Signs that Next Year will see more talent depart

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(03-18-2017, 04:49 PM)Burma Wrote: I'm taking the re-signing of Tez on a "see it to believe it" basis.  The Bengals don't value 4-3 LB enough to draft them in the 1st, yet they expect us to believe they are going to re-sign Tez to a contract that reflects his level of play?  He's one of the top 5 LBs in the NFL.  Right now he is 47th in average salaty at @ $4.7 mill per year. To pay him like a top 5 LB the Bengals are going to be looking at something like 5 year/$80 mill.  $16 mill per year. Dalton makes $16 mill per, and AJ is only at $15.  I find it incredibly hard to believe they are going to pay Tez what his play says he is worth.  But at least it makes for good quotes when they say re-signing him is a top priority and it's why they need to roll over so much cap cash.

http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/rankings/average/linebacker/

Your post is kinda wrong because that's nowhere close to the actual number that it will end up being.

You just gave a straight up list of linebackers. 4-3 OLB don't get paid like 3-4 OLB. They have different jobs, and get paid differently.

Everyone in the top 5 of that list has had a 10+ sack season before.

In fact, only 3 people in the top 10 on that list haven't had a 10+ sack season before.
-Jamie Collins, who the Browns overpaid to keep around
-Lavonte David who has had a 7 sack/5 INT/2 FF season, and has missed 2 games in 5 years.
-Bruce Irvin, who less successful, is still a pass rushing LB

Burfict simply isn't going to get paid like a pass rushing LB, and he hasn't had the numbers and health of Lavonte David. So unless the Browns offer a bajillion dollars like they did to Collins, Burfict will never ever sniff $16m/yr. It will certainly be more than he's currently making, but think of it more like this...

The 5th highest paid inside linebacker is currently making $8.75m/yr. That's much closer to where Burfict will be than $16m/yr. Look for $10m/yr, depending on how healthy he is in 2017.