AFC Notes: Bengals, Browns, Patriots

Bengals

• Bengals QB Joe Burrow on a potential contract extension: “I’m involved. That’s in the works.” (James Rapien)
• Burrow on OT Jonah Williams needing to do what is best for his career: “We love Jonah. He’s been a big part of our success the last few years. We’d love to have him back but business is business.” (Paul Dehner Jr.)
• Bengals WR Tee Higgins on why he decided to participate in the offseason program: “I love the game, man. I wanted to come in and work. I live here in Cincinnati. Why not come in and work out? For free? End of the day, I’m just here to get my work in.” (Dehner Jr.)

Browns

Browns rookie OT Dawand Jones is hoping to make an impact and focus only on football in his first NFL season, with HC Kevin Stefanski weighing in on his progress so far. 

“I want to get it and be ahead and be more advanced than everybody else,” Jones said, via Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal. “Just playing the game and just being my competitive nature. It kind of feels like my freshman year over again. You know what I mean? Just the next step is just all football. There’s no school. You go home. You’re going to do football. I love it and I just can’t wait, honestly.”

“Again, day one for these guys,” Stefanski said. “I mean, literally, Bill has him in his stance, putting his weight on his right foot or his outside foot or where he wants his hand placement. So it’s very entry-level football right now for him, and I thought he did a nice job. It’s going to be a challenge for all these guys. We’re going to ask them to use a technique that’s a little bit different, really, at every position, and he’s very receptive to that.”

• According to Field Yates, the Vikings will retain $1.177 million of OLB Za’Darius Smith‘s salary in the form of a signing bonus, which will adjust his cap charge for the Browns down to $3.032 million for 2023.

Patriots

The Patriots have had at least one undrafted free agent make their Week 1 roster for 19 straight years, tied for the longest active streak in the NFL. They have also carried at least three quarterbacks for four years. So that makes former Louisville QB Malik Cunningham an undrafted free agent of note to watch for the Patriots this summer.

New England guaranteed him $200,000 which was among the highest given out by any team to a UDFA this year. If he can beat out veteran Trace McSorley for the third quarterback job, he could have a role. Cunningham is only 5-11 and 192 pounds but he’s an excellent athlete for the position and ran for over 3,000 yards in college and 50 touchdowns. 

“He will be one of the most dynamic players when he’s on the field,” Western Michigan HC Lance Taylor, Cunningham’s offensive coordinator at Louisville last season, said via ESPN’s Mike Reiss. “He can turn a bad play into a home run and a special play quicker than just about anyone I’ve seen, especially at the quarterback position. He’s so unique with his skill set.”