The NFL does all it can to promote parity among the Baltimore Ravens and its other 31 franchises. It has a salary cap, a draft, and free agency. The goal is to allow teams who aren’t competing an opportunity to improve and do so relatively quickly.
As the years pass, something becomes more apparent: Parity can’t always be legislated, and it’s impossible to save every organization.
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If you disagree, ask yourself a couple of questions. Why are the Baltimore Ravens, more often than not, among the competing teams? Why isn’t that true for the Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals?
The Ravens are enjoying a decent offseason while the rival Cincinnati Bengals are not.
Most Ravens offseasons are similar, and the current one is no different. As always, anyone interested in Baltimore’s activities has also kept one eye on its AFC North rivals.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are suddenly comical, and the Cleveland Browns are always such. Pro football’s constant pursuit of parity never seems to benefit them.
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What have the Bengals been up to? Well, they haven’t been up to much. They lost Sam Hubbard to early retirement, but they’re also imploding.
They only seem interested in paying wide receivers. Their draft class drew negative reviews. Their first-round draft choice, Shemar Stewart, has yet to sign his rookie deal, and their best pass rusher, Trey Hendrickson, is ticked off at the organization.
There are only two 2024 NFL All-Pros on the Bengals’ roster. Hendrickson is one of them. Ja’Marr Chase is the other. One of those guys has already been paid. You guessed it. It’s the wideout.
Don’t hear what hasn’t been said. Don’t read what hasn’t been written. Of course, Chase deserved his payday. The questions are about why Hendrickson is being ignored.
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The Bengals have gone from promising him a raise to ignoring him entirely, but recent history has taught us that’s part of their business model. It’s been a tough three months for Cincy, but you won’t hear any complaints from the Ravens.
It’s May. No one will win any division this week, but for a Bengals team that finished 9-8 last season and missed the playoffs, it doesn’t appear that Cincinnati is doing enough to improve. They seem to be waving the white flag and doing their best to hand another divisional crown to Baltimore. We’ll see what happens, but the Ravens seemingly have the best offseason of any AFC North franchise.
This article originally appeared on Ravens Wire: Bengals appear content with allowing Ravens to dominate the AFC North