5 years $46 mil for TE Travis Kelce 1yr ago. Do Bengals pay Tyler Eifert that?

[*ochocincos*]

(03-29-2017, 07:55 AM)