(11 hours ago)BrownAssClown Wrote: Not surprised by the tag. Buys time for the FO and gives them options. BTW...Is this the first time the Bengals tagged a player twice? I think so....maybe should've tagged Bates twice in retrospect.

Yes a first time for tagging the same player twice and for anyone interested I found this history of players tagged by the Bengals while looking that up:

https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/allbengals-insiders-plus/bengals-franchise-tag-history-how-many-times-have-they-used-it-who-got-extensions-and-when-who-got-traded-01jmaxnk42pq

(11 hours ago)George Cantstandya Wrote: Yes and for anyone interested I found this history of players tagged by the Bengals while looking that up:

https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/allbengals-insiders-plus/bengals-franchise-tag-history-how-many-times-have-they-used-it-who-got-extensions-and-when-who-got-traded-01jmaxnk42pq

Not a lot of success stories.  The Carl Pickens story was interesting was news to me. 

(11 hours ago)Au165 Wrote: Calvin Ridley got $50 million guaranteed last year on a 4 years 92 Million dollar deal, so essentially Tee got as much guaranteed as the best FA WR deal last FA cycle. Funny enough, Ridley's deal basically has a two year out that guaranteed 51 Million...so again not much different then what Tee has had to this point.

Michael Pittman's contract is nearly identical to that too. 3 years 70m 46 total guaranteed with 41 guaranteed at signing. The only real big difference is Tee didn't get a signing bonus his will come in salary.

WR Cash Earnings 2024-2025

1. Justin Jefferson, $70.2M
2. CeeDee Lamb, $67M
3. Tyreek Hill, $55.1M
4. Davante Adams, $53.5M
5. A.J. Brown, $51M
6. Brandon Aiyuk, $49M
7. Calvin Ridley, $48M
8. Tee Higgins, $47.9M
9. Michael Pittman Jr., $46M
10. Mike Evans, $44.6M

— Spotrac (@spotrac) March 3, 2025

 

(11 hours ago)pally Wrote:

tag.

— Tee Higgins⁵ (@teehiggins5) March 3, 2025

Such enthusiasm!

not that i blame him

Not like we really had anyone else to tag so there is that. But it just gets annoying how SLOW we are working these deals out. Contracts should take at most a couple of days to resolve not months.

(10 hours ago)Joelist Wrote: Not like we really had anyone else to tag so there is that. But it just gets annoying how SLOW we are working these deals out. Contracts should take at most a couple of days to resolve not months.

FWIW it doesn’t sound good on the Chase front either if you believe her.

Ja’Marr Chase is the priority and expected to reset the non-QB market. An offer has been made by Cincinnati, but the two sides remain far apart for now, per sources.

— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) March 3, 2025

(10 hours ago)Joelist Wrote: Not like we really had anyone else to tag so there is that. But it just gets annoying how SLOW we are working these deals out. Contracts should take at most a couple of days to resolve not months.

With 10's of millions of dollars on the line, all sorts of different bonuses and or guarantees and when they trigger during the contract I can see why it takes time.  These are not simple contracts to draw up and decisions to make when it comes to that much money.  It's not like signing a contract for a loan on a car.   Also it isn't like the Bengals are alone in extended contract talks.  It happens to every team.  Now do I trust some other teams to do a better job at those extended talks than the Bengals? Probably. 

(Yesterday, 03:48 PM)Frank Booth Wrote: "it failed before so it will fail again"

weak mentality. There's also times where it works

Like when we let Zeitler go?

(10 hours ago)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: FWIW it doesn’t sound good on the Chase front either if you believe her.

Ja’Marr Chase is the priority and expected to reset the non-QB market. An offer has been made by Cincinnati, but the two sides remain far apart for now, per sources.

— Dianna Russini (@DMRussini) March 3, 2025

Well, she does say "for now" if that's any consolation..lol

(01-24-2025, 11:45 PM)Whacked Wrote: Yikes.

https://www.cincyjungle.com/2025/1/24/24350673/tee-higgins-projected-to-get-112-million-deal-according-to-pro-football-focus

Tee Higgins projected to get $112 million deal, according to Pro Football Focus

Tee Higgins may want to stay in Cincinnati, but based on Pro Football Focus’ projected contract, his price tag might be out of the Bengals’ range.

