01-25-2025, 12:52 PM
We can tag him for $26 mil or so.
And we absolutely can afford it, and extending Chase & Hendrickson. All we have to do is restructure Burrow (+$19 mil), cut some underperforming guys (Cappa, Rankins, Moss, Volson, and Hubbard nets another $30+ mil).
That's roughly $100 mil in space. And yes, there may be tough decisions on guys like BJ Hill, Hilton, & Gesicki. Or maybe we have to part ways with guys like Drew Sample, Stone, McPherson, and/or Pratt to save some more money (all 4 would net another $17.5 mil).
But paying Higgins, Chase, and Hendrickson is not a hard decision. That's the easy part.
The tougher part is how much to pay & when to cut bait on guys like OBJ, Wilson, Hubbard, Pratt, Stone, Hill, Hilton, Gesicki, Boyd, Chido, Karras, Cappa, etc. Guys who are good but not great.
Bates was up and down instead of consistently great here. Reader was when he was on the field. Bates' inconsistency (even he said he let the contract stuff get to him) and Reader's recent injury made these tougher calls than hindsight suggests.
But the mistakes have also been magnified by the blunders in trying to replace them (Rankins, Scott, Stone, Hill at S, etc.).
And we absolutely can afford it, and extending Chase & Hendrickson. All we have to do is restructure Burrow (+$19 mil), cut some underperforming guys (Cappa, Rankins, Moss, Volson, and Hubbard nets another $30+ mil).
That's roughly $100 mil in space. And yes, there may be tough decisions on guys like BJ Hill, Hilton, & Gesicki. Or maybe we have to part ways with guys like Drew Sample, Stone, McPherson, and/or Pratt to save some more money (all 4 would net another $17.5 mil).
But paying Higgins, Chase, and Hendrickson is not a hard decision. That's the easy part.
The tougher part is how much to pay & when to cut bait on guys like OBJ, Wilson, Hubbard, Pratt, Stone, Hill, Hilton, Gesicki, Boyd, Chido, Karras, Cappa, etc. Guys who are good but not great.
Bates was up and down instead of consistently great here. Reader was when he was on the field. Bates' inconsistency (even he said he let the contract stuff get to him) and Reader's recent injury made these tougher calls than hindsight suggests.
But the mistakes have also been magnified by the blunders in trying to replace them (Rankins, Scott, Stone, Hill at S, etc.).
