It is amazing when your team makes the Super Bowl the short wait to the start of the league year, FA begins on March 16th, but legal tampering begins on the 14th.

Teams have to tag players by the 8th.

Will we be players early (we usually are not) in 2022? What OL do we target?

I love this time of the year and love the fact we have cap money to spend in 2022 if they want to.

Let's hope the FO has a great plan so we can get back to the Super Bowl sooner rather than later.

Offensive Line wise you're looking at younger players that they will sign. Probably looking at a RT, C, and either Guard spot. If they spend big money it will be on a Tackle not IOL.

(03-06-2022, 10:27 PM)J24 Wrote: Offensive Line wise you're looking at younger players that they will sign. Probably looking at a RT, C, and either Guard spot. If they spend big money it will be on a Tackle not IOL.

I do agree early in FA process we should be looking for younger OL which to me is 30 years old and younger. I am not sure I agree they will not spend big money on a center or a guard. Pressure up the middle is very bad for any QB and not being able to get less than 1 yard running on 3rd or 4th down is also bad as we learned sadly in the Super Bowl.

Tomorrow at 4 is the tag deadline. Looks like Chiefs are taking their LT Brown (big bucks and huge cap ht if they can't sign him long term by July).
Rumors are we will tag Bates as well for no more than 13.5 million 

If KC one of our main roadblocks to AFC championship tags Brown, they are in cap hell.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cap/

They only have 11 million, a tag for a LT has to be close to 19 million so they would be way over the cap. They also have a great safety and 2 WR's not under contract. These are the issues some team s face.

Also team like the Saints can't sign their studs in FA and will have to cut a lot of guys to get under the cap. The Saints are paying for their cap gymnastics during the final years of the Drew Brews era.

(03-07-2022, 09:59 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: If KC one of our main roadblocks to AFC championship tags Brown, they are in cap hell.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cap/

They only have 11 million, a tag for a LT has to be close to 19 million so they would be way over the cap. They also have a great safety and 2 WR's not under contract. These are the issues some team s face.

Also team like the Saints can't sign their studs in FA and will have to cut a lot of guys to get under the cap. The Saints are paying for their cap gymnastics during the final years of the Drew Brews era.

Not really. 

KC are going to convert Mahomes' $27.4m roster bonus and Chris Jones' $18m roster bonus into signing bonuses and clear like $31m in cap space. Also read where they can cut Frank Jones as a post-June 1 move and save another $19.5m if they want.

The Chiefs have made all their contracts so they can make cap space at will.

(03-06-2022, 07:57 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: It is amazing when your team makes the Super Bowl the short wait to the start of the league year, FA begins on March 16th, but legal tampering begins on the 14th.

Teams have to tag players by the 8th.

Will we be players early (we usually are not) in 2022? What OL do we target?

I love this time of the year and love the fact we have cap money to spend in 2022 if they want to.

Let's hope the FO has a great plan so we can get back to the Super Bowl sooner rather than later.

It honestly hasn't helped me.
FA keeps getting pushed back further and further.
I miss when it was the last week of Feb.

(03-07-2022, 11:15 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Not really. 

KC are going to convert Mahomes' $27.4m roster bonus and Chris Jones' $18m roster bonus into signing bonuses and clear like $31m in cap space. Also read where they can cut Frank Jones as a post-June 1 move and save another $19.5m if they want.

The Chiefs have made all their contracts so they can make cap space at will.

I guess I am surprised you don't realize any team can do the same. We could kick the can down the road and add 30 to 50 million in cap space also for 2022. 

My point is every team has a starting point and big time FA's to sign. Do you want to start with 11 million like KC or 48 million?

I like 48 million.

(03-07-2022, 11:25 AM)ochocincos Wrote: It honestly hasn't helped me.
FA keeps getting pushed back further and further.
I miss when it was the last week of Feb.

Lol.   Remember back when "June 1st cuts" were such a big thing? 

I'm always excited about the off season moves during free agency and the draft, but this go around seems especially exciting since we just made a Super Bowl run. We know the OL is of interest here at The Bengals Board, but I'm also interested in seeing how else the roster shapes-up for the '22 - '23 season.

