In the NFL your window of opportunity normally isn't open all that long for a myriad of reasons. And we need to be full on into "win now mode". And I agree with two things for sure and on the fence about the 3rd in this article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/three-offseason-moves-the-bengals-must-make/ar-BB1lYwkC?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=ASTS&cvid=1f510913fe5c48ec8279dd15d00e6d19&ei=6

1. They should renegotiate Trey's contract and bump him up a good bit for these two seasons he's signed for. 13 sack average DE's don't grow on trees.

2. I'm nervous about our RB room, and agree, sign a vet for insurance. Moss isn't all that, don't get me wrong he may well be a decent rotation piece, but. We really are kinda stretching it to be relying on Brown to for sure be a high snap count contributor and be really effective. I hope he can be but I'm not 100% sure? And after them it's Evans whom I have very little hope for and Williams who's barely moves the needle.

So we're one injury away from crappy yards per carry totals...again. And we need to give JB some relief over the long haul. Get it done

3. I'm still kinda on the fence about Tee and a long term contract. I just don't think we can afford it.

And I'll add 4. Get another vet IOL. Our G's especially need some better depth.

It's time NOW !! We're not looking three years down the road or whatever?

I think we lack:

1) A true CB#1
2) Proven NT depth
3) IOL depth (guard)

More pass rush is always needed, but Hubbard healthier, Murphy in year 2, and Rankins should help some.

They didn't go into win-now mode after 2021 so I don't think they're ever going to. Not going to accrue future dead cap space by manipulating cap hits, or give up draft picks.

It took our FO 30 years to actually properly participate in FA, so we can expect them to try to manipulate the salary cap to maximize the talent you can stuff onto a roster in ~20-25 years.

What does renegotiating Trey have to do with win now?

I don't understand why Tee is still on the team. It's not like he's going to be able to play more than half the games without getting hurt, and yet teams were seemingly wanting to give up draft picks for him. The people taken with those draft picks would've been much more valuable for winning now.

Im still worried about this defense. The didn't add enough.

(05-07-2024, 02:01 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: In the NFL your window of opportunity normally isn't open all that long for a myriad of reasons. And we need to be full on into "win now mode". And I agree with two things for sure and on the fence about the 3rd in this article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/three-offseason-moves-the-bengals-must-make/ar-BB1lYwkC?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=ASTS&cvid=1f510913fe5c48ec8279dd15d00e6d19&ei=6

1. They should renegotiate Trey's contract and bump him up a good bit for these two seasons he's signed for. 13 sack average DE's don't grow on trees.

2. I'm nervous about our RB room, and agree, sign a vet for insurance. Moss isn't all that, don't get me wrong he may well be a decent rotation piece, but. We really are kinda stretching it to be relying on Brown to for sure be a high snap count contributor and be really effective. I hope he can be but I'm not 100% sure? And after them it's Evans whom I have very little hope for and Williams who's barely moves the needle.

So we're one injury away from crappy yards per carry totals...again. And we need to give JB some relief over the long haul. Get it done

3. I'm still kinda on the fence about Tee and a long term contract. I just don't think we can afford it.

And I'll add 4. Get another vet IOL. Our G's especially need some better depth.

It's time NOW !! We're not looking three years down the road or whatever?

They can 100% afford Tee if they wanted to. They can afford Chase as well. They just don't want to spend the money. 

I am not too concerned about the RBs. If you have a good OL then any decent RB should be good in today’s NFL. Only a few are difference-makers and this is a pass heavy offense. As long as Moss and Brown are healthy I think they will be good to go.

Defense will need Jenkins to step in right away and be a major contributor. DT is a real concern.
Murphy should be better and that will help the pass rush.
I feel like they have a lot of good DBs so they should be much better this season especially with a vet like Bell there to help.

(05-07-2024, 03:03 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Im still worried about this defense. The didn't add enough.

They did plenty. They're just expecting a ROI in a lot of the early draft capital they've put into the defense these past few drafts. It it doesn't pan out, it'll reflect more poorly on coaching than it will the FO.

(05-07-2024, 02:49 PM)michaelsean Wrote: What does renegotiating Trey have to do with win now?

Keeping him here instead of him sitting out demanding a trade.

(05-07-2024, 03:03 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: Im still worried about this defense. The didn't add enough.

If this offense can stay on the field, eat clock and put-up points then the defense should be good enough, I hope.

(05-07-2024, 02:49 PM)michaelsean Wrote: What does renegotiating Trey have to do with win now?

An injury that historically hasn't stopped Trey from playing could suddenly become unbearable. 

A happy employee is more likely to go above and beyond than a disgruntled one. 

This team is still good enough to win now imho. Personally would have traded Tee in an effort to keep the window open longer down the road but understand the allure of keeping the boys together as well.

Yet still Joe Burrow, Chase, Tee, Burton, Gesiki, Brown, and Moss are very formidable and the O-line should be improved. The defense is going to have to take a step forward though and maybe they do with the new additions. Hopeful.

