AFC Notes: Bengals, Browns, Ravens

Bengals

Bengals second-round CB D.J. Turner popped out to the Bengals last year when they were scouting his Michigan teammate and eventual first-round S Daxton Hill. They were sold even more after watching him throughout the 2022 season. Turner ran a blazing 4.26-second 40-yard dash time at the Combine, the fastest of any player at the event. 

“He played a lot more confident this year than he did in 2021,” Bengals area scout Andrew Johnson said via the Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. “He’s going to be the fastest, quickest athlete on the field just about every game. He’s right up there with the Tyreek Hill‘s of the world when it comes to speed and explosiveness.”

The Combine was important for Cincinnati’s evaluation in more ways than one. Johnson happened to cross paths with Turner as his hotel was close to the Bengals’. 

“I bumped into DJ and did that walk together two or three times,” Johnson said. “That’s an important part of scouting is just to keep getting exposures to these guys. The more you can be around them when maybe they don’t have their guard up. At no point did I have any hesitation about his personality. He’s very professional, very smart. He was raised very well. He’s confident. He’s really, really bright.”

Browns

• Browns GM Andrew Berry said more roster moves could be coming during an appearance on ESPN Cleveland: “There may be some other things that we’re looking to do, either on the veteran market or trade market over the next several weeks.” 

Ravens

When asked if he felt teams did not pursue Lamar Jackson this offseason because the Ravens would match any offer sheet the quarterback signed, GM Eric DeCosta responded the franchise tag was a “powerful tool” in this situation and their cap space allowed them to make a “calculated gamble” with Jackson. 

“I think the franchise [tag] is a powerful tool,” DeCosta said, via ProFootballTalk. “I mean, anyone will say that, agents will say that, teams will say that, the union would say that. And so that’s exactly right. I think, you know, the fact is we were having a tough time getting a deal with Lamar. Again, we respected his position and his feelings, but we were still having a tougher time. But in the end, we felt like our deal, that the deals that we had made, we felt they were credible deals, we felt they were strong deals, and we felt like we were in a position to, not that we could match every single deal, but we felt like we would be able to match most deals and that if a team were willing to do a deal that we couldn’t match would be very hard for that team to do that type of deal. Not impossible, but very difficult. We already had the $32 million as a placeholder on our salary cap. Other teams didn’t. That’s problematic for other teams. So, in the end, it’s a calculated gamble, I would say. You know, is a team going to go after Lamar Jackson? And if they do, maybe, just maybe, the deal is something we can match which makes life easier for us.”

DeCosta is confident Jackson makes them a playoff-caliber organization. 

“One thing I’ve learned in my almost 28 years now is that every team operates differently,” DeCosta said. “Like, listen, there were many players in this draft that we thought were great players who fell, and there were a lot of players that, you know, we weren’t quite as high on as other teams. And that’s just kind of the nature of the business. Every team evaluates these guys differently. We know who we are with Lamar Jackson at quarterback. We know what our record is. We know we’re going to be a tough team to beat every season with Lamar out there on the field. We’re going to be a playoff team with Lamar Jackson with some good players around him. And you know, I’m glad obviously.”

As for whether DeCosta was surprised other teams didn’t pursue Jackson, but feels every team has a particular mold they are seeking at quarterback. 

“Was I surprised? Probably a little bit, but in the end, every team has to look at who they are, how they’re built, what’s important to them. I always feel like one of the advantages to free agency is when you have a guy on your team, you know exactly who he is, you know how he’s wired, you know what’s important to him. Other teams don’t know that, you know? And so that’s why in my mind, free agency is always a little bit dicey because here we are coveting other players on other teams, and we don’t know very much about them. A lot of times we try to find out, but we don’t. We know Lamar Jackson. We know how he’s wired. We know what resonates with him. We know how competitive he is. And so, for us, it was a no-brainer.”