AFC Notes: Bengals, Browns, Steelers

Bengals

Bengals HC Zac Taylor believes that the offense is unselfish and that QB Joe Burrow doesn’t have to force the ball to any individual player.

“We don’t feel like we have to force the ball to anybody,” Taylor said, via Jake Rice of Bengals.com. “The ball goes to where the coverage dictates with the concept. Over the course of the year, each of those guys has had their big games and their big moments and there have been games maybe they’ve had two or three catches, but they were critical for us. That’s why it’s key to have such an unselfish group of receivers, where they all know they’re going to have their moment. There can be days where one guy maybe gets 15 targets, the other guys don’t, but when the balls do come their way, they’ve got to make the most of it. That’s just kind of a great picture of an entire locker room. It’s just that receiver room and how unselfish those guys are and how much they pull for each other.”

Not only does that speak to the talent of Cincinnati’s receiving corps, which includes Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd, but also for their unselfishness despite playing a position that has a reputation for diva behavior. 

“Not only is every single person in that room able to have a game like that, but they don’t get upset if they’re not the guy with that game,” Burrow said of the offense. “Ja’Marr can go for zero yards and Tee and TB combine for 300 and Ja’Marr will be just as happy as if he had a 250-yard game. That’s very unique to us, and I don’t know if a lot of receiving rooms in the league have that.”

Browns

• ESPN’s Jake Trotter writes Browns DE Jadeveon Clowney is going to want more on his next deal than the one-year deal he signed with Cleveland in 2021. But he thinks the Browns will be open to working something out. 
• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler writes that league executives think Chargers WR Mike Williams would be a good fit with the Browns, assuming he makes it to free agency which is no sure thing. He’s not seen as a true No. 1 receiver, but execs said those are rare anyway: “Possession routes and jump balls, back shoulder/fades — anything to accentuate his size, length, catch radius and ball skills, teams should be looking for.”
• The Browns will receiver two third-round picks as a result of losing executive Kwesi Adofo-Mensah to the Vikings as their next GM. The picks will be in 2022 and 2023. (Nate Ulrich)

Steelers

• Ed Bouchette of The Athletic thinks Steelers LB Joe Schobert, DL Stephon Tuitt and FB Derek Watt could all be potential cap casualties, however, the team doesn’t seem to want to move on from the deal they signed with Watt.
• Bouchette doesn’t see the team exercising the fifth-year option for LB Devin Bush or offering large contracts to any of their impending free agents, including WR JuJu Smith-Schuster, OT Chukwuma Okorafor, CB Ahkello Witherspoon and S Terrell Edmunds, aside from maybe a one-year deal to CB Joe Haden.
• The Steelers can defer $7.7 million of the hit from QB Ben Roethlisberger retiring to 2023 by dropping his base salary to the minimum and waiting to officially process his retirement until June 1. (Jason Fitzgerald)