2 hours ago
(4 hours ago)c766 Wrote: This is an abysmal list of FA WRs. The only #1 FA WR is Higgins, the rest are way past their prime, or #3s, or Injured and way past their prime.
The Bengals only have 2 choices. Tag Tee....And trade him for draft capital. Or, extend him creatively with Chase.
I think I prefer the first option, given he misses 5 games a year over the last 2 seasons.
Godwin had 3 straight 1k+ seasons before getting hurt this year.
Diggs has some personality problems, but had 6 straight 1k+ seasons before this year.
Keenan Allen had 1200+ yards last year before taking a significant QB talent decrease.
If you're calling Tee a #1 WR, but not those three, you're just wrong.
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Tagging and trading Tee isn't an option anymore.
-We can't trade Tee until he actually signs the franchise tag (he signed the first one June 16th)
-Until we trade Tee we can't use the $26m in Free Agency (which starts March 10th)
-The NFL draft is April 24th so if Tee doesn't sign and get traded before then we can only get a 2026 draft pick which does nothing to help us this year
-It's questionable how many teams are willing to pay Tee's 2nd franchise tag of $26.1m AND give him a new contract AND give us a pick of actual value.
So by tagging Tee, we'd have $26m we couldn't use for the first 3 months of Free Agency and then we'd just get a 2026 draft pick anyway. We need to knock this FA out of the park, so can't be doing that.
You forgot the third choice, which is the only choice at this point.... just letting him walk and moving on. With that $26.1m you could sign those two WRs I mentioned before AND have $16.6m left over from the $26.1m to spend on a Guard, which is top-15 guard money. Once you add the $8m from cutting Cappa, you have up to $24.6m to sign his replacement, which is $3.6m more than any G is making so you can pay any FA G you want the money he would demand and still have two solid WRs behind Chase.
Tee for 12 games/Charlie Jones for 5 games + Alex Cappa < Trey Smith + Josh Palmer + Brandin Cooks
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