03-12-2017, 02:44 AM
(03-12-2017, 02:28 AM)BengalChris Wrote: The fact is that we have about $24M in cap space.
Are we extending Eifert? Are we extending Dennard? Are we extending Hill? Are we extending Burfict? Will we be extending McCarron? All these guys are free agents next year and as it stands, without the rookie deals, the Bengals will be heading into the 2018 season with about $50M in cap space. Given that Mikey will cut that down to about $18M with his fake cap, we can expect another year like the last two - talent exit. Call it TalExit.
I think most of us are on the same page of being frustrated that they float these numbers to us though Hobspin, but the fact is this is how they operate. We can moan about it every thread or we can share ideas with how we'd make the most of what's real. What's real is they won't spend anywhere close to that on this open market, will likely only extend one of those guys you mentioned this offseason (Burfict or Eifert) and have already dug themselves into playing the comp pick game. I just wanted to see some ideas for adding talent with the parameters this team uses...crazy or not.
Another idea for a thread could be, which self imposed rule will Mikey and Co. drop using first. Being okay with substantial dead money? Dropping the comp pick strategy? Sign vets to realistically compete vs young players they're banking on? Not spinning a budget publicly to act like they're out of money? Being willing to break from the "big money position" strategy that uses high assets (picks and pay) on certain positions? I feel like that would make us more mad, but either way focusing on one issue at a time, these are Mikey's rules and I actually an intrigued by Mangold vs Clady discussions....sad or not.
