community will surely honor his memory."

Bengals great Willie Anderson also paid his respect:

Riley retired as the Florida A&M athletic director in 2004.

The Cincinnati Bengals are pledging $250,000 to help fight racial injustice in the United States while letting staff, coaches and players determine where the money should go.

According to Geoff Hobson of the Bengals' official site, the team's decision follows an internal "commitment to listening and to action" in the wake of ongoing protests over police brutality and systemic racism.

Cincinnati has yet to announce how it will disperse the money or which organizations will receive the donations.

In the team's statement, the Bengals touted a longstanding commitment to equal rights and civil responsibilities:

"Please do not mistake a lack of public commentary for indifference. The Bengals organization believes that fighting prejudice and discrimination requires action but to do so we have to listen first.

"Serious problems have been with us too long. Our Club has a proud tradition of opposing discrimination and of promoting equality through action, starting when team founder Paul Brown helped break professional sports' color barrier in 1946 with Marion Motley and Bill Willis. Those are the principles on which the franchise was founded and those are the same principles that guide our organization's thoughts and actions today.

"The effort to advance equality endures. Progress is needed and progress requires action. These are not just words. The Bengals have acted on these principles throughout the Club's history and will continue to act on them."

The Bengals join a growing list of NFL clubs and leaders to offer donations to help fight systemic racism in recent days. The San Francisco 49ers pledged $1 million to undisclosed "local and national organizations," New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and the Kraft family pledged $1 million to Boston-area organizations, and Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan donated $500,000 to aid the city's black community.

Friday also saw NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell release a video statement after a number of the league's star players posted a video on social media calling on the NFL to denounce racism. In his statement, Goodell said the league was "wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and [encourages] all to speak out and peacefully protest," though the commissioner did not specifically mention Colin Kaepernick.

The NFL did, however, pledge $20 million to address systemic racism.