I know there will not be unanimous agreement with this post but please feel free to make any arguments against this, I am open to hearing suggestions.

In my opinion, as long as Joe is still great, we need to become an organization whose only priority is to get to the Super Bowl every year. We must improve the X's and O's but are not going anywhere overspending on the wrong Jimmy and Joes.

Tell me why we dont cut/trade any of these players"

Player, Salary Rank, Cap Hit, Savings if we cut

Waynes, #1, $15.8M, $10.8M (no explanation needed)

Boyd, #3, $8.2M, $7.3M (2022), $8.9 (2023).  Averages 4 receptions per game - 3rd to 5th option, an average and fast slot will be fine if we have a great oline

Hopkins, # 7, $7.1M ,$5.9M. Ranked 35th out of 39 Centers on the season. When was the last time we had a solid C to captain the line?  Great QBs usually have very good Centers.


These 3 players add an additional $24M in cap space this off season in addition to the current $57M.

We have already moved on from Waynes.
Slot and TE are not worth high dollars in our offense with Joe, Tee, Chase and oline requiring top dollar.
A quality C could have a huge impact on play calls leadership.

Was really hoping the Bengals could get the rings tonight, especially for the likes of Huber and Harris. Huber has had a bad postseason, and he was once again subpar tonight. It may be time to draft his replacement. That's certainly not priority number one, but it should probably be on the to-do list.

(02-14-2022, 02:42 AM)ElkValleyBengal Wrote: Was really hoping the Bengals could get the rings tonight, especially for the likes of Huber and Harris.  Huber has had a bad postseason, and he was once again subpar tonight.  It may be time to draft his replacement.  That's certainly not priority number one, but it should probably be on the to-do list.

He really struggled, might be time for a new Punter?

I feel bad for the defense, played their asses off. Chase & Mixon balled out.

(02-14-2022, 02:37 AM)casear2727 Wrote: I know there will not be unanimous agreement with this post but please feel free to make any arguments against this, I am open to hearing suggestions.

In my opinion, as long as Joe is still great, we need to become an organization whose only priority is to get to the Super Bowl every year. We must improve the X's and O's but are not going anywhere overspending on the wrong Jimmy and Joes.

Tell me why we dont cut/trade any of these players"

Player, Salary Rank, Cap Hit, Savings if we cut

Waynes, #1, $15.8M, $10.8M (no explanation needed)

Boyd, #3, $8.2M, $7.3M (2022), $8.9 (2023).  Averages 4 receptions per game - 3rd to 5th option, an average and fast slot will be fine if we have a great oline

Hopkins, # 7, $7.1M ,$5.9M. Ranked 35th out of 39 Centers on the season. When was the last time we had a solid C to captain the line?  Great QBs usually have very good Centers.


These 3 players add an additional $24M in cap space this off season in addition to the current $57M.

We have already moved on from Waynes.
Slot and TE are not worth high dollars in our offense with Joe, Joe, Tee, Chase and oline requiring top dollar.
A quality C could have a huge impact on play calls leadership.

Burrow has not hit greatness,  playoffs showed he has room to grow for sure, I would keep Boyd but not resign CJ.. 

(02-14-2022, 02:56 AM)Essex Johnson Wrote: Burrow has not hit greatness,  playoffs showed he has room to grow for sure, I would keep Boyd but not resign CJ.. 

I have no issues moving on from CJ but why keep either if they hurt our chances at an elite olineman?

I would think CJ would come cheaper and at least he blocks and catches passes...

I just see no need spending very much on a slot guy, how many fast little guys do you think are out there?  Has to be the most available position that someone could step into and play...right?

57 mil plus 15 mil is enough to work with.

I don’t want to start cutting good players like Boyd if we don’t have to. 8 mil isn’t that much.

If we cut Hopkins, all of a sudden now we need three new starters. I’d rather add more bodies to the oline and not subtract them. A lot of times it takes lineman 2 years to fully recover from an acl.

