AFC Notes: Elijah Moore, Bengals, Browns, Steelers

Bengals

While appearing on the Pat McAfee Show, Bengals WR Tee Higgins said he’s not concerned about entering the final year of his contract and is letting his agent handle the situation. 

“Right now I’m just preparing for the season, I’m not really worried about the contract,” Higgins said. “Obviously, I want to get a deal done but I let my agent handle that and you know right now just for me getting my body right for next season.”

Browns

Even though the team recently traded for WR Elijah Moore and signed veteran WR Marquise Goodwin, Browns GM Andrew Berry noted that the team could still add more players to their receiver group.

“I don’t think I ever feel that any unit is ever complete, honestly,” Berry said, via Chris Easterling of the Akron Beacon Journal. “I think we have a number of good players on that side of the ball that still have to come together. I think we have a nice mix of skillsets with our perimeter group, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to try to add guys to that side of the ball.”

“Despite maybe how it’s looked at times, I love speed,” Berry added. “We love speed, and there’s probably no general manager or head coach that says they want to be slow on the perimeter necessarily, but when you have an opportunity to add a good player who can really stress the defense with his ability to run, that’s an opportunity that we’re always going to look to take advantage of.”

Berry also complimented Moore and said the team felt confident in making the trade with the Jets for the young receiver.

“We feel very good about Elijah,” Berry said of his new acquisition. “Loves ball, hard worker. He’s a good teammate. This is a guy that, despite some of the ups and downs in New York, and obviously we have a really good relationship with that organization, my time working with (Jets GM) Joe (Douglas), and (Jets assistant director, pro personnel) Kevin Murphy and (Jets head coach) Robert (Saleh’s) friendship, but we feel good about who Elijah is, bringing him into our building and think he’s going to do well there.”

Berry also pointed out that he tried to trade for Moore last season but the Jets were unwilling to move him then.

“They were pretty adamant that they weren’t looking to move him [then],” Berry said, via Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com.

• Cabot reports free-agent WR Odell Beckham Jr. did not meet with the Browns at the NFL owners’ meetings and the team is content going forward with Moore and Goodwin.
• Arkansas WR Jadon Haselwood met with the Browns at his pro day. (Tony Pauline)
• According to Justin Melo, Cincinnati WR Tyler Scott had a formal meeting with the Browns at the NFL Combine. 

Steelers

An organization steeped in tradition and continuity like the Steelers typically has a set way of doing things. For Pittsburgh, that’s included rarely trading up or down in the first round. However, GM Omar Khan has already shown a willingness to change the way the team has traditionally done business in his first year in charge. He’s not ruling out a trade-up in the draft if he thinks it’ll be worth it. 

“This is a really good draft and I am fortunate this is my first draft,” Khan said via the Athletic’s Mark Kaboly. “I love the idea of having a lot of picks, but all options are on the table. If there is an opportunity to trade up to get a player, an impact player that can help us right away or be a longtime Steeler we are going to evaluate it.”

• According to Ray Fittipaldo, the Steelers are hosting three players for top-30 visits including USC EDGE Tuli Tuipulotu, Wisconsin DL Keeanu Benton, and Kansas State CB Julius Brents.