Bengals

Bengals HC Zac Taylor was asked about being the longest tenured coach in the AFC North after all the division’s coaches were let go by their respective franchises.

“Well, it’s strange,” Taylor said, via Pro Football Talk at the scouting combine this week. “You know, I’ve got a lot of respect for those three guys I’ve been competing against the last few years, and obviously great coaches and [they] have had a lot of success. So, it’s a little strange, but I’m sure that I’ll get used to it very quickly.”

“Not for me to sit here and say today,” Taylor replied when asked about the division. “Maybe those teams will evolve in different ways than they have over the last couple years. Kind of impossible for me to say but exciting for us. We’ve got continuity. We’ve got to capitalize on that and continue to build and move forward.”

Browns

Alabama QB Ty Simpson has close ties to new Browns HC Todd Monken, who is a friend of his family.

“My dad and coach Monken go way back,” Simpson told Cleveland.com. “They talk often. He texted him when he got the job and they’ve texted a little bit [since], so if I had the opportunity to play for the Browns, it would be a dream come true.”

Simpson believes Monken and his staff will make Cleveland a good place for a quarterback to develop.

“I think I’d be in great hands with the team that they have and the organization, and then coach Monken, what he does with the quarterbacks and the offense is super quarterback-friendly and I think he’s going to coach me hard if I’m able to go there and I know he’s going to do it the right way,” Simpson added. “So I’m super-excited.”

• New Browns RT Tytus Howard on being traded to the team and signing a new contract extension: “I wasn’t surprised. They’re trying to get younger and pay some guys. I ain’t mad. I kind of knew it was going to happen.” (Aaron Wilson)

Ravens

Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti recently said that they want to sign QB Lamar Jackson to a contract extension ahead of free agency. Baltimore GM Eric DeCosta said he’s been in contact with Jackson and they will continue having conversations about his contract. 

“Lamar and I have an agreement: We handle business kind of in-house internally, as you all know,” DeCosta said, via PFT. “That worked well for us the last time, and we will continue to have that policy moving forward. I have spoken to Lamar about a lot of different things over the last month. He’s been very engaged. He was big value to us in the coaching search, but we’ll continue those conversations moving forward.”

DeCosta said that he is “definitely” confident about getting a deal done. 

“I am. I am. I definitely am,” DeCosta said.

Baltimore currently has $22 million in cap space, while Jackson carries a cap figure of $74.5 million over the next two years. DeCosta is confident they will have enough space to make some moves this offseason. 

“I think we never have as much cap room as we would like to have, but we feel like we can start at the beginning of the new league year and conduct business,” DeCosta said.

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