All this talk about what positions the Bengals value got me thinking

[Joelist]

(03-25-2017, 10:58 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: A lot of teams changed in 2011, because a new CBA was signed which changed the rookie pool significantly. The old CBA paid 1st round rookies more money than veterans (not even close) so the old CBA front offices had to take huge risks with players who had never taken an NFL snap. Now and after the new CBA (cap space has went way up and not down) money went to the vets. If you look closely at the Bengals, early on they were able to keep almost every veteran on their 2nd or 3rd contract if they desired. The last 2 years, it has been an issue. Why? Simple, AJ Green and Dalton had team friendly contracts for 4 years due to lower rookie pool, then they got paid with huge second contracts. Geno and Dunlap got huge 2nd contracts.

Look closely at the pay for franchised players and you will see the "Value" positions who get big bucks. DE, OL, CB, QB and WR are high paid if franchised in some cases double over LB, RB, DT, Safety and other positions. So, yes MB and the FO is smart, they realize if they can get a quality LT in the draft for 5 million a year for 5 years (1st round picks have 5th year options) versus having to pay 10 million plus a year in FA or for a veteran, it allows them more money to spend on other positions.

If you look at the team's spending since the new CBA, you will see they spend more than a lot of NFL big market teams and spend more than their fair share going above the CBA requirements for caps spending. My point is the team is spending the money and no one can see MB is just pocketing profits so not a money (spend) issue, it is a performance issue of coaches and players not getting it done in spite of many experts saying the talent (so team through draft and FA did well) was there. Players lost the Steeler's playoff game, not coaches. Just my humble opinion.

In order for this thinking to work you have to play the draftees right away and they have to perform at a high level right away. Every game you don't play them the value reduces if you have no intention of reupping them. If you want time to develop players and then to benefit from that development, you basically have to keep the high round draftees at least for one deal beyond the rookie contract. Otherwise you're just coaching up players for other teams to benefit from. 

Based on this, we should be working to extend our higher round picks a minimum of a year before the option year kicks in. That way we giv e the player time to develop and give ourselves time to benefit.