1) TE - What happens with CJ?

2) Bates - does he get the tag or do we let him walk?

3) DT - Hill and Ogunjobi had great seasons, do they get good money from another team and leave?

4) Backup QB - does Allen return with a similar deal or do the Bengals make a play for a different vet? If no FA signed, is the new backup coming to us from the practice squad or the draft?

5) Special teams - are we replacing Huber or Harris?

It's going to be fun to see what Duke does to improve the roster.

Rather than make a new thread, I thought I'd just post in here. This is just me fantasy gm'ing, but how sweet would it be to spend big money and land both JC Jackson and Stephon Gilmore to play CB for the squad. We need to boost our OL, but we all know the "Defense wins championships" adage.

These two players aside, anyone else think maybe the Bengals should or might keeping focusing on defensive players for free agency as we've done during the Zac Taylor era of coaching?

(03-07-2022, 11:36 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: I guess I am surprised you don't realize any team can do the same. We could kick the can down the road and add 30 to 50 million in cap space also for 2022. 

My point is every team has a starting point and big time FA's to sign. Do you want to start with 11 million like KC or 48 million?

I like 48 million.

It helps when the contracts are constructed with it in mind in the first place. That said, all teams CAN do the same, not all teams WILL do the same. The Bengals have not proven they are willing to do cap manipulation to sign extra guys. Not sure where the "you don't realize" thing comes from. You're the one saying they're in "cap hell" when it's simply not true.

As free agency approaches it’s nice having a front office that I expect to be active. I don’t and never have expected them to sign the top guys or several very good guys and “win” free agency.

Though signing reader and Hendrickson in the last couple years, drafting burrow and now coming off a super bowl with cap space I expect improvements to be made.

Who Dey


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(03-06-2022, 07:57 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: It is amazing when your team makes the Super Bowl the short wait to the start of the league year, FA begins on March 16th, but legal tampering begins on the 14th.

Teams have to tag players by the 8th.

Will we be players early (we usually are not) in 2022? What OL do we target?

I love this time of the year and love the fact we have cap money to spend in 2022 if they want to.

Let's hope the FO has a great plan so we can get back to the Super Bowl sooner rather than later.

Let's just go to the Superbowl every year. lol

(03-07-2022, 02:10 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: It helps when the contracts are constructed with it in mind in the first place. That said, all teams CAN do the same, not all teams WILL do the same. The Bengals have not proven they are willing to do cap manipulation to sign extra guys. Not sure where the "you don't realize" thing comes from. You're the one saying they're in "cap hell" when it's simply not true.

KC is in cap hell otherwise they would not have to do such extreme measures to get under the cap by 4 pm on the 16th.

KC has no choice but to do as the Saints have done to keep a great team around Mahommes.

On the other hand, the Bengals have lots of options on how to spend almost 50 million. You are right, they do not do it like KC or the Saints, but they just did it with Reiff in 2021.

(03-07-2022, 11:15 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Not really. 

KC are going to convert Mahomes' $27.4m roster bonus and Chris Jones' $18m roster bonus into signing bonuses and clear like $31m in cap space. Also read where they can cut Frank Jones as a post-June 1 move and save another $19.5m if they want.

The Chiefs have made all their contracts so they can make cap space at will.

FYI
This is KC updated cap (over 4 million over) after they gave out the roster bonuses and kicked the can down the road. They also already cut a starting LB Kitchens due to cap issues already.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cap/

They have only Hill signed at WR and the big one not under contract is Tyler Mathieu who will not be cheap. They have do something by the 16th to shed over 4 million in salary cap.

So< yes I say they are cap hill and will be doing a lot of cap gymnastics to keep key players and likely will have to make some cuts as well,

(03-08-2022, 10:06 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: FYI
This is KC updated cap (over 4 million over) after they gave out the roster bonuses and kicked the can down the road. They also already cut a starting LB Kitchens due to cap issues already.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cap/

They have only Hill signed at WR and the big one not under contract is Tyler Mathieu who will not be cheap. They have do something by the 16th to shed over 4 million in salary cap.

So< yes I say they are cap hill and will be doing a lot of cap gymnastics to keep key players and likely will have to make some cuts as well,

Assuming you mean Hitchens and autocorrect got you. He was probably gone even if they had a ton of cap space. I think they were just finally able to get out from that contract. They signed him as a FA for 5yr/$45m and he put up (if you care about PFF)... 39.8, 48.8, 50.5, and 44.1 graded seasons. They signed him coming off a 73.0 season. His share of the defensive snaps on the Chiefs has decreased each season.

Nobody is willing to take a $12.6m cap hit for a bad part-time LB, regardless of cap scenario. Doubly so when the Chiefs spent a 1st and a 2nd round pick on young LBs the last two years.

Extending Hill would actually create a ton of cap space, and how many more great weapons do you need when you already have an All Pro WR and an All Pro TE? 

They'll be fine. "Cap hell" is a vastly overblown thing for people toeing the company line for teams who don't want to or are incapable of manipulating the cap at will. They are about to start cashing in on a $10b/yr broadcast deal, the cap is going to rise to over $250m by 2024. There will be plenty of cap space down the road.

(03-08-2022, 10:33 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Assuming you mean Hitchens and autocorrect got you. He was probably gone even if they had a ton of cap space. I think they were just finally able to get out from that contract. They signed him as a FA for 5yr/$45m and he put up (if you care about PFF)... 39.8, 48.8, 50.5, and 44.1 graded seasons. They signed him coming off a 73.0 season. His share of the defensive snaps on the Chiefs has decreased each season.

Nobody is willing to take a $12.6m cap hit for a bad part-time LB, regardless of cap scenario. Doubly so when the Chiefs spent a 1st and a 2nd round pick on young LBs the last two years.

Extending Hill would actually create a ton of cap space, and how many more great weapons do you need when you already have an All Pro WR and an All Pro TE? 

They'll be fine. "Cap hell" is a vastly overblown thing for people toeing the company line for teams who don't want to or are incapable of manipulating the cap at will. They are about to start cashing in on a $10b/yr broadcast deal, the cap is going to rise to over $250m by 2024. There will be plenty of cap space down the road.

What is the consequence for teams that convert salary into signing bonus for the purpose of circumventing salary cap restrictions?

With the run of TE tags the class just got really bad, which means CJ’s value will probably be up. Expect a higher contract for him then you are expecting.

(03-08-2022, 11:42 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: What is the consequence for teams that convert salary into signing bonus for the purpose of circumventing salary cap restrictions?

Whatever you convert is divided equally among the remaining years on the contract. So you'll eventually have to pay it, but by then the cap will have risen enough that it isn't really a problem.

Just for example say a guy signed a 5yr/$60m deal with $10m/yr base salary each year and a $10m signing bonus. $12m cap hit each year. 

In year 2 of that deal they convert $8m of the $10m base salary to a signing bonus. That $8m is then spread equally over the remaining 4 years of the deal so rather than a 12/12/12/12 cap hit contract, it is now 6/14/14/14 cap hits. You've cleared up $6m this year by increasing it by $2m more each of the next 3 years.

Then say in year 3 of the deal, they convert $9m of the $10m base salary to a signing bonus. That $9m is then spread equally over the remaining 3 years of the deal so rather than a 14/14/14 cap hit, it is now 8/17/17 cat hits. You've cleared up $6m again by increasing the final two years by another $3m each.

So yes you have a $17m cap hit in year 4 of a $12m/yr deal, but it's been 3 years so the idea is the cap has risen enough that it's not as problematic as it might seem now considering the cap will be north of $250m in 2024, and you were able to spend an extra $6m/yr in both year 2 and 3 of the deal to add extra talent to your team.

(03-08-2022, 12:18 PM)Au165 Wrote: With the run of TE tags the class just got really bad, which means CJ’s value will probably be up. Expect a higher contract for him then you are expecting.

$8m/yr was already a silly number for Uzomah, and more than that is just absurd. Just let him walk and throw it to Boyd more.