01-31-2024, 05:53 PM
I don't mind paying for truly elite players. We have four in my view: Burrow, Chase, Hendrickson, & Reader.
Burrow has one more year at below market value before the extension kicks in, Chase has two. Hendrickson is well compensated. Reader should be as well.
When Burrow & Chase & Tee were all on rookie deals, we could afford to pay more for good/not great FA's and to extend our own guys on 2nd contracts. Brown, Cappa, Karras, Chido, Hilton, and the departed Bell were/are all quality players. Ditto Hurst. Mixon, Boyd, Hubbard, BJ Hill, Pratt, & Wilson all got extended once. Bates & Bell walked.
But we cannot keep paying $10 mil for a smidge above average guys. Or, rather, we can do it far less often. We need some production from guys on rookie deals instead. CTB & Battle are the only guys in that category right now. ADG, C. Sample, & Ossai are fine. We need Murphy, Turner, Dax Hill, Yoshi, & Chuck Sizzle to join them.
I put Jonah firmly in that category. Time to move on. He ain't worth $15 mil. A cheaper bridge FA (Tyrod Smith, Fant) + a rook RT in Rd1 seem like a good idea. If you could guarantee me Fuaga, I could skip the bridge. But stupidly beating the Browns cost us 4 spots, 8 by the 2nd.
For me, Reader & Tee are our 4th & 5th best players. Keep them and go from there.
We need dome good vets. Chido & Boyd have excellent seasons in their Bengals past. But I am not sure they are worth it going forward. I'd be more inclined to pay Chido. Less depth behind him and younger.
Burrow has one more year at below market value before the extension kicks in, Chase has two. Hendrickson is well compensated. Reader should be as well.
When Burrow & Chase & Tee were all on rookie deals, we could afford to pay more for good/not great FA's and to extend our own guys on 2nd contracts. Brown, Cappa, Karras, Chido, Hilton, and the departed Bell were/are all quality players. Ditto Hurst. Mixon, Boyd, Hubbard, BJ Hill, Pratt, & Wilson all got extended once. Bates & Bell walked.
But we cannot keep paying $10 mil for a smidge above average guys. Or, rather, we can do it far less often. We need some production from guys on rookie deals instead. CTB & Battle are the only guys in that category right now. ADG, C. Sample, & Ossai are fine. We need Murphy, Turner, Dax Hill, Yoshi, & Chuck Sizzle to join them.
I put Jonah firmly in that category. Time to move on. He ain't worth $15 mil. A cheaper bridge FA (Tyrod Smith, Fant) + a rook RT in Rd1 seem like a good idea. If you could guarantee me Fuaga, I could skip the bridge. But stupidly beating the Browns cost us 4 spots, 8 by the 2nd.
For me, Reader & Tee are our 4th & 5th best players. Keep them and go from there.
We need dome good vets. Chido & Boyd have excellent seasons in their Bengals past. But I am not sure they are worth it going forward. I'd be more inclined to pay Chido. Less depth behind him and younger.
