The Cincinnati Bengals might be one of the most poorly-run franchises in the NFL, and it doesn't appear to be getting better.
Right now, the team is dealing with multiple contract standoffs with Trey Hendrickson and Shemart Stewart. Hendrickson is due a massive extension, and Stewart is their unsigned first-round draft pick. It's getting to a point where something has to give, right?
Without Hendrickson and Stewart in the picture, the Bengals defense is going to get even worse. Well, some new information seems to indicate that their dysfunction goes way, WAY beyond the current contract standoffs.
Can do the Bengals do anything right?
Here is Sarah Barshop of ESPN on the Cincinnati Bengals:
"ESPN spoke with players about how they define "treatment of families" and the feedback that serves as the basis for the NFLPA's grades.Sarah Barshop
Multiple current Bengals players, who were granted anonymity to speak freely on the subject, referenced the lack of gameday amenities available to them and how difficult that can make it on their families.
One player noted that another AFC team had an indoor cookout-style meeting area in the stadium postgame. Up until last year, when the Bengals added a postgame area inside the stadium for families to meet, they had an outdoor area beneath a large white tent roughly 20 yards away from the players' parking lot.
One player described the tent as a "s--t show," especially when it was cold."
This is just flat-out insane, and I guess it's not really a surprise, is it? This team has been poorly run and managed for years now, and they honestly kind of lucked into Joe Burrow in the 2020 NFL Draft.
Earlier this offseason, the team managed to get contract extensions done with Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, and those deals a few months later honestly seem like miracles. If you ask me, it may have been better for Cincy to maybe trade Higgins and use that money to extend Hendrickson, but what do I know?
At the very top, the Cincinnati Bengals are flat-out embarrassing and just can't seem to adapt to the modern-day NFL. Some of their best players like Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase are seeing their prime years wasted away.
Cincinnati has to figure something out quickly, or they'll again find themselves at the bottom of the AFC. This latest bit of reporting from ESPN really isn't surprising, but it does make your eyes roll. How hard can it be to not be a terrible franchise?