1. Not coming to a long term deal with Joe Burrow.
This is the absolute "no, no" for the Bengals front office this offseason. A deal with Joe Burrow has to get done and I don't think you can stress that enough.
We do not want a similar situation to what the Ravens are going through right now with Lamar Jackson (though, it's worth noting that his situation is unique because he doesn't have an agent). Whatever the Bengals have to pay, whatever is guaranteed or incentivized, needs to be completed with Joe Burrow and it really has to be done over the next few months.
Dragging this into the season will only cause a distraction and waiting till next offseason will give Burrow the chance to not only hit free agency and negotiate elsewhere, but it will also make it nearly impossible to re-sign both Burrow and Chase in the same offseason. Especially, if deals are not done with Tee Higgins or Logan Wilson.
This is by far the most important contract to date for the franchise and may be the most important one in the franchise's history if we are being completely honest. You don't come across Joe Burrow-level players every day. When you land one, you have to make sure you hold onto it.
It does seem like Burrow and the Bengals are trending in a positive direction as both sides have shown interest in getting a long-term deal structured and done as soon as possible and I would think that is what would happen. But things can change in a blink of an eye, so the longer this goes, the chance of it dragging out will increase.