How Katie and Troy Blackburn created one of biggest days in Bengals front office history

May 08, 2024

CINCINNATI – Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins have raced each other thousands of times over the last eight seasons. Sometimes Dunlap wins. Sometimes Atkins does. Occasionally they tie, arriving at the quarterback at the same time and end up splitting a sack.

Tuesday afternoon, Dunlap and Atkins ended a longer race in another dead heat, only this time they ended up splitting $110 million in what was one of the biggest days in franchise history for the front office.

“You don’t get many chances to sign two Pro Bowl defensive linemen in one day,” said Bengals Vice President Troy Blackburn, who negotiated Dunlap’s three-year, $45 million extension with agent Drew Rosenhaus while Executive Vice President Katie Blackburn worked Atkins’ four-year, $65.2 million deal with agent Pat Dye.

“We’ve been talking to these guys all offseason,” Katie Blackburn said, noting that talks began in February at the combine. “A lot of stuff depends on what else happens as you go along. It depends on what happens in free agency. It can depend on whether there are some other people you might want to add into the mix. We’re hopeful we were going to get something done. We would’ve liked for it to have been done back in March. But we just have been working on both all along, having good conversations and then obviously as we got to the preseason you finally get to that point where you say, ‘Guys, we’ve got to get this done.’”

And that’s what they did at almost the exact same time despite working in their separate offices across the hall from each other on the top floor at Paul Brown Stadium, with Katie Blackburn and Dye negotiating over the phone while Troy Blackburn and Rosenhaus hammered out the details face to face.

“Drew was very aggressive with this,” Troy said. “He came to Cincinnati on three different occasions over the past six months to meet with us and press the case that Carlos was deserving of a meaningful pay increase. Geno’s agent was equally as aggressive, but most of that was by phone. When we were at the owners meetings in Atlanta in May, we met with Pat Dye down there to have the discussion.”

Despite Rosenhaus’ presence in the building Tuesday, Katie Blackburn and Dye got to the dotted finish line first, signing the deal about an hour before Troy Blackburn and Rosenhaus shook hands.

“I’m actually much faster than Troy,” Katie quipped.

“And smarter,” Troy added. “Katie woke up yesterday and put her eye black on. She was ready to go.”

Locking up both players, regardless of timing, always was the goal for the Bengals. Dunlap, a second-round pick, and Atkins, a fourth-rounder, came to Cincinnati together as rookies in 2010. And they signed their first extensions – Dunlap’s for five years, $39.4 million, Atkins’ five years for $53.3 million – 17 days apart in 2013.

Dunlap (64.5) and Atkins (61) rank second and fourth on the franchise’s career sack list. Both have a chance to surpass Eddie Edwards’ total of 83.5, which would make them one of the most prolific sets of pass-rushing teammates in history, certainly among defensive end/defensive tackle combinations.

“Both of those players are quality players, they’re quality athletes and they’re quality people,” Troy Blackburn said. “Both of them have a chance to end their careers with over 100 quarterback sacks. That would be remarkable. Our position was never we’re going to hold a gun to one to try to get the other one done or something like that. Our goal was always if we could, to get them both done, because they’re both key members of a very good defense.

“What we were doing is communicating openly saying we would like to get something done with both,” he continued. “If your answer is no, we respect that. We’ll negotiate with you at the end of the year. But if that answer is no, it will affect what we do with the other guy in terms of structure and those kinds of things. It was never trying to hold up one or threaten one with the other.”

That was not the case in 2013 when the Bengals had three defensive linemen vying for two extensions. The Bengals place the franchise tag, worth $11.2 million, on Michael Johnson in March that year. They had until July 15 to negotiate a long-term extension or Johnson would be forced to play the 2013 season under the tag.

The sides couldn’t reach a deal by the deadline, and the next day the Bengals extended Dunlap. A couple of weeks later, Atkins got his extension. And the following March, Johnson signed a five-year, $43.8 million deal with Tampa Bay, only to return to the Bengals the following March.

Both Atkins and Dunlap said they appreciated the way things played out this offseason, with their agents only needing to negotiate with the team, not against each other.

“We both wanted to be here, and we both wanted to do whatever it took to stay here and continue to do what we do,” Dunlap said. “I woke up knowing there was rumors Geno was really close to being done. I didn’t know we were going to be able to get mine done the same day.”

“That was a pretty cool surprise,” Atkins added.

Another reason the negotiations didn’t devolve into a direct competition was the different approach each player brought to the table. At the press conference Wednesday, Atkins, who is 30 and will be 34 when his contract expires after 2022, talked about wanting to finish his career in Cincinnati.

But Dunlap, 29, could be in line for another big pay day when he hits free agency in 2021.

“Carlos is a year younger, so Carlos was pushing for a little bit shorter deal because he was sitting there thinking, ‘Well, if I play great the next two or three years, I can get another one,’” Troy Blackburn said. “And Geno was saying ‘Well, I’m a year older and I’ve got an opportunity given my high performance to max out.’ So the deals ended up being somewhat different in how they hit.

“There were different strategies that the players had, and it achieved what goals they were seeking to get done. It’s not just I want five apples instead of four. There was a strategy at their end that we were trying to work with so that we could get the deals done. From a club standpoint, we cared a little bit less about that than trying to A, securing top-end players for the long haul, and B, to be able to do it within a framework that we can keep a good football team together. Because we know there are other good players that are going to be coming up next year.”

Despite the different agendas, different agents and different lead negotiators, everything still came together at almost the same time, one Troy Blackburn referred to as the “witching hour.”

The Bengals always have stuck to a rule of ending negotiations once the regular season begins so the players and the front office alike can focus on football. But with another less rigid deadline approaching in nearly 48 hours, the talks ramped up Tuesday.

“The reason there was some confluence with those deals yesterday, was because we’ve been sending that message,” Troy Blackburn said. “But also when you hit Thursday, the final preseason game, the rules change for how you account for and manage bonuses. We had communicated that to both players, so there was some serendipity to both being kind of simultaneous.

“We didn’t know how they were going to come out. I think the club was hopeful that both contracts could come together. We knew it was going to be close to the same time, we just didn’t know that it was literally going to be at the same time. It was exciting.”

So how did the Blackburns celebrate one of the most significant signing days in franchise history?

“We both got some exercise in,” Katie said. “You get your adrenaline up there and you have a lot of energy going. I went and swam some laps, and Troy went running. Then we went home and had a frozen pizza for dinner.”

(Top image: Geno Atkins, right, and Carlos Dunlap (left) answer questions at Paul Brown Stadium after both signed contract extensions with the team. Kareem Elgazzar/The Cincinnati Enquirer via USA TODAY NETWORK)

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