The football data site predicts that Higgins, the top free agent of the 2025 offseason, will get a deal worth $112 over four years with $67.5 million guaranteed. That comes out to $28 million per year.

Even though he missed five games due to injury, Higgins, still just 26 years old, finished as PFF’s eighth best receiver overall with a season grade of 88.2. He “consistently produced at a high level”, according to PFF’s free agency profile of the receiver.

The question is, will the Bengals value Higgins as much as PFF does? And will they pay him like the elite receiver he is when the team has another elite receiver (Ja’Marr Chase) to pay as well as an elite pass rusher (Trey Hendrickson) to pay at some point?

That's not surprising.
I'm sure there are some teams who would want to make him their clear-cut WR1 and would pay him as such.

If I'm Higgins, I'm not signing with the Bengals unless it's at least a 3-year, $75+ mill deal or better.
That's giving a few mill APY discount to stay.

(11 hours ago)Au165 Wrote: Calvin Ridley got $50 million guaranteed last year on a 4 years 92 Million dollar deal, so essentially Tee got as much guaranteed as the best FA WR deal last FA cycle. Funny enough, Ridley's deal basically has a two year out that guaranteed 51 Million...so again not much different then what Tee has had to this point.

I promise you the Bengals are negotiating in a way saying "well, we've already guaranteed him $50 million, we aren't going to guarantee any more". 

(10 hours ago)Stewy Wrote: Such enthusiasm!

not that i blame him

I get his frustration but bro just made 26 million dollars today, and he's going to get a big deal eventuallly. 

Not sure im really too sad for the guy. 

I could be wrong but this is the downside of an owner who isn't "NFL Rich"

I'm sure a lot of these other teams aren't negotiating every little point like the Bengals do. It's just fun money for a lot of these owners.

(10 hours ago)WeezyBengal Wrote: I promise you the Bengals are negotiating in a way saying "well, we've already guaranteed him $50 million, we aren't going to guarantee any more". 

...no they aren't.

(10 hours ago)J24 Wrote: Like when we let Zeitler go?

good yes I can play that game too with other better franchises than cincinnati

Despite all of the stupidity of the Chase negotiation and the Burrow publicity tour, it sure feels like we're right back in the same spot as last offseason.

(10 hours ago)QueenCity Wrote: I could be wrong but this is the downside of an owner who isn't "NFL Rich"

I'm sure a lot of these other teams aren't negotiating every little point like the Bengals do.  It's just fun money for a lot of these owners.

Most teams do because of the cap not because they are cash poor.  There are all sorts of interesting things teams can negotiate like option bonuses and when other guarantees kick in, void years and such to increase year by year cap savings   IMO some teams do seem to handle those things better than the Bengals though. 

(10 hours ago)J24 Wrote: Like when we let Zeitler go?

It's nice to rewrite history, but the Browns so vastly overpaid Zeitler that they traded him 2 years later and the team that traded for him cut him 2 years after that rather than pay him the end of the contract. Until last year (playing between an All-Pro and a Second Team All-Pro) he had never been as good as he was here, and that was only just pretty good not even very good, let alone great.

Zeitler was an above average player who became the highest paid guard in all of football. I will never feel bad about not signing him to that deal.

Is it the non exclusive Tag? Happy we tagged Tee so we didn't let him go for nothing, but he doesn't seem the happiest about it and I
cannot blame him. Still, it was the smart thing to do by the Bengals and see if they can work out an extension for him or trade him.

But the non exclusive is nearly untradeable which is a problem to me.

(9 hours ago)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Is it the non exclusive Tag? Happy we tagged Tee so we didn't let him go for nothing, but he doesn't seem the happiest about it and I
cannot blame him. Still, it was the smart thing to do by the Bengals and see if they can work out an extension for him or trade him.

But the non exclusive is nearly untradeable which is a problem to me.

It doesn't really affect a trade.  The non-exclusive tag affects teams wanting to sign him because teams can still make him an offer once free agency starts.  If he accepts the other team's offer and Bengals refuse to match it the team gives the Bengals 2 first round picks.