AFC Notes: Andrew Berry, Joe Burrow, Bengals, Browns, Steelers

Bengals

Bengals QB Joe Burrow says he supports the decisions of teammates WR Tee Higgins and DE Trey Hendrickson. However, he is only focused on winning games in the upcoming season regardless of what they decide to do.

“Those guys have their business they need to take care of. I support them in every way,” Burrow said, via Geoff Hobson of the team website. “Both those guys have earned everything that has come to them and more. I’ll support them all the way through it. Whatever they feel like is best for their career. That’s for them and their agents and their families to decide. But we are here to win football games. I really hope both those guys are here next year because we are a better football team with both of them. They are both great locker room guys, too. They are going to do what they’ve got to do, but when the time comes for them to come back, if that time comes, we are going to welcome them back and hit our stride.”

Browns

The Browns didn’t have a draft pick until pick No. 54 where they selected second-round DT Michael Hall Jr. Cleveland GM Andrew Berry spoke on Hall and feels he’s a perfect fit for what they’re looking for at that position.

“With Mike, he’s really tailor-made for our attack front,” Berry said, via ESPN’s Daniel Oyefusi. “He’s explosive, he’s quite quick. He can rush the passer. He’s long, and he plays, really with a very high motor. He’s really the quintessential 3-technique in our defense. And for us, pass-rushers will always come at a premium, especially those that can affect the pocket from inside, and we think that’s something that Mike will be able to do along our front. So, we’re really excited to kind of keep him home, so to speak, and think his skill set and passion really matches perfectly for our organization.”

“It’s not a space-eating position for us. We want guys who can move. And so our prototype for the position is going to look a little bit different than other schemes in the league.”

Steelers

The Steelers landed OT Troy Fautanu and C Zach Frazier in the first two rounds of the 2024 NFL Draft. Mike Tomlin wants to “roll people” with a physical offensive line. 

“We just wanna roll people, man, to be honest with you guys,” Tomlin said, via SteelersWire. “We have some backs that we like. We have a good offensive line. We took Broderick Jones a year ago. This draft pool or class we thought was really loaded with some top-end offensive line talent and we just wanted to draw from that well.”