04-23-2022, 01:14 PM
(04-14-2022, 04:29 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Actually the debate would be letting Carman be the starting LG or signing Tretter so you can move Karras back to guard. Very much so I believe that Tretter and Karras is worlds above Karras and Carman.
You've decided that going all in on winning a Super Bowl means overpaying old and injured guys. It doesn't. Being an aggressive team doesn't mean being incompetent. It means focusing all your resources on making the best possible team you can squeeze in together, even if it means you might take a small hit a couple years from now cap-wise or pick-wise. The Rams traded for Von Miller because they decided they needed another pass rusher on their already talented team. He got 2 sacks in the Super Bowl and they hoisted the Lombardi.
Enjoy trying to continue to build when Burrow and Chase are making $80m/yr or more. You can only "keep building" so long as you keep nailing draft picks. As soon as you stop having a huge source of cheap rookie contract players, your team is going to get worse because you can't afford to keep everyone on veteran contracts.
Right now Burrow, Chase, and Higgins are a combined $19.25m against the cap in 2022. In 2024 if you want those 3 players it will be more like $100m against the cap. Even if the cap rises $50m over the next two years, that's still ~$31m less that you will have to build the rest of the roster. That's more than all three of the OL the Bengals signed this year make yearly combined.
You can only build right now BECAUSE those guys are so cheap right now. Once that's gone, you lose the biggest competitive advantage that exists in the NFL. A franchise QB on a rookie contract. After this offseason a true #1 WR on a rookie contract isn't terrible far behind in advantage.
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I never made a Gilmore example?
I apologize that regardless of being up late that night I blurred the OP's thread with yours and was responding to two threads so my response unfortunately. The Gilmore example the OP gave was one I would have been on board with.
Your Tretter one is one I was behind and would still get behind for sure. I hope they still sign a vet to compete at LG though. I get what you're saying about the window we have, but you have to look at each move individually. My extreme examples were not meant to say that is what you meant...it's to show that at all costs can go too far IMO. At all costs has a cost that could go too far.
You did give me something to work with on Tretter, and I'm fine with giving up a mid round pick for a rental that fills a need at say CB, LG or maybe a DE/UT type. Or you can front end some cut vets after the draft or again I'm all for trading picks in next years draft if need be especially if there is an injury in camp.
