Can The Bengals Keep This Team Together?

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(12-01-2022, 06:19 PM)QueenCity Wrote: I disagree Hurst in his own words has found a home in Cincinnat think you can get him on a reasonable deal.  Uzomah IMO not only wanted a significant raise but also was auditioning for a broadcaster career in New York one day.

Higgins grew up a Bengals fan... he will be paid like a #1 in Cincinnati perhaps slightly below market level but in Cincinnati that $$$ goes further than a bigger city. Not to mention the core of Boyd, Chase, Higgins and Burrow seem like they are the types to sacrifice a bit to keep the core together.


Bates good riddance 

Easy for Hurst to find new words for a new home for 2yr/$20m or 3yr/$30m from a desperate team. It's a business and it will be his last real FA, he doesn't have long left in the NFL, and he's not even reached $15m in career earnings, so he needs to cash in on the one final time he can. I am 99% sure he chases the money, and I won't blame him for it.

Bengals can't afford to pay Higgins like a #1 while also paying Burrow and Chase. We're talking all three of them combined being roughly $110m/yr on average. You can't build anything resembling a complete team with that. It's already going to be tough to build a complete team with Burrow and Chase making ~$85m/yr on average. 

The money you save being in a more affordable city like Cincinnati is offset by the increased sponsorship money from being in a bigger city/market. LA is more expensive than Detroit, but Matthew Stafford wasn't getting national Little Caesar and AT&T commercial deals in Detroit. Not to mention if teams like the Cowboys, Jaguars, or Titans come calling, those states have no state income tax which on a 4-5yr/$100-125m deal is $4.8-6.0m saved over Ohio's state income tax.