03-10-2022, 10:18 AM
(03-10-2022, 02:06 AM)Whatever Wrote: They can steer their clients to a point, but at the end of the day, they work for their clients. It's a lot harder to steer a client away from someplace they really want to go than it is to steer them away from someplace they really don't care to go, which is what we've been in the past.
Agents are going to posture for the structure they want, but the reality is, their clients would have lost a lot of marketability if they had come here in the past, which costs them money. That's a big reason why bad teams have to overpay in FA, regardless of structure.
I get why Lawson wanted a lot guaranteed at signing because he was highly injury prone. Obviously, it worked out for him. For the Jets, not so much. A lot of places had Hendrickson rated higher as a FA last year and structure didn't seem to be an issue for him.
With the kinds of players the Bengals are getting linked to, it seems likely that they will have to break their mold just to get '22 cap numbers down, anyways.
In my opinion, I think the guaranteed money is the most important factor to signing free agents in general. I think the Bengals could continue to structure the contracts as they usually do, but guarantee more of the base salary during the first two years of the contract. The players get more security and the Bengals can still avoid the dead money at the end of the contract if they choose to release the player. The structure of the contract can remain the same while still increasing the guaranteed portion.
