07-26-2023, 12:42 PM
(07-26-2023, 10:18 AM)ochocincos Wrote: Exactly.
They have the following guys hitting FA after 2023 or 2024 season:
- Burrow
- Higgins
- Boyd^
- Awuzie^
- Reader*
- BJ Hill*
- Hendrickson*
- Jonah Williams
- Karras*
- Irv Smith
- Mixon^
- Hilton*
- Logan Wilson
- Collins*
* = Will be 30+ years old when hitting FA
^ = Will be 29 years old when hitting FA
The guys that are going to be 30+ years old when they hit FA I think we should typically expect to depart in FA or take a very team-friendly deal to stay, possibly the 29 year olds too. The Bengals haven't typically targeted older players in recent years to sign/re-sign.
At least half of the above guys will be gone after 2024, I personally think.
Yep. Great post.
There is some wiggle room.
If you look realistically about who makes the team, we have around $21 mil under the cap. Enough to fit in the signing bonuses for Burrow & Higgins & likely one more.
The biggest jumps in 2024 will be Higgins going from a $3 mil salary/$10 mil hit to a $20 mil hit type, and Burrow's hit on hit 5th year option going WAAAY up. His salary bumps $18 mil. Brown makes more next year (+$6 mil).
Boyd ($10 mil), Reader ($15 mil), Chido ($8 mil), and Williams ($12.6 mil) are the big ticket FA's. Even with a big cap increase from gambling ($20 mil?) and assuming Jonah goes, we still are gonna have to trim some.
It is possible Reader & Boyd could be re-signed at/below their current cap numbers. Chido is iffy on that score. We could wait until after year 4 to re-up Chase. And guys like Collins & Mixon could be cut to save a bit more.
Hitting or getting leaps from Carman, Turner, C. Jones, Murphy, Ossai, Carter, C. Jones, CTB, C. Brown, and Iosivas (or not getting them) will make some decisions for us. As will the FA's themselves. Some will take the Bates/Hurst/Bell route, some will be Pratt.
