Upcoming FAs - who do you want?

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Bobby Wagner getting released by the Rams. Pair him up with Logan Wilson.

[SunsetBengal]

(03-06-2023, 03:25 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Bobby Wagner getting released by the Rams. Pair him up with Logan Wilson.

I've seen Wagner suggested a few times, but does anyone really think that he'd be interested in playing for Cincinnati?  He's an LA guy who's played his entire career on the West Coast.  

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(03-06-2023, 04:00 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I've seen Wagner suggested a few times, but does anyone really think that he'd be interested in playing for Cincinnati?  He's an LA guy who's played his entire career on the West Coast.  

He's already made $92m, he's already a first ballot hall of famer. I think he's just looking for ring #2 at this point, and there's only so many places where he has a good chance at that. There's really no great choice on the West Coast for a ring right now, as the 49ers don't have a healthy QB right now.

No idea if he'd want to come to Cincinnati, but if he wants another ring, he'll probably have to leave the West Coast.

[BFritz21]

(03-06-2023, 04:00 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I've seen Wagner suggested a few times, but does anyone really think that he'd be interested in playing for Cincinnati?  He's an LA guy who's played his entire career on the West Coast.  

He's played his entire career out there so he doesn't need any more of the glamour of cities like LA!

He's 32 (I think?) and probably just wants to end his career chasing more rings since he's done pretty much everything else and he has to be worth ten million or more, so he's not out chasing money (I get it that money still plays a part), which is good for us since we can't be throwing a ton of money around with the extensions we're trying to work out.

SI and CBS Sports echo my opinions:

Quote:The Bengals are the best destination for Wagner if they can figure out the money.

"Wagner wants to play for a title-contending team, and the Bengals are coming off consecutive AFC title game appearances," Bryan Deardo wrote. "Cincinnati, led by Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow, is expected to contend for a Super Bowl again in 2023. Wagner would serve as the perfect replacement for Germaine Pratt, who is expected to depart in free agency.

Money is the biggest roadblock between Wagner possibly signing with Cincinnati. The Bengals have cap space, but they expect to use most of it on re-signing Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and (down the road) Tee Higgins. Wagner would have to take considerably less than his market value in order for this to happen."

Will he prioritize winning over one last payday? That's the big question as Cincinnati decides what to do with Germaine Pratt's expired contract and Logan Wilson's looming extension.

I think if we offer him a fair and decent contract with a decent amount of guaranteed money, we could land him because he's smart and knows that we'd be a safe bet for a last decent deal while also offering the chance at more rings.

[Housh]

I’d love to get Leonard Fornette and let Perine and Mixon walk



I’d really love to sign a good TE too so we don’t go into the draft needing 3.

[Bengalbug]

Frank Clark would be a nice add.

[pulses]

(03-06-2023, 07:25 PM)Housh Wrote: I’d love to get Leonard Fornette and let Perine and Mixon walk



I’d really love to sign a good TE too so we don’t go into the draft needing 3.

Fournette was worse than Mixon last year NO THANKS !!

[*Go Cards*]

Doubt the Bengals can afford mine

But would want Teddy Bridgewater for a back up QB, dude can read and dissect defenses with the best, he is extremely accurate but arm is a tad weak to be elite. Would be a great voice in Burrow's ear and still give the Bengals a chance to win if called upon.

Orlando Brown or Isaiah Wynn but doubt Bengals could find the money unless it was a one year contract

[Sled21]

(03-07-2023, 11:17 AM)Go Cards Wrote: Doubt the Bengals can afford mine

But would want Teddy Bridgewater for a back up QB, dude can read and dissect defenses with the best, he is extremely accurate but arm is a tad weak to be elite. Would be a great voice in Burrow's ear and still give the Bengals a chance to win if called upon.

Orlando Brown or Isaiah Wynn but doubt Bengals could find the money unless it was a one year contract

Teddy would also bring in the Louisville crowd. Paired with the quarter of a million the Bengals just gave Louisville to put a turf field on 9th street war zone, they could really expand the fanbase here. I sure wish Louisville would be moved into the home market like Lexington. There are literally no Colts fans here. There's more Ravens fans than Colts, and if Lamar leaves that will die off as well. 