Just wish the FO would scrap their draft a 1st round player for 2 and 3 years down the road philosophy. In my opinion the most valuable thing a team can have is star players on their rookie contracts in todays NFL. 1st round picks should be contributing immediately if possible, especially those in the top 20. They can be big time difference makers.

Heck maybe Bengals still can if Trent Brown or Mims could play LG and push Volson to a depth role for this season..

(05-07-2024, 02:31 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: They didn't go into win-now mode after 2021 so I don't think they're ever going to. Not going to accrue future dead cap space by manipulating cap hits, or give up draft picks.

It took our FO 30 years to actually properly participate in FA, so we can expect them to try to manipulate the salary cap to maximize the talent you can stuff onto a roster in ~20-25 years.

Well said.
This FO doesn't believe in going into win-now mode because they don't want to potentially be in cap hell in a few years.
And they don't want to take the gamble on more veteran players since it's not a guarantee it would pay off.

We have to accept the fact that the team and org has chosen to go with the young draft picks in certain areas and will live or die based on how some of them perform.

I think the Draft showed we're not in "Win Now" mode; it's more of a sustain our success mode.

We didn't address the weakest link of our starting 22 until RD 4 and the second weakest until RD 7..

(05-07-2024, 03:19 PM)NotBigzo Wrote: They did plenty. They're just expecting a ROI in a lot of the early draft capital they've put into the defense these past few drafts. It it doesn't pan out, it'll reflect more poorly on coaching than it will the FO.

They didn’t do plenty. They did bare minimum. They signed 2 safties. Lost one of the best/better run stuffing DT and replaced with rankings. Downgrade. Lost Chido and now we’re starting Turner who wasn’t very good. Didn’t add an edge, and LB play was awful and they did nothing to address it.

If this defense finished bottom 3rd, will anyone really be surprised?

This is our year! It has to be. Hopefully Tee & Trey play this year and ball out. This years roster will have to be good enough to win it all whether we think it can or not. We have a last place schedule, even though we’re middle of the pack. This roster is going to look drastically different in the next few years. The key moving forward has to be drafting. Crazy thing is we don’t even need a single player drafted this year to step up. Would be nice if the DT’s do but I’m not counting on it. Pay Trey, work out something with Tee to keep his head in the game instead of the numbers and let’s freakin do this. This is the year folks. Be ready.

(05-07-2024, 02:01 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: In the NFL your window of opportunity normally isn't open all that long for a myriad of reasons. And we need to be full on into "win now mode". And I agree with two things for sure and on the fence about the 3rd in this article:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/three-offseason-moves-the-bengals-must-make/ar-BB1lYwkC?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=ASTS&cvid=1f510913fe5c48ec8279dd15d00e6d19&ei=6

1. They should renegotiate Trey's contract and bump him up a good bit for these two seasons he's signed for. 13 sack average DE's don't grow on trees.

2. I'm nervous about our RB room, and agree, sign a vet for insurance. Moss isn't all that, don't get me wrong he may well be a decent rotation piece, but. We really are kinda stretching it to be relying on Brown to for sure be a high snap count contributor and be really effective. I hope he can be but I'm not 100% sure? And after them it's Evans whom I have very little hope for and Williams who's barely moves the needle.

So we're one injury away from crappy yards per carry totals...again. And we need to give JB some relief over the long haul. Get it done

3. I'm still kinda on the fence about Tee and a long term contract. I just don't think we can afford it.

And I'll add 4. Get another vet IOL. Our G's especially need some better depth.

It's time NOW !! We're not looking three years down the road or whatever?

More simple than that, don't start year with a non 100% Burrow,  go with Browning and Burrow needs to finishing the season, we can't have 2 of 5 yrs he does not.

(05-07-2024, 02:31 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: They didn't go into win-now mode after 2021 so I don't think they're ever going to. Not going to accrue future dead cap space by manipulating cap hits, or give up draft picks.

It took our FO 30 years to actually properly participate in FA, so we can expect them to try to manipulate the salary cap to maximize the talent you can stuff onto a roster in ~20-25 years.

Amen.

However, the real test will be next year, when they can save some serious cake & do a Burrow restructure.

Assuming we put 2 on PUP, counting the PS, and a full 53, we still have around $16-$17 mil in cap space.  Thatvis WAAAY too much for all in.

(05-07-2024, 06:45 PM)Ell Prez Wrote: They didn’t do plenty. They did bare minimum. They signed 2 safties. Lost one of the best/better run stuffing DT and replaced with rankings. Downgrade. Lost Chido and now we’re starting Turner who wasn’t very good. Didn’t add an edge, and LB play was awful and they did nothing to address it.

If this defense finished bottom 3rd, will anyone really be surprised?

Well Chido and D J got sweet contracts. We’ll see who was right. We were wrong on Bates right on Bell. Chido got 3 yr 36 million. He’ll be 32 at the end. They’ve got D J and Dax. I trust Lou to be good at evaluating. The money at that position would have really changed as a % of the salary cap with Awouzie. He was #14 ranked salary for cornerbacks. D J we could have re-signed. But he’s coming off a major injury and Rankins we paid more but were scrambling as losing D J surprised us. But I don’t think either side can claim victory