03-04-2023, 12:57 PM
(03-04-2023, 11:35 AM)kevin Wrote: Since Bengals just went to AFC Championship 2 years in a row for first time in franchise history, beating Chiefs 1 or those 2 Championships, both games close in Kansas City, and Super Bowl close in Rams home stadium. Added to fact Bengals are not an old team as Brady & Gronk in last years, but more of a young team as Brady and Gronk starting out. Then The Bengals would love to keep this team together. This is not the time to blow it up and start all over.
So The Bengals would love to keep everybody on the team, but the salary cap makes that impossible.
The Bengals Front Office has already said that Priority Number One is to resign Joe Burrow long term to avoid free agency after this season. They need to lock their franchise quarterback in. He is already the most winning play-off QB than any Bengal QB ever, ahead of Ken Anderson and Boomer Esiason.
The Bengals say everything else is based on resigning Joe Borrow. They say it is the reason they caved on Paul Brown Stadium and sold the name on stadium rights to come up with more money needed to keep Joe Burrow.
Add in that next year they must resign Chase. They will want the LSU Burrow to Chase combination because playing together in college and pros, their timing is next to perfect after year of reps together.
So Bengals have to make salary cap room for not jut Burrow this year, but Chase next year.
So as much as Bengals would love to keep the entire team together, it's not salary cap possible. I can tell you this much, Burrow and Chase are going to be together like Brady and Gronk or Mahomes and Kelce. Bengals will do whatever it takes to resign Burrow and Chase long term. To do so, we will lose some fan favorites, but Burrow to Chase is going to be expensive to resign in 2023 and 2024. but you want that combo in Cincy a long time. Don Meredith said it takes years for a QB to get the timing on a pass catcher. The rare thing with Burrow to Chase is their college years together at LSU. Bengals know they need to lock that rare timing in long term.
Burrow will not be a FA after this year, nor Chase after next. 5th year options for both will be exercised. Even as we extend them. The big bumps will come in 2025 for Burrow and 2026 foir Chase.
Now, certainly guys we sign now to 3 or 4 year deals will overlap when those extensions hit. And guys like Higgins and Wilson would have their new deals kick in in 2024.
The big challenge will be to identify the guys who either:
1) Make so much on the open market we decide that keeping them would cost us too much elsewhere.
2) Are fine players but we have a cheaper, roughly equivalent player ready to take over.
3) Are a bit overpaid for their production.
Or some combination.
But you are correct. We think this is a super bowl quality team & want to keep the core together as much as possible.
