Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown and agent Drew Rosenhaus had a courtside-style moment before Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins, with the two spotted in a private conversation on the field before kickoff.
What they actually said is anybody’s guess, and it may stay that way for a while. Brown isn’t expected to be talking to the media anytime soon, which leaves plenty of room for speculation about a meeting that stood out simply because of who was involved.
Rosenhaus has four clients on the Bengals’ roster: Dalton Risner, Kyle Dugger, Jalen Rivers and Colbie Young. That alone makes the pregame conversation worth a second look. Risner and Dugger are both set to hit free agency after the season, so contract extensions are the obvious place for the conversation to land.
Both players have shown their value when healthy. Dugger’s status has become especially important for Bengals fans, who are waiting for him to get healthy and settle into the starting safety job opposite Bryan Cook as Jordan Battle continues his battle against missed tackles from a year ago.
Risner is another potential talking point. Cincinnati could choose to bring him back next offseason rather than chase a pricier free agent or draft a rookie to handle the guard spot.
Rivers, meanwhile, is still working under his rookie deal through the 2028 season, so an extension would not be the issue there. If his name came up, it could have been in the context of a possible trade, given the shifting landscape around the league.
Young was taken by the Bengals in the fourth round of this year’s draft, so the discussion there would have been far simpler: when he can get more snaps once he’s healthy.
Rosenhaus had plenty of business to handle on the other sideline too. He also represents four Dolphins players: Zach Sieler, Joshua Uche, Ronnie Harrison and Kaytron Allen. The focus there most likely centered on Uche and Harrison, both of whom are in the final year of their contracts.
That’s part of the job for an agent like Rosenhaus, who has spent more than 30 years building relationships across the league. The conversation with Brown may never be public, but the list of possible topics is easy enough to draw up: Risner, Dugger, Rivers and Young on one side, Uche and Harrison on the other.
In Other News...
Bengals Offense Has A Zac Taylor Problem Fans Can't Ignore
The Bengals keep finding themselves in the same offensive conversation under Zac Taylor: plenty of talent, but not enough variety. With Joe Burrow, JaMarr Chase and Tee Higgins all spending too much time unavailable because of injuries, Cincinnati has had to navigate stretches without its full trio, and the lack of a more flexible run game has only sharpened the focus on how the offense is being put together.
Ben Fennells data paints a clear picture of a unit that has become easy to read, and that matters because the Bengals have leaned so heavily on the same basic answers when games tighten up. The concern is not just the run rate, but how little the offense changes around it, leaving Taylors group vulnerable when defenses can sit on familiar looks and force the passing game into the same stressful spots over and over. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Defense Is Forcing A Trade Deadline Question They Usually Avoid
With the Dolphins up next and a bye week sitting right behind it, the Bengals are in that familiar early-season spot where the record still feels manageable and the roster questions are already getting louder. At 2-2, Cincinnati has time to sort things out, but the defense has done enough to make the conversation around the trade deadline more interesting than usual, especially for a team that has not often gone shopping for help on that side of the ball during the season.
A recent PFF report added fuel to that discussion by connecting the Bengals to potential defensive upgrades, the kind of veteran support that could help at linebacker and in the secondary. It is a reminder that the front office may have to weigh a rare in-season move if the current group leaves enough doubt over the next few weeks, even if this is not the sort of deadline lane Cincinnati usually prefers to drive in. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Week 5 Passing Order Just Got A Lot Trickier
The Bengals Week 5 passing pecking order is getting crowded again with JaMarr Chase and Tee Higgins back in the mix, and that changes the fantasy picture as much as the on-field one. For anyone trying to sort through the options, Mike Gesicki looks like the steadier play, especially against a Miami defense that has been friendlier to tight ends than to wideouts.
Dohnte Meyers, meanwhile, is the tougher sell now that the Cincinnati passing game is back closer to full strength. Miamis coverage profile makes wide receiver production harder to come by, and Meyers outlook takes a hit with Chase and Higgins both active, leaving his role more vulnerable than it was when the Bengals were shuffling through earlier weeks. [Read more 🡒]