(03-26-2025, 10:21 AM)ERIC1 Wrote: good thing is Higgins hamstring is functioning ok ..he was able to shift gears

Now if only you could shift gears onto a new shtick.

(03-24-2025, 10:03 AM)Sled21 Wrote: This line of thinking that seemingly everyone spouts is complete hogwash. Yeah, you might sign them cheaper, but as soon as the next big deal is signed the players want to renegotiate their deals. Look at Trey Hendrickson. He was signed for what was a big contract. Then with 2 years left, he wants to re-negotiate because other DE's are making more. And now this year, with one year left, he wants to be traded. The league does not make players honor their contracts. SO you might sign a player like Chase or Higgins cheaper initially, but they are just going to want to renegotiate as soon as someone else is making more than them. 

Trey was quite a bit underpaid, compared to his production. I can't speak for last year but this year he deserved a pretty decent pay raise. 

How many other WRs are yelling for new contracts, after recently sigining, because of the JJ and Chase deals of the last 2 years? Any?

(03-26-2025, 10:04 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: And some of that goes to draft picks. How could a team with $28 million trade for Trey and give him $35 million a year?

Their $28 million is more like $20 million.

This has been coveredby me and many others in detail. There is a major difference between a player's average pay per year than the cap hit due to major manipulation methods. A team could give him a 30 million dollar bonus in year 1 and a base salary of 1 million or vetminimum. He gets 31 million year 1, but only a cap hit of 1 million if they decide to defer the entire bonus to later years.

They can also use void years to lower the cap hit. I think you continue to think cap is cash, it is not.

(03-26-2025, 10:29 AM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: Yep. I wonder if that signals OL at #4 instead of a playmaker (Hunter/WR/Warren). It would not necessarily preclude it, but I think getting Maye a WR1 (Diggs) and an OT1 (#4) would be a win. Plus DT Milton Williams & CB Carlton Davis on D + some others.

Pats should be better.

Most mocks have Pats taking Campbell or Membou. A few Graham. I never saw a WR mocked to the Pats prior to Diggs signing.

A lot of folks talking about emanowori. No mention of starks. Doesn’t he fit the bill for ya?

I see terrace Marshall is a f/a. Only mention him if Burton ends up being cut. I’d rather get iol help and focus on the defense this draft. I think they can bring in a college free agent rb or one cut from elsewhere. I think can wait until next year to get a te.

(03-26-2025, 11:41 AM)BenZoo2 Wrote: A lot of folks talking about emanowori.  No mention of starks.  Doesn’t he fit the bill for ya?

I see terrace Marshall is a f/a.  Only mention him if Burton ends up being cut.  I’d rather get iol help and focus on the defense this draft.  I think they can bring in a college free agent rb or one cut from elsewhere.  I think can wait until next year to get a te.

People love RAS scores nowadays. Starks had a bad combine, which is making people question their lying eyes when it comes to his play.

I was wondering if folks really still believed that some free agency frenzy was still coming. But I see this is now about the draft...

(03-26-2025, 10:29 AM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: Yep. I wonder if that signals OL at #4 instead of a playmaker (Hunter/WR/Warren). It would not necessarily preclude it, but I think getting Maye a WR1 (Diggs) and an OT1 (#4) would be a win. Plus DT Milton Williams & CB Carlton Davis on D + some others.

Pats should be better.

(03-26-2025, 11:35 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Most mocks have Pats taking Campbell or Membou. A few Graham. I never saw a WR mocked to the Pats prior to Diggs signing.

I was looking at Walters latest mock a little while ago and he has the Pats going with Membou, if I remember correctly. Oddly he has both Warren and Nolen available at #17 with us going Nolen. 

Nolen is talented and fits that need, but I would have a hard time passing on a weapon like Warren. 

(03-26-2025, 11:31 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: This has been coveredby me and many others in detail. There is a majr difference between a player's average pay per year than the cap hit due to amjor manipulation methods. A team could give him a 30 million dollar bonus in year 1 and a base salary of 1 million or vetminimum. He gets 31 million year 1, but only a cap hit of 1 million if they decide to defer the entire bonus to later years.

They can also use void years to lower the cap hit. I think you continue to think cap is cash, it is not.