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(03-07-2023, 11:17 AM)Go Cards Wrote: Doubt the Bengals can afford mine

But would want Teddy Bridgewater for a back up QB, dude can read and dissect defenses with the best, he is extremely accurate but arm is a tad weak to be elite. Would be a great voice in Burrow's ear and still give the Bengals a chance to win if called upon.

Orlando Brown or Isaiah Wynn but doubt Bengals could find the money unless it was a one year contract

(03-07-2023, 01:24 PM)Sled21 Wrote: Teddy would also bring in the Louisville crowd. Paired with the quarter of a million the Bengals just gave Louisville to put a turf field on 9th street war zone, they could really expand the fanbase here. I sure wish Louisville would be moved into the home market like Lexington. There are literally no Colts fans here. There's more Ravens fans than Colts, and if Lamar leaves that will die off as well. 

Would be for Teddy as our backup for sure.

Other guys I would want us to bring in are Eluemunor at RT and Bobby Wagner as TLL said. Bobby should be ring chasing this late 
in his career and is still a great tackler. Should be cheaper than Pratt by a large margin. Frank Clark as Bengalbug said would also be
a nice addition to the Defense.

[*Go Cards*]

(03-07-2023, 01:24 PM)Sled21 Wrote: Teddy would also bring in the Louisville crowd. Paired with the quarter of a million the Bengals just gave Louisville to put a turf field on 9th street war zone, they could really expand the fanbase here. I sure wish Louisville would be moved into the home market like Lexington. There are literally no Colts fans here. There's more Ravens fans than Colts, and if Lamar leaves that will die off as well. 

Agree 100% and have been saying this for years about how it would immediately grow the Bengals fan base bringing in a Louisville player. The city is merely 90 miles away with a floating NFL fan base looking for a team. 

You're right as well that the Raven fan base is only because of Lamar and they will follow him if he leaves. It actually used to be a Bengals town in the 70's and 80's but the Bengals did nothing to keep them and then Nashville and Indy got teams and there were suddenly choices. They jumped on Tennessee momentarily until Manning came to Indy and held their interest until retirement. Then Lamar went to Baltimore and voila they jumped ship again and now it's a Ravens town. 

Thought it would happen the year Cincinnati native Eric Wood was coming out of Louisville and the Bengals needed OL help. Yet the let another golden opportunity slip by. Of course maybe they would have if he slipped to 2nd round but of course Buffalo had different plans and wisely snatched him up in 1st.
 
There is still enough OG Bengals fans to raise the ship back up if the Bengals would make an effort. To their credit the move they just made giving money for the park and field could be a nice foundation to build upon though. 

So not giving up hope that Louisville once again becomes a Bengals town 

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Just say F It... sign Bobby Wagner, sign Orlando Brown, sign Mike McGlinchey, sign Ben Powers, structure/restructure contracts (and cut Mixon) to make it work in 2023 and worry about 2024's cap in 2024 after you've lifted a Lombardi. YOLO. Lol

[Bengal Dude]

I'm not expecting any "big" signings. I believe the team is going to focus squarely on extensions. I believe Mike Potts mentioned that the team couldn't really figure out their free agency budget until Burrow's extension was done. 

It'll most likely be some cheap one year deals this time around.

[Bengalbug]

(03-08-2023, 08:24 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Just say F It... sign Bobby Wagner, sign Orlando Brown, sign Mike McGlinchey, sign Ben Powers, structure/restructure contracts (and cut Mixon) to make it work in 2023 and worry about 2024's cap in 2024 after you've lifted a Lombardi. YOLO. Lol

Wagner and Mike McG would be good. Also like frank Clark or some sort of pass rush artist.

I’d be down for cutting mixon and signing a guy like Damien Harris for a fraction of the cost.

Re-sign: bel, Apple, hurst (if not hurst look for your middle of the road NFL tight end that can give you the 50/500/5)

Extend - burrow, Wilson and Higgins


Likely missing something, but I would consider this a good offseason. Then the draft.

[coachmcneil71]

(03-07-2023, 11:17 AM)Go Cards Wrote: Doubt the Bengals can afford mine

But would want Teddy Bridgewater for a back up QB, dude can read and dissect defenses with the best, he is extremely accurate but arm is a tad weak to be elite. Would be a great voice in Burrow's ear and still give the Bengals a chance to win if called upon.

