Can We Pay Everybody Within The Cap?

[*ochocincos*]

(12-30-2021, 03:10 PM)samhain Wrote: The big question for me is whether they can pay Burrow, Ja'marr, and Tee all at the same time.  Burrow is looking at 40 plus mil when he gets paid.  ja'marr is probably in the 20 range if the trajectory goes the way we all want.  Higgins is putting up big numbers right along side Chase, so you have to wonder if he'll pull a (mistaken) Marvin Jones or TJ move to get paid to be a number 1 elsewhere.  He's probably an 18 mil per wr as well, and IMO his skill set is far superior to either of the two lost WR2s.  

SO you'd be looking at nearly 80 mil plus to keep those 3 intact as a high estimate.  That leaves 134 to fill out the rest of the roster.  That cap number will likely increase to at least 220 when the time comes and the NFL catches up from falling behind during 2020 revenue-wise.  

That's a nice group to build on, but the Bengals will need to draft their asses off and develop better than they have to remain strong throughout the roster.

To be fair, that's not really a problem until about 2025.
And by that time, they'll have all their other current big contracts done.
I'd fully expect that if the Bengals keep Burrow, Higgins, and Chase long-term, Boyd and Mixon won't be here.
The defense also won't have nearly as much money going toward it because they'll have to pay a much higher percentage to offense.

With all that said, the clear window for making a deep playoff run is through 2024. Go all in while you can with a cheap contract on your QB and top two WRs.