The Bengals may be staring at a big decision with Daxton Hill after the season. Hill is headed into the fifth-year option in 2026 and will become an unrestricted free agent after that, and Ben Baby of ESPN reports that the “soft estimate” for his next contract is $20 million per year. Even with that number floating around, Baby notes that it’s still unclear how Cincinnati values Hill or whether he fits into the team’s long-term plans.
In Baltimore, the early buzz around first-round pick G Olaivavega Ioane has been strong. Roquan Smith was quick to praise him, and so was general manager Eric DeCosta, who has repeatedly said Ioane sat at the top of his draft board.
“I can tell physicality is his thing,” Smith said, via Jamison Hensley of ESPN. “I’m very excited to see him in camp when the pads get to popping a little bit more.”
DeCosta was even more direct about how high he was on the rookie. “Vega was my favorite player in the entire draft,” DeCosta told the team’s podcast. “Knowing that Vega was one of the very top players on our offensive coaches’ list, it made it super easy for me.”
The Ravens are planning to start Ioane at right guard in his first NFL season, with veteran John Simpson on the left side. Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle said the rookie has already made a strong impression with how he carries himself and how quickly he’s picked things up.
“He’s in there, and he’s a rookie, but he feels like a veteran from his communication or from his relationship with the guys around him,” Doyle said. “You can see the athleticism on really a number of the schemes that we’re running, as well as in the protection game.
He’s a guy that is very quiet, but he’s hungry to get better.”
Ioane sounds ready for the work ahead. “It’s definitely a little bit of work to get used to again, but there isn’t much to it,” Ioane commented.
“When I’m on the field, nobody is going to stand in front of me and survive. That’s my biggest mentality.
I’m out there trying to move people off the ball, make them not get to my quarterback.”
Over in Pittsburgh, Aaron Rodgers said the biggest thing for him is getting the timing right with his new teammates. He also pointed out that Mike McCarthy has adjusted some of the terminology in the offense, even though Rodgers sees the system as familiar after 13 years in Green Bay.
“It’s just the next generations of the West Coast offense,” Rodgers said, via TribLive.com. “It went kind of Bill Walsh to kind of what Mike was doing with Paul Hackett, and then it’s kind of grown from there. From a real fundamental level, it’s all about the quarterback’s timing.”
“I spent 13 years in [McCarthy’s offense],” Rodgers noted. “He’s changed some stuff when he was in Dallas. . . . It’s stuff that we used to run, but he’s just called it something different now.”
In Other News...
Bengals Players Clearly Arent Worried About This Dexter Lawrence Debate
The Bengals trade for Dexter Lawrence has naturally invited some second-guessing, mostly from people fixated on age and sack totals. Inside the locker room, though, the reaction is a lot simpler. BJ Hill brushed off the noise as haters talking after Cincinnati lost its guy, and Lawrence has made it clear he is not interested in being judged only by what shows up in the box score.
Thats the part that matters most for Cincinnati, because the move was never just about adding another name to the defensive line. If Lawrence stays healthy, he gives the Bengals a much different presence at nose tackle than they had last season, and that kind of interior upgrade can change how a front looks on every snap. The debate may linger outside the building, but the people closest to it do not seem inclined to spend much time on it. [Read more 🡒]
Former Bengals Starter Is Already Facing Major Pressure Again
Cordell Volsons next chapter has put him right back in a familiar kind of pressure. After leaving Cincinnati and signing with Tennessee, the former Bengals guard is trying to win the Titans starting right guard job, where he is battling second-year lineman Jackson Slater for the spot. For a player who once held down a starting role in Cincinnati, it is another reminder that the line between opportunity and scrutiny in the NFL can be awfully thin.
Volsons path only gets tougher when you factor in the layoff. He missed the entire 2025 season with a shoulder injury and has not played regular-season football since 2024, which leaves him trying to re-establish himself after a long absence. Add in the uneven play he showed as a Bengals starter, and Tennessee is asking a lot from a veteran who needs to prove he can still be a dependable answer on the interior. [Read more 🡒]