I might be in the minority, but I wouldn't be opposed to contracts being forced to stick to AAV for cap hits and removing things like Void Years.
It would help keep things simpler and allow more parity across the league because teams like the Chiefs, Eagles, and Steelers couldn't manipulate the heck out of the cap like they do today.

I'm sure though doing that would be a lose-lose for both the teams and players themselves.

(03-26-2025, 02:11 PM)jj22 Wrote: I was wondering if folks really still believed that some free agency frenzy was still coming. But I see this is now about the draft...

This is about team needs after free agency.  The draft is a paper of that, no?

(03-26-2025, 02:16 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I might be in the minority, but I wouldn't be opposed to contracts being forced to stick to AAV for cap hits and removing things like Void Years.
It would help keep things simpler and allow more parity across the league because teams like the Chiefs, Eagles, and Steelers couldn't manipulate the heck out of the cap like they do today.

I'm sure though doing that would be a lose-lose for both the teams and players themselves.

AAV is not the answer in my opinion because AAV is based on contract's maximum value. A better option would get the cap hit be tied to guaranteed money at signing. I agree players would lose a lot if this happened in my opinion.

As for structure, Bengals know the rules and can do the same manipulation, all teams can do so for me not a good case for changing it because our team refuses to use these methods to lower cap hits.

(03-26-2025, 09:30 AM)CJD Wrote: Trey's agent must be his wife's brother or something, because his incompetence is actually astonishing.

This is what I was thinking, cannot fire the agent or something...

(03-26-2025, 09:59 AM)Truck_1_0_1_ Wrote: It's been linked in the past, but here is his agent's page: very eyebrow-raising.

https://nsafootball.com/about/

Wild. 

(03-26-2025, 10:19 AM)CJD Wrote: The funniest part to me was at the bottom, it has three players' images and names. Those three players:
Trey Hendrickson
Marquez Valdez-Scantling
Derick Hall

I don't know who their other players are, but if those are their top 3 players in the entire agency, Trey should probably join a bigger agency.
Scrolling their twitter page, it seems like they represent mostly undrafted free agents and waiver guys.

Names that they have retweeted recently:
Isaiah Williams
Jalen Virgil
Shemar Jean-Charles
Josh Blackwell
Luis Perez
Willie Snead IV
Tre Herndon
Mike Barrett
Gunner Britton

These players deserve representation and an agent who works for them, but negotiating a contract to get a player signed to a league minimum or relatively small dollar contract at the bottom of a roster is fundamentally different than negotiating a contract for a star player.

Seeing this list of players, it does not surprise me that he thought a 1 year extension worth 21 million dollars was a good idea. That's probably the most a player he represented was ever offered for a single year.

Interesting to say the least.

A player of Trey Hendrickson caliber should not be working with an agent wannabe. The players they have signed are mostly roster fodder.

(03-25-2025, 09:14 PM)Bengalbug Wrote: Seems to me that the giants think the browns will take sanders.

But this would not preclude them taking a QB.  We saw Kirk get a LOT more last year and a team still drafted a QB.

Sanders isn’t a day one starter and that’s ok.

All of this could be true. Agree that Shedeur is not a day one starter. He will need a QB to learn from in front of him.

Russell Wilson is a pretty good one.

(03-25-2025, 09:22 PM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: They have signed Winston and Wilson. I guess they could carry 3. But I think they either stay put and take Carter/Hunter or try to trade down with a QB hungry team for more picks.

2 FA QBs and a QB at 3 seems like overkill..

Winston sucks man, dude throws interceptions like a mad man. 

(03-25-2025, 09:39 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: I don't think Giants are going QB. They also signed Winston last week.

Yeah, I wouldn't think adding a bad QB like Winston takes QB out of their plans. At least if I was a Giants fan I sure wouldn't like it if 
this was the case. Shedeur isn't my favorite QB in this draft by a long ways though, so I could understand them passing on him for this
very reason, they just don't like Shedeur.

(03-26-2025, 02:14 PM)coachmcneil71 Wrote: I was looking at Walters latest mock a little while ago and he has the Pats going with Membou, if I remember correctly. Oddly he has both Warren and Nolen available at #17 with us going Nolen. 

Nolen is talented and fits that need, but I would have a hard time passing on a weapon like Warren. 

That is a tough one. Maybe they go with Warren because there are no character concerns with him?

I would agree with this take even though a pass rushing 3-tech is more of a need for us than a great all around TE.