Orlando Brown or Isaiah Wynn but doubt Bengals could find the money unless it was a one year contract

Definitely love to see the FO upgrade the backup QB position. If they don't re-sign Hurts would like to see them grab a guy like J. Johnson from NO. Coming off of a nice breakout campaign, he's an athletic freak and huge redzone target for JB. That said, I highly doubt that NO lets him get away. 

[Bengalbug]

(03-09-2023, 11:25 AM)coachmcneil71 Wrote: Definitely love to see the FO upgrade the backup QB position. If they don't re-sign Hurts would like to see them grab a guy like J. Johnson from NO. Coming off of a nice breakout campaign, he's an athletic freak and huge redzone target for JB. That said, I highly doubt that NO lets him get away. 

Any of these FA tight ends would work in our system:

Dalton Schultz
Mike Gesicki
Hayden Hurst
Robert Tonyan
Austin Hooper
Foster Moreau
Irv Smith

With the exception of Irv Smith, who is the youngest, these are all guys with proven track records of 40-50+ catches, 400-500+ yards, 2-5+ Tds.

I don’t see a world, with our wr core, where a tight end will get much opportunity to outperform those buckets.

I’d prefer to bring back hurst, but if he gets a 3 year/27m deal and we can get one of the others on that 1-2 year at 5m a year, that is the better route.

[WVUHomer]

(03-09-2023, 02:26 AM)Bengal Dude Wrote: I'm not expecting any "big" signings. I believe the team is going to focus squarely on extensions. I believe Mike Potts mentioned that the team couldn't really figure out their free agency budget until Burrow's extension was done. 

It'll most likely be some cheap one year deals this time around.

Malik claimed he could see us signing Mike Geisicki for a one year prove it deal this offseason. Don't know if you constitute a "big" signing but it's at least a big name signing.

[Bengalbug]

(03-09-2023, 01:26 PM)WVUHomer Wrote: Malik claimed he could see us signing Mike Geisicki for a one year prove it deal this offseason. Don't know if you constitute a "big" signing but it's at least a big name signing.

I just don’t see any tight end having a banner year here. I think almost any competent NFL tight end is going to end up with similar production. Too many quality receivers to warrant real focus from opposing defense, and on the flip side too many good receivers to warrant more than a handful of targets a game.

[007BengalsFan]

(03-09-2023, 01:53 PM)Bengalbug Wrote: I just don’t see any tight end having a banner year here.  I think almost any competent NFL tight end is going to end up with similar production.  Too many quality receivers to warrant real focus from opposing defense, and on the flip side too many good receivers to warrant more than a handful of targets a game.

I agree.  We dont need a 7-8 million dollar TE.  Any competent TE will do.  Did you see how the team struggled when they lost Hurst?  No, because the Bengals still won every game without him.  Not having a #1 TE made no difference.  Not only did the team not have their #1 TE Hurst at the end of the year they didnt have their #2 Drew Sample and they still finished on a 10 game win streak.  The talk about needing these great TEs is nonsense.  It is a waste of resources.  Go out and get a decent free agent and the team will be fine.  Spend your resources elsewhere where it is really needed.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(03-09-2023, 01:53 PM)Bengalbug Wrote: I just don’t see any tight end having a banner year here.  I think almost any competent NFL tight end is going to end up with similar production.  Too many quality receivers to warrant real focus from opposing defense, and on the flip side too many good receivers to warrant more than a handful of targets a game.

Probably correct, the only way a TE would have a banner year here is if one or two of our WR's go down most likely.

(03-09-2023, 05:47 PM)007BengalsFan Wrote: I agree.  We dont need a 7-8 million dollar TE.  Any competent TE will do.  Did you see how the team struggled when they lost Hurst?  No, because the Bengals still won every game without him.  Not having a #1 TE made no difference.  Not only did the team not have their #1 TE Hurst at the end of the year they didnt have their #2 Drew Sample and they still finished on a 10 game win streak.  The talk about needing these great TEs is nonsense.  It is a waste of resources.  Go out and get a decent free agent and the team will be fine.  Spend your resources elsewhere where it is really needed.

Completely understand, I think most of us are just going off the fact that the Bengals have been meeting with the top TE's in the 
Draft so it looks like we are going to draft one, same with RB's. But RT is what needs to be addressed, Eluemunor and Darnell Wright 
and I am all good with a TE and a RB following these additions.