Cap space

[*ochocincos*]

(02-05-2022, 02:49 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I see a lot of people going crazy over how much cap space we will have this offseason but that number is meaningless without looking at potential free agent losses.

The Bengals are projected to have about $58 million in cap space and could gain another $10 by releasing Trae Waynes.  So that is $68 million.  But look at the starters and other main contributors we will have to replace.

Reiff, starter
Ogunjobi, starter
Uzomah, starter
Bates, starter
Spain, starter
Apple, starter

B.J. Hill, 50% of snaps
Tupou, 40% of snaps

The first thing to consider when looking at potential free agent losses is who do we already have on the roster that could fill one of these spots.  On the O-line I like the potential of Carman and D'Ante Smith, but the odds are against both them stepping up to play as well as Spain and Reiff.  I think most people would agree that we should invest some free agent money on at least TWO offensive linemen for next year.  On D-line we have a couple of rookies who could potentially step up their game in Shelvin and Sample.  But they are both 4th rounders and Sample is more DE than DT.  We have a good history with 4th round picks, but the odds are against either of them playing as well as Ogunjobi or Hill are pretty slim.  So if one replaces Tupou then we still need to sign TWO DTs.  We have no one to step up and replace Uzomah, Bates, or Apple.  So that is THREE more big holes to fill.

Next you look at potential draft picks to replace losses.  With us picking at 32 it will be difficult to find a player that will step in and start immediately.  

So it looks like we will need to spread out our $68 million over 7 players.  If you start looking at guys who make over $15 million ayear you will have to start cutting down expectations at other positions.

And there will be other smaller holes that need to be filled.  Huber and Clark Harris are also free agents.  At Safety/DB Ricardo Allen and Tre Flowers played almost a third of the defensive snaps (323).  Waynes played almost a quarter of the snaps at CB (243).

And. finally, the Bengals only ended up with $5 million in unused cap space to roll over this year.  So there was no way we could have afforded those $15 million dollar O-linemen a lot of people were screaming for last year.  We were actually lucky last year cap wise.  We got Jesse Bates, Quinton Spain, and B.J. Hill for a COMBINED TOTAL of only $3.37 million.  No way in hell we will be able to replace them with equal players at five times that amount.

Cliff notes:  Bengals will not have unlimited cap space to sign lots of big name free agents after replacing our losses.

I've been saying the same thing in my mocks from the past couple months.
It seems like a lot, but when you look, the Bengals only have ~35 players under contract for 2022.


I know people think that players might be willing to sign for a discount to play with Burrow, but I doubt it'd be THAT much of a discount.

Some of the more impactful players the Bengals have that are set to hit FA should fetch $5+ mill each, which will go through that cap kinda fast.

They might only be able to sign a good starter or two while retaining most of their talent.

We'll have to see how FA pans out starting mid-March.