The Super Bowl came to an end earlier in the week. We got to see the Los Angeles Rams take down the Cincinnati Bengals after a late game stop to emerge as world champions. It was a close game throughout. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see Joe Burrow and this young Bengals team pull away with the win. Though it was clear that Los Angeles had far and away more talent on the roster. Now a few days removed from the big game, and there is quite a bit of news going on surrounding these teams in particular.
Super Bowl Champions
Starting with the Rams, Aaron Donald may be on the verge of retiring. Rumors randomly exploded onto the scene right before the game officially started. Donald is still considered to be in the prime of his career. However, it wouldn’t be too far out of the question to retire now that he has accomplished everything that he wanted to in the NFL. Fans are now waiting patiently to hear what his final decision to be. It seems like he may have hinted at it during their parade. Sean McVay had asked him if he wanted to run it back, and Donald responded, “why not run it back?” He also said, “we built a super team. We can bring the super team back.” It all but wraps up the question that Donald will be sticking around a little longer.
Then, we have Andrew Whitworth and his potential retirement. When he was up on stage with the microphone, Whitworth told the fans, “You know what, we’ll save that conversation for another day. But what I will say, because I hadn’t touched on this yet: Five years ago, I was told I was a little too old. And I was told that maybe my time was done. And I’ll tell you this, for every single person standing out there that’s ever doubted anything you’ve ever done, bet on yourself, because five years later I’m holding this trophy up, and I’m 40 years old.” While it doesn’t clear much up on his retirement decision, it was an inspiring quote, nonetheless.
Bengals Disappointed but Not Finished Yet
Then, we head over to the Bengals. Most of this roster is locked in for the next couple of years due to rookie deals and whatnot. However, there are a few more loose ends that the organization wants to tackle before hitting the offseason. The first was inking their head coach Zac Taylor to an extension. The contract extension means that Taylor will be sticking around as the head coach through the 2026 season.
Afterwards, they turned their focus onto their star safety Jessie Bates. Bates is set to become an unrestricted free agent in a few months. Cincinnati and Taylor announced that discussions are already starting with Bates on his contract extension. It’s very clear that both Bates and the Bengals want him to stick around long term and there is almost no chance that they allow him to walk away from the team. Especially because they have the third most cap space in the league at $57.3 million.
We are sure to hear more news from each of these Super Bowl teams as the offseason progresses. For the Rams, they won’t be taking anything seriously for the next few weeks. For the Bengals, they have some work left to do so that they can make another run at it next year.
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