Should Wilkins be #1 FA target if not tagged?

[*Synric*]

(01-16-2024, 03:48 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: I'm going to take the unpopular opinion here and predict that Christian Wilkins would NOT look like the same player in the AFCN.  Of his 9 sacks this year, 6 were against the 3 crappiest offenses on their schedule (NE, NYJ, CAR).  He's not a true NT, and being able to afford to pay him as the 3T would likely involve getting rid of BJ Hill, whom I think is a great value at his current contract, and would still leave the Bengals wanting for a starting NT.

BJ Hill is in the last year of his contract and it's reasonable at 1y 10m. They have plenty of cap space and I see Christian Wilkins as a guy they can build the DT room around.

It's the straight up paid out money this year that could be the biggest issue. Burrow just got a huge payout just a few months ago, tagging Tee is guaranteed money, possible big Ja'Marr Chase payout by say September, and then adding in a 4 year 100m ish contract for a DT or any player for that matter. That's alot of money in a single year span.