Use that 72 mil (if that’s what it is) and resign your own + sign two legit offensive lineman and all of a sudden the line looks a lot better going into the draft. We need depth but also better starters on the right side for sure.

Offseason talk is finally here... uggh

(02-14-2022, 03:00 AM)casear2727 Wrote: I have no issues moving on from CJ but why keep either if they hurt our chances at an elite olineman?

I would think CJ would come cheaper and at least he blocks and catches passes...

I just see no need spending very much on a slot guy, how many fast little guys do you think are out there?  Has to be the most available position that someone could step into and play...right?

Boyd has been a top WR 3 of 4 yrs. Burrow and coaches need find a better fit for him 

(02-14-2022, 03:02 AM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: 57 mil plus 15 mil is enough to work with.

I don’t want to start cutting good players like Boyd if we don’t have to. 8 mil isn’t that much.

If we cut Hopkins, all of a sudden now we need three new starters. I’d rather add more bodies to the oline and not subtract them. A lot of times it takes lineman 2 years to fully recover from an acl.

Use that 72 mil (if that’s what it is) and resign your own + sign two legit offensive lineman and all of a sudden the line looks a lot better going into the draft. We need depth but also better starters on the right side for sure.

Yes cutting Hopkins causes us to improve at that position and maybe thats why we cut TB as well. Thats $14M. we can get Bozeman for far less.

Why would we EVER pay for a player who costs more than his production at the expense of keeping JoeyB healthy?  

Can you name every WR that played in Super Bowls with Tom Brady?  Brady, oline and defense took the money.  That should be us.  Tough D, awesome oline and Joe can make everyone else look good.  In my opinion.

(02-14-2022, 03:06 AM)Essex Johnson Wrote: Boyd has been a top WR 3 of 4 yrs. Burrow and coaches need find a better fit for him 

I am done paying players for what they were. We can all list doznes of names we payed too much for too long.

I will not disagree with anyone regarding Boyd's talent. But there is only one football. Mixon, Chase and Tee need it the majority of the time. Every other penny goes to protecting Joe. TE's and Slot are low priority and should be paid as such.

Now if Tyler was used remotely close to a Kupp I could get on board. But he's simply a check down in this offense.

(02-14-2022, 03:13 AM)casear2727 Wrote: I am done paying players for what they were. We can all list doznes of names we payed too much for too long.

I will not disagree with anyone regarding Boyd's talent. But there is only one football. Mixon, Chase and Tee need it the majority of the time. Every other penny goes to protecting Joe. TE's and Slot are low priority and should be paid as such.

Now if Tyler was used remotely close to a Kupp I could get on board. But he's simply a check down in this offense.

So it seems it is a scheme issue?  Also the play calling has to get better and stop taking the ball away from the playmakers like the SF loss and Perine on 3&1 versus Mixon.

(02-14-2022, 03:10 AM)casear2727 Wrote: Yes cutting Hopkins causes us to improve at that position and maybe thats why we cut TB as well. Thats $14M. we can get Bozeman for far less.

Why would we EVER pay for a player who costs more than his production at the expense of keeping JoeyB healthy?  

Can you name every WR that played in Super Bowls with Tom Brady?  Brady, oline and defense took the money.  That should be us.  Tough D, awesome oline and Joe can make everyone else look good.  In my opinion.

In theory it makes sense yes. But what’s the cap hit for cutting the players? And are we guaranteed to be able to sign a legit center in free agency with the money we net?

I don’t see this happening but we’ll see. They do need to sign a guard and right tackle so let’s focus on the realistic ways we can improve.

I do think this super bowl was lost two years ago when they signed Waynes. They didn’t need him. He was overpaid. And go figure he gets injured. We did need a guard and passed up on it. Learn from the mistake already and sign a guard.

(02-14-2022, 03:06 AM)Essex Johnson Wrote: Boyd has been a top WR 3 of 4 yrs. Burrow and coaches need find a better fit for him 

Zac needs to do a better job designing plays and concepts for all their weapons. I thought Boyd and Chris Evan’s were under utilized this year

(02-14-2022, 03:19 AM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: In theory it makes sense yes. But what’s the cap hit for cutting the players? And are we guaranteed to be able to sign a legit center in free agency with the money we net?

