I Remain Skeptical, but...

...this line from Joe Reedy's chat transcript caught my eye:

A lot of teams aren't addressing long term deals right now because no one knows what the next CBA deal will entail. I also think it is holding up some improvements to the stadium and possibly (and yes I will say it) building a practice bubble.

I'd rather the Bengals just committed to building a bubble even with the uncertainty around the new CBA because they're gonna need one no matter what the new CBA looks like.  But it seems as if a new openness exists, at least in concept, to an indoor facility that did not exist previously in the minds of mgmt.  It's somethin'.  Though not much.

I do understand uncertainty will definitely affect how teams sign players though, even though I fear that it might just be used as a smokescreen to not sign both JJ & Leon.

Comments

[Major Payne]

I'm not exactly sure how a CBA factors into building a practice bubble, but I agree that it is good to see that Mikey, Katie & Co. recognize it as something that could be done. As I recall, when UC approached the Bengals about sharing a practice bubble, MFB was only willing to contribute the air to fill the bubble.

I am concerned that the CBA is an excuse to be cheap. Then again, this is MFB. He doesn't really need an excuse in order to be cheap.

[Theme-Creator]

I think the reason they are no longer interested in building a practice bubble is because UC will have one done in the next 6 months and the Bengals feel that if needed they could just rent UC's.

I can tell you first hand they could not be more wrong. UC is so pissed off that the Bengals would not help out at all on the bubble and tried to rake them over the coals on lease rate at PBS for single games that UC will either not let them use it (they will say it is already booked) or charge a HUGE fee.

[BigRedM13]

I think Marvin is demanding a bubble to re-sign. Probably other stuff too, but I think this is one of those 'non-monetary' things we hear about from time to time.

The CBA matters because the cross-subsidies in the league may be based partly on how much each team spends. Mike Brown rationally wants to know exactly how building the bubble will affect his subsidy from Jerry Jones. Waiting until after the CBA may actually make it look like he spends more/makes less and gets a bigger share of revenue sharing.