02-17-2022, 10:39 PM
Bates franchise tag is 13.5M. He won't get more than that unless he signs multi-year with up front bonus. I think he's a top 10 safety, but not a top 5.
CJ is a team leader and I'd like to see him back at 7M, but he's hit and miss in blocking. I'd also like to pursue Maxx Williams 6M, who is a more find-the-soft-spot receiver but an excellent blocker. Good TE blockers are getting harder to find.
Since DB performance is hard to project, I'd repeat our scatter shot approach and pursue DJ Reed 8M, Sidney Jones 4M, or Casey Hayward 8M as a CB2 with Eli or Phillips 2M as a CB5 and draft a CB/S.
BJ Hill is a nice run/pass mix, but for a little bump in salary the Bengals could pursue Akiem Hicks, who's better at everything.
The OLine: I'm not sold on anyone but Williams. I also don't want to sink $15+m into a player that could end up injured. I also don't want sign 4 FAs. OTOH, improvement isn't hard when you start from bad.
RT: I like Moses 8M if available, or sign Reiff 7M or Bobby Massey 3M as stop-gap RTs and draft or develop.
OG: Oday Aboushi 3M, recovering from ACL in 2021 and Spain 4M. I'm not convinced that Tomlinson is worth 8 or Scherff worth 17. Pick up another OG in the draft and let them battle it out.
OC: My big/small brain move. Trade 2022 and 2023 1st rounders to get Tyler Lindenbaum. I'm not planning to draft below 20+ in 2023 anyway. My guess is that we'd need to go up to #13 (Browns). As a 1st round pick, this is a 5 year answer to the center position. Alternatively or additionally, pursue Ben Jones 7M who is a solid pass-defender and has played RG in the past.
CJ is a team leader and I'd like to see him back at 7M, but he's hit and miss in blocking. I'd also like to pursue Maxx Williams 6M, who is a more find-the-soft-spot receiver but an excellent blocker. Good TE blockers are getting harder to find.
Since DB performance is hard to project, I'd repeat our scatter shot approach and pursue DJ Reed 8M, Sidney Jones 4M, or Casey Hayward 8M as a CB2 with Eli or Phillips 2M as a CB5 and draft a CB/S.
BJ Hill is a nice run/pass mix, but for a little bump in salary the Bengals could pursue Akiem Hicks, who's better at everything.
The OLine: I'm not sold on anyone but Williams. I also don't want to sink $15+m into a player that could end up injured. I also don't want sign 4 FAs. OTOH, improvement isn't hard when you start from bad.
RT: I like Moses 8M if available, or sign Reiff 7M or Bobby Massey 3M as stop-gap RTs and draft or develop.
OG: Oday Aboushi 3M, recovering from ACL in 2021 and Spain 4M. I'm not convinced that Tomlinson is worth 8 or Scherff worth 17. Pick up another OG in the draft and let them battle it out.
OC: My big/small brain move. Trade 2022 and 2023 1st rounders to get Tyler Lindenbaum. I'm not planning to draft below 20+ in 2023 anyway. My guess is that we'd need to go up to #13 (Browns). As a 1st round pick, this is a 5 year answer to the center position. Alternatively or additionally, pursue Ben Jones 7M who is a solid pass-defender and has played RG in the past.