I don’t see this happening but we’ll see. They do need to sign a guard and right tackle so let’s focus on the realistic ways we can improve.

I do think this super bowl was lost two years ago when they signed Waynes. They didn’t need him. He was overpaid. And go figure he gets injured. We did need a guard and passed up on it. Learn from the mistake already and sign a guard.

Yes there are 3-4 Centers available, Bozeman would not break the bank and only 27.  I am being very realistic, do you really not know the FA's and then saying it's not realistic? 

The FA lists and cap hits are easily available.

(02-14-2022, 03:20 AM)CincinnatiKid Wrote: Zac needs to do a better job designing plays and concepts for all their weapons. I thought Boyd and Chris Evan’s were under utilized this year

Only 1 ball to go around. Mixon, Chase and Tee need it, what 80% at least?

CJ needs to be brought back. His personality and what he means to the locker room can not be understated. He does a lot of little things right and his backup is not good.

As to cutting Boyd.... really? The talk last offseason was pass on the elite line guy because the team needed more weapons and now it is time to cut a weapon?? Who replaces him if he gets cut? Not to mention what are the odds the team stays this healthy again?

Waynes you could move on from without missing a beat but you would need to sign or draft a new CB.

(02-14-2022, 03:29 AM)Murdock2420 Wrote: CJ needs to be brought back. His personality and what he means to the locker room can not be understated. He does a lot of little things right and his backup is not good.

As to cutting Boyd.... really? The talk last offseason was pass on the elite line guy because the team needed more weapons and now it is time to cut a weapon?? Who replaces him if he gets cut? Not to mention what are the odds the team stays this healthy again?

Waynes you could move on from without missing a beat but you would need to sign or draft a new CB.

Please tell me the about the awesome impact of a 4 receptions per game weapon?

Signing a solid lineman so Joe has time pass to priority receivers and not keep breaking sacks records is the better option in my humble opinion.

I would not hesitate to cut Boyd in order to sign an even better RT or RG we currently have planned and start Trent Taylor at the slot on opening day in a few months.  I'll take Joe with a better line and less talented slot any day.

(02-14-2022, 03:29 AM)Murdock2420 Wrote: CJ needs to be brought back. His personality and what he means to the locker room can not be understated. He does a lot of little things right and his backup is not good.

As to cutting Boyd.... really? The talk last offseason was pass on the elite line guy because the team needed more weapons and now it is time to cut a weapon?? Who replaces him if he gets cut? Not to mention what are the odds the team stays this healthy again?

Waynes you could move on from without missing a beat but you would need to sign or draft a new CB.

I like CJ too but he needs to come at a reasonable price as well.  TE and slot are the positions we need to consider paying less on offense in order to afford the line and the star players.

(02-14-2022, 02:56 AM)Essex Johnson Wrote: Burrow has not hit greatness,  playoffs showed he has room to grow for sure, I would keep Boyd but not resign CJ.. 

Dude just made the SuperBowl being the most sacked QB in the NFL and yet hasn't hit Greatness?

(02-14-2022, 05:37 AM)J24 Wrote: Dude just made the SuperBowl being the most sacked QB in the NFL and yet hasn't hit Greatness?

It’s almost Burrow derangement syndrome at this point…

Look, was Joe spectacular this postseason? Nope. Was it super impressive he was even as good as he was behind this OL? Without a doubt.

Final numbers:

97/142
68.3 completion %
1105 yards (276.25 average)
5 TD to 2 INT
97.3 passer rating

I think you’d be hard pressed to find any QB that could do much better being sacked 19 times. And it’s not even just the sacks it’s the fact that the constant pressure severely limits the playbook in games like against the Rams and Titans.

All I know is I watched Burrow play way better than Mahomes did in the Super Bowl last year when his OL struggled. We’re a couple upgrades away from having a top 3 offense.