But Erick All's injury actually makes an all around TE a bigger need than maybe some like to admit.

(03-26-2025, 02:33 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: AAV is not the answer in my opinion because AAV is based on contract's maxium value. A better option would ge the cap hit be tied to guaranteed money at signing. I agree players would lose a lot if this happened in my opinion.

As for structure, Bengals know the rules and can do the same manipulation, all teams can do so for me not a good case for changing it because our team refuses to use these methods to lower cap hits.

I wasn't proposing it to make it easier for Bengals.
I was proposing it because it makes it easier for people to understand when they see the average annual value and try to equate that to cap year-to-year.

I like your idea about tying to guaranteed money, but that would really incentivize the teams to have as little guaranteed as possible then but be the opposite of what a player would want, no?

what about just making entire contracts guaranteed like MLB does?
That way the cap is spread evenly and the players get the full $$.
Void years could still be added to spread it out like they have done for Bobby Bonilla and Ken Griffey Jr.

Well, someone thought we did pretty well in FA. This guy at ESPN ranked our FA class (new, retensions, extensions) and how close we maximized as #6 of 32.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/story/_/id/44363563/2025-nfl-free-agency-class-rankings-teams-improved-better-worse-signings-deals

(03-26-2025, 02:41 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: That is a tough one. Maybe they go with Warren because there are no character concerns with him?

I would agree with this take even though a pass rushing 3-tech is more of a need for us than a great all around TE.

But Erick All's injury actually makes an all around TE a bigger need than maybe some like to admit.

I have been beating the TE drum. I think Drew Sample is our poorest starter at any position. Evan worsr than G (Volson/Ford), WR3 (Yoshi), DE2 (Ossai), S (Soine & Battle), and PK (McPherson). 

While we have two viable starters at DT in Hill & Slaton. Which makes the DT a rotational piece. Now, I'd love for that DT to be a stud va run & pass & make BJ or slaton a reserve. And I do think Nolen, Grant, or Harmon could do it. 

But by the same token, BJ/Slaton are better at their jobs than Sample is at his. Having Gesicki as a WR4/TE2 kind of mitigates our shortcomings at TE1 & WR3, though..

If my chiice is Warren or Nolen, I'd take Warren. 

(03-26-2025, 03:24 PM)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: I have been beating the TE drum. I think Drew Sample is our poorest starter at any position. Evan worsr than G (Volson/Ford), WR3 (Yoshi), DE2 (Ossai), S (Soine & Battle), and PK (McPherson). 

While we have two viable starters at DT in Hill & Slaton. Which makes the DT a rotational piece. Now, I'd love for that DT to be a stud va run & pass & make BJ or slaton a reserve. And I do think Nolen, Grant, or Harmon could do it. 

But by the same token, BJ/Slaton are better at their jobs than Sample is at his. Having Gesicki as a WR4/TE2 kind of mitigates our shortcomings at TE1 & WR3, though..

If my chiice is Warren or Nolen, I'd take Warren. 

I don’t think I’ve seen one site that has Warren ranked lower than nolen as prospect.  Odds would be fairly high if Warren is there he would be “bpa”.  We shall see come draft night 

(03-26-2025, 02:43 PM)ochocincos Wrote: ....what about just making entire contracts guaranteed like MLB does?
That way the cap is spread evenly and the players get the full $$.
Void years could still be added to spread it out like they have done for Bobby Bonilla and Ken Griffey Jr.

Why would anyone want the NFL to turn into something like MLB?  Fully guaranteed contracts are a bad idea.  Look at Cleveland with Deshaun Watson.  Does anyone really want that for the entire NFL?  It's not good for the team.  Its not good for their fans.  It's not good for the NFL as a whole.  If players cant guarantee their same level of production why should their contracts be guaranteed.  In my job if I start sucking at what I do, I get let go.  

Being able to cut guys allows that extra money to go toward other guys that are playing better.  What if everyone in the NFL were on guaranteed contracts right now and the salary cap stays flat?  How would you pay all the rookies coming off their contracts?  and other players coming off their current contracts that deserve a raise.  You need to be able to cut players and give that money to other players that deserve a raise instead of those that are under-performing.

...and void years are bad too.  You are borrowing money from future years to pay current players.  Its like going to a check cashing place to borrow money on your future checks to pay a current debt.  Next month when you have to pay bills, you have less money to cover your expenses.