Bengals Bytes (2/24): Feel the Burn

Cincinnati Bengals: A.J. Green & Tyler Eifert vs. the NFL
In this day and age, your team cannot succeed with just one major offensive weapon. Long gone are the days where you could just hope one guy could make all the plays needed to win games for you. You need a handful of players who can compliment each other and make enough plays to help the team succeed. Fortunately for the Cincinnati Bengals, they have quite a few guys who can do that, but mainly two big time targets that shined this past season: wide receiver A.J. Green and tight end Tyler Eifert.

Tez: lower targets, high goals
While Vontaze Burfict is conducting one of his first interviews since his three-game suspension and exchanging phone numbers with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, he’s keeping an eye on his daughter as she approaches a year old and all kinds of furniture as he relaxes with his family in California. It sounds like she just barely avoided a corner of the desk with his help. "Watch her, watch her," says the Bengals defensive traffic cop. And, yes, she reminds him of somebody.

Burney on joining coaching staff
Bengals.com sits down with Jacob Burney, the new defensive line coach of the Bengals, to discuss his background and coaching philosophy.

5 things that will affect Bengals at NFL Combine
The National Football League Scouting Combine begins on Wednesday in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Field, the home of the Colts, and the Cincinnati Bengals front office and coaching staff will continue framing out what will be the 2016 version of the team. We take a look at five topics that will affect the Bengals as they go about scouting the current NFL Draft class, moving names around their draft board and building the framework for the roster that will open training camp in a few short months.

Mel Kiper talks up Josh Doctson, who seems possible Bengals draft fit
ESPN's draft analysts continue believing the Cincinnati Bengals will use their first-round draft pick on a receiver later this spring. Each of the four mock drafts Todd McShay and Mel Kiper Jr. have compiled sent different pass-catchers to the Bengals. With the possibility some combination of Marvin Jones, Mohamed Sanu and Brandon Tate could be out the door when free agency begins, there likely will be a need to replace one or more of them. In his latest mock released last Thursday, Kiper predicted the Bengals would pick former TCU receiver Josh Doctson.

Cincinnati Bengals' Vontaze Burfict admits style of play must change
Any time a person can take ownership of his actions and publicly admit he may have been wrong, that person should be applauded. Vontaze Burfict deserves a few hand claps this week. It was refreshing to finally hear the Cincinnati Bengals linebacker go on record late Monday and discuss the chaotic, penalty-filled play that led in part to his team's collapse in the final seconds of last month's playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. A hit with his shoulder to the helmet of Steelers receiver Antonio Brown drew a personal foul penalty and gave Brown a concussion that kept him out of Pittsburgh's playoff game the following week in Denver.

Random Bytes

Jameis Winston: What I learned in my rookie season
Last year’s No. 1 overall pick reflects on the lessons of his rookie season—from becoming a better leader and better quarterback to dealing with coaching changes to getting his body in shape so he’ll fit in at his next Pro Bowl.

Patriots won't get picks back; Tom Brady could still be suspended
According to Mike Florio, the Patriots won't get their draft picks back as a result of Deflategate because they forfeited their right to do so. More concerning for Pats' fans is that Tom Brady could still be suspended.

The Free Agent Hot 100
The following are PFT’s top 100 free agents for the 2016 league year. The rankings include prospective unrestricted free agents, as well as released players. The list will be updated as events warrant, with signings and re-signings denoted when announced and/or reported.

Draft prospect’s solicitation charge dismissed
After completing terms of his sentencing, the solicitation charge that cost Ohio State NFL Draft prospect Adolphus Washington his final college game has been dismissed. Washington pleaded guilty to the charge under an agreement it would be dismissed if he completed a program known as "John school" before his sentencing, the Columbus Dispatch reported.

Arbitration ruling leads to increased NFL salary cap in 2016
The NFL's salary cap will get an additional boost of more than $1.5 million per team for next season. After the NFL Players Association won an arbitration hearing that means an additional $50 million or so will be available for teams to spend. The official salary cap has not been determined, but was expected to rise by at least $10 million from the $143.5 million ceiling of last season.

2016 NFL draft combine preview, 40 times, new coaches, GMs
As the NFL descends on Indianapolis for the annual draft combine, a look at five themes that come up every year and how they apply to the draft class of 2016

Johnny Manziel returns to Twitter by retweeting Charlie Sheen
Johnny Manziel has not updated his Twitter account since January 2 until today. And what better way for Manziel to mark his return to Twitter than by retweeting the one and only Charlie Sheen? Surely Manziel would have it no other way than to retweet a motivational tweet put out there by Sheen, who has seen his share of wild times on the crazy party train.