take this as you will

WR Tee Higgins is not believed to be in the Bengals future plans, a source tells me

The two sides never got close on an extension. Unless something "shocking" happens in next 24 hrs, he will play this play the season w/ no long-term deal from Cincyhttps://t.co/oyEhmGRfmw

— Kelsey Conway (@KelseyLConway) September 8, 2023

(09-08-2023, 03:33 PM)BengalsLUFC Wrote: So according to the rat Conway Tee isn’t in our long term plans.

Rapien and Malik Wright both say the Bengals hope to keep Tee.

Somebody is lying and I wonder who that could be on previous form.

I think it's a mix of both.

Bengals probably want to keep Tee, but at a price they deem reasonable.
This is the business side that is unfortunate, as it can mean some good talent occasionally leaves.

(09-08-2023, 03:33 PM)BengalsLUFC Wrote: So according to the rat Conway Tee isn’t in our long term plans.

Rapien and Malik Wright both say the Bengals hope to keep Tee.

Somebody is lying and I wonder who that could be on previous form.

I would highly doubt that Conway is lying. It's more likely that her "source" is unreliable. I also think Rapien saying "the Bengals would love to sign Tee long term" can be a bit misleading. Of course they would love to but they may not expect to based on how preliminary negotiations went. To be fair, Rapien also says signing Tee is a "long shot".

Malik Wright isn't a reliable insider in any way, so I don't take what he says with any credibility. 

will be hard to pay 2 #1 caliber WRs

Kelsey Conway is not exactly a reliable source...

(09-08-2023, 03:39 PM)KillerGoose Wrote: I would highly doubt that Conway is lying. It's more likely that her "source" is unreliable. I also think Rapien saying "the Bengals would love to sign Tee long term" can be a bit misleading. Of course they would love to but they may not expect to based on how preliminary negotiations went. To be fair, Rapien also says signing Tee is a "long shot".

Malik Wright isn't a reliable insider in any way, so I don't take what he says with any credibility. 

This is why speculation is kind of toxic. The reporters aren't lying, and they may not even have unreliable sources, the issue can be perception. The Bengals may want to keep Tee in their plans, and think eventually he will accept a deal they want to pay, but one reporter may talk to an optimist in the building who thinks cooler heads prevail and another talks to a realist who understand Tee's agent and the WR market and doubts it actually gets done so they recognize they probably have to plan for life without him.

These things aren't binary as fans make it out to be. Things change, what was the plan yesterday may not be the plan today and so on. I can tell you Joe Burrow's deal was set to be signed by someone I know in the league the week Herbert's was. Burrow got hurt right after Herbert's deal got done and then things went silent. Was it structure that changed, was it guarantees, was it deciding he'd rather wait and see what happens with Tee or other people? Who knows, but things change and that's life...it doesn't mean people are lying (Not directed at you KG).

Using one game without Kelce (against a team that is currently on a 9-2 run) as proof that a team should invest literally 50% of the cap (cap is $224 million, Joe has a $55 mil avg and assuming Chase + Tee is in the combined $55 mil avg ballpark) is kinda silly.

Lets say the Chiefs had kept Tyreke Hill and instead lost some of their key defenders to make way for his contract. Are we then talking about a 31-30 loss to the Lions instead of a 21-20 loss? It's hard to say. People who make these statements aren't accounting for who the Chiefs would've lost. They just look at the Chiefs current roster and add Tyreek Hill and assume the Chiefs would've won.

If we sign Burrow, Chase and Higgins all to big contracts, we won't know the impact on the rest of the roster for a few years. It may sound nice in our minds because we know they are all great players, and we don't know who we'll lose. Kind of ironic that the twitter guy says that people are being myopic when he's the one not looking ahead.

(09-08-2023, 03:36 PM)pally Wrote: take this as you will

WR Tee Higgins is not believed to be in the Bengals future plans, a source tells me

The two sides never got close on an extension. Unless something "shocking" happens in next 24 hrs, he will play this play the season w/ no long-term deal from Cincyhttps://t.co/oyEhmGRfmw

— Kelsey Conway (@KelseyLConway) September 8, 2023

It's a weird situation with local reporters and the Bengals. It's usually the national media insiders that have the most accurate scoops. 

(09-08-2023, 03:47 PM)Au165 Wrote: This is why speculation is kind of toxic. The reporters aren't lying, and they may not even have unreliable sources, the issue can be perception. The Bengals may want to keep Tee in their plans, and think eventually he will accept a deal they want to pay, but one reporter may talk to an optimist in the building who thinks cooler heads prevail and another talks to a realist who understand Tee's agent and the WR market and doubts it actually gets done so they recognize they probably have to plan for life without him.

These things aren't binary as fans make it out to be. Things change, what was the plan yesterday may not be the plan today and so on. I can tell you Joe Burrow's deal was set to be signed by someone I know in the league the week Herbert's was. Burrow got hurt right after Herbert's deal got done and then things went silent. Was it structure that changed, was it guarantees, was it deciding he'd rather wait and see what happens with Tee or other people? Who knows, but things change and that's life...it doesn't mean people are lying (Not directed at you KG).

These are all very reasonable points. Things are almost always significantly more complicated than we may think, especially when we deal with people and their money. Negotiations can change very quickly and can also change depending on who you get ahold of, you're 100% correct. This leads to us fans going up and down as we try to figure out if our favorite players are being kept/let go etc. 

(09-08-2023, 03:49 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: It's a weird situation with local reporters and the Bengals. It's usually the national media insiders that have the most accurate scoops. 

That's because rhe national media gets this kinda info from the Agents and Agencies. While rhe local guys are getting their info from the security guard that let them in and the equipment managers shaving the footballs lol.

We were never going to keep Tee Higgins. I'm surprised that it seems to be a common thought that we would.

If they sign Higgins AND Chase, you have 115+ million per year tied up in the QB and top 2 WR. That's half of the salary cap. Talk about crippling for the defense and the o-line...

Maybe someone who understands the economics of it better can school me on what kind of cap manipulation you could even do to get it to happen. 

(09-08-2023, 03:34 PM)depthchart Wrote: Three of the four Teams in the AFC North have Paid Big Dollars to their QBs (Bengals/Browns/Ravens)

Lamar Jackson's health may be a roller coaster issue for the Ravens going forward.

The Browns still have 2024 Draft picks that they gave for Deshaun Watson that they won't be able to use. (Their 2024 1st and 4th I believe)

That leaves the Steelers who have Kenny Pickett on Lower dollars. They may continue to improve and challenge down the road but if Pickett 

plays well the Steelers will have to send some Big Money his way in a few years.

*I wouldn't trade places with any other AFC North Team. I like our chances with Burrow & our current Front Office but it will become more 

challenging as time goes by as you suggest.

Good point and this does make me feel much better about our chances in the division for the next decade. That said, when I said "relative success" I was thinking about competing for championships. Even without a great roster, I think Joe and Chase (maybe Tee) will lead this team to the playoffs nearly every year. To compete for championships, that margin for error (especially if we sign all 3 to big deals) will be incredibly thin for Tobin and the Brown family.

(09-08-2023, 03:53 PM)Synric Wrote: That's because rhe national media gets this kinda info from the Agents and Agencies. While rhe local guys are getting their info from the security guard that let them in and the equipment managers shaving the footballs lol.

Yeah, so when Schefter says they've prioritized Tee and Conway says he's not in their plans...I tend to believe one more than the other.

(09-08-2023, 04:01 PM)Johnny Cupcakes Wrote: We were never going to keep Tee Higgins. I'm surprised that it seems to be a common thought that we would.

If they sign Higgins AND Chase, you have 115+ million per year tied up in the QB and top 2 WR. That's half of the salary cap. Talk about crippling for the defense and the o-line...

Maybe someone who understands the economics of it better can school me on what kind of cap manipulation you could even do to get it to happen. 

If they sign him to a 3 or 4 year deal, there's 2 years where it can be possibly front loaded because Burrow and Chase extensions don't kick in until 2025 and 2026.

(09-08-2023, 04:03 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: Good point and this does make me feel much better about our chances in the division for the next decade. That said, when I said "relative success" I was thinking about competing for championships. Even without a great roster, I think Joe and Chase (maybe Tee) will lead this team to the playoffs nearly every year. To compete for championships, that margin for error (especially if we sign all 3 to big deals) will be incredibly thin for Tobin and the Brown family.

Aaron Rodgers & the Packers may be a good example of this.

Seems like they would win 12 to 14 games and make the Playoffs most years while paying Rodgers large dollars.

The Packers seemed to avoid Drafting first round weapons/receivers for Rodgers and also Drafted a QB in round 1 in 2020 with Jordan Love.

To compete for Championships - Can the Bengals dial things in better with Burrow than the Packers did with Rodgers as the margin for error 

gets smaller ?

(09-08-2023, 03:49 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: It's a weird situation with local reporters and the Bengals. It's usually the national media insiders that have the most accurate scoops. 

It was national media that reported Joe's extension even though Ian Rapaport says it was an open secret at practice yesterday that Joe and the Bengals had come to an agreement

and Jeremy Fowler, whose Bengals reporting tends to be accurate says this...

Bengals resisted trade interest in the offseason. Still think there's a path for Higgins to stay in Cincy, even if on franchise tag. https://t.co/dmHGMIAQ01

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) September 8, 2023

 

(09-08-2023, 04:13 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: If they sign him to a 3 or 4 year deal, there's 2 years where it can be possibly front loaded because Burrow and Chase extensions don't kick in until 2025 and 2026.

Yes, and this is why it is still not a done deal it doesn't get done. They offset.

I just don't want it costing us Chase or the extension of say Ted Karras after his deal is up. Took forever to get a decent Center 
and we also need to extend DJ Reader a huge reason for our postseason success. I actually think Tee is tagged before he hits
Free Agency and either traded or kept for that year. That gives us a couple more years of Tee if he indeed DOES play like a top
WR this season. He hasn't yet, simple as that and Tee just said so.

Tee saying he wants to be a #1, yeah he's gone, hope we win in the next 2 years.

“I definitely want to show I can be a No. 1.” pic.twitter.com/Wo9gowFw7x

— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) September 8, 2023

(09-08-2023, 03:36 PM)pally Wrote: take this as you will

WR Tee Higgins is not believed to be in the Bengals future plans, a source tells me

The two sides never got close on an extension. Unless something "shocking" happens in next 24 hrs, he will play this play the season w/ no long-term deal from Cincyhttps://t.co/oyEhmGRfmw

— Kelsey Conway (@KelseyLConway) September 8, 2023

This lady is just fabricating news for clicks.  

(09-08-2023, 04:13 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: If they sign him to a 3 or 4 year deal, there's 2 years where it can be possibly front loaded because Burrow and Chase extensions don't kick in until 2025 and 2026.

You actually might have to extremely front-load Tee's contract so it's a lot less of a hit when Chase's contract hits, or sign Higgins to just a 2-year deal (which I doubt he'll do).

We all knew this luxury of having your QB and WRs on cheap contracts was going to end at some point.
Every team has to deal with situations like this.
It will be on the team to figure out how to address spots with cheap vets and draft picks while the select few high-paid guys are under contract.

By the time the young secondary comes up for their veteran contracts (they'll be FAs in 2026/2027), we'll probably be talking about who of those guys will walk and/or worrying about the new LBs once Wilson and Pratt hit FA again.
Circle of (cap) life.