12-01-2022, 04:00 PM
I think this year is fairly easy in terms of FA. The cap will increase by $18-20 million. There are some moves we can make around the fringes to save some money (B. Wilson, Scharping, D. Sample). And almost all our FAs who play lot are not big ticket guys (Bell, Pratt, Apple, Hurst, Perine).
The only really big ticket guy is Bates. We can tag him again if we want to keep him, and that won't represent much of a increase in terms of the cap. He already is making $12+ mil. If we think Hill is ready to take over, then we can really save some cash.
Hurst, Bell, and Pratt are good players and productive starters. None should break the bank. I hope all 3 are back. Apple takes a lot of flack, but we could do a lot worse. Chido is coming off injury.....
Until the extensions for Burrow, Chase, & Higgins hit, we are relatively OK. The window is now. I doubt we let good players go until we absolutely have to. Or until we are confident we have someone who can come close to replicating their production in hand.
I would suspect we try and do what did at safety/corner this year, try to draft guys the year before the FA issue hits. For Burrow & Chase, this is not a factor, we are paying them whatever they want. Higgins is questionable. Boyd more so. I'd re-up Reader & Hendrickson, but they are already on big contracts. Wilson gets a raise. I doubt Mixon gets another big contract and I would not go beyond another Tag year on Bates.
The only really big ticket guy is Bates. We can tag him again if we want to keep him, and that won't represent much of a increase in terms of the cap. He already is making $12+ mil. If we think Hill is ready to take over, then we can really save some cash.
Hurst, Bell, and Pratt are good players and productive starters. None should break the bank. I hope all 3 are back. Apple takes a lot of flack, but we could do a lot worse. Chido is coming off injury.....
Until the extensions for Burrow, Chase, & Higgins hit, we are relatively OK. The window is now. I doubt we let good players go until we absolutely have to. Or until we are confident we have someone who can come close to replicating their production in hand.
I would suspect we try and do what did at safety/corner this year, try to draft guys the year before the FA issue hits. For Burrow & Chase, this is not a factor, we are paying them whatever they want. Higgins is questionable. Boyd more so. I'd re-up Reader & Hendrickson, but they are already on big contracts. Wilson gets a raise. I doubt Mixon gets another big contract and I would not go beyond another Tag year on Bates.
