AFC North Notes: Bengals, Browns, Ravens, Steelers

Bengals

• The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. still sees the Bengals moving on from OL Cordy Glenn this offseason despite the two sides mending the relationship enough for Glenn to start the past two weeks. 
• Per ESPN’s Ben Baby, Bengals HC Zac Taylor said WR A.J. Green wouldn’t play this week. 
• Taylor added the team still believes Green will play at some point this season and haven’t discussed putting him on injured reserve. (Jay Morrison)
• Bengals re-signed WR Damion Willis to their practice squad. (NFLTR)

Browns

• Per Nate Ulrich of the Akron Beacon-Journal, Browns QB Baker Mayfield said he expects to play Sunday but he hasn’t thrown yet this week after suffering a bruise on his hand. 
• Browns OT Greg Robinson has cleared the concussion protocol. (Scott Petrak)
• Browns HC Freddie Kitchens said they’re waiting to activate TE David Njoku (wrist) until they’re sure he can be a full-go in the game. (Petrak)

Ravens

Now that the NFL coaching cycle is starting to wind into gear as the season draws to a close, Ravens OC Greg Roman‘s name has started to come up as an option for potential vacancies around the league. The work he’s done designing Baltimore’s option attack around QB Lamar Jackson has drawn a lot of attention, but Roman is staying focused on this season and the Ravens’ Super Bowl hopes. 

“Honestly, I’ve been through this thing before,” Roman said via ESPN’s Jamison Hensley. “The best thing to do is keep blinders and do your job the best you can. Somebody once said to me, ‘Do a great job with the job you got and don’t worry about anything else, no matter what. Do the best job you can do every day and love the job you got’ — which I do.”

• According to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport, Ravens FB Patrick Ricard‘s two-year extension is worth $7.3 million. 
• Ricard will receive the equivalent of a restricted free agent tender worth just over $3 million in 2020 and $4 million in 2021, with a $2 million bonus coming at the start of the 2020 league year. 
• Ravens claimed C Hroniss Grasu off of waivers from the Titans. (NFLTR)
• Ravens waived DL Zach Sieler.
• Ravens signed G Will Holden to their practice squad. (NFLTR)

Steelers

• The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly believes that if Steelers LB Bud Dupree gets to free agency, some other team will offer more than the Steelers. Kaboly doesn’t think the Steelers will use the franchise tag on Dupree at a cost of a little over $16 million. 
• He also believes Steelers DT Javon Hargrave will sign elsewhere in 2020. 
• Kaboly predicts Steelers QBs Mason Rudolph and Devlin Hodges will battle in camp next year for the backup job to Ben Roethlisberger, with Pittsburgh’s quarterback of the future still up in the air. 
• Kaboly also thinks the Steelers will let RB James Conner play out his rookie deal as he hasn’t been able to stay healthy the past two seasons. 
• Kaboly expects WR JuJu Smith-Schuster to sign an long-term deal sometime next August or September. 
• Kaboly identifies LB Anthony Chickillo as a possible cap cut, with LB Mark Barron another option but more likely to stay. 
• Smith-Schuster said his knee was improving and he’s been able to run in a straight line, but he hasn’t started cutting and the injury is week-to-week. (Brooke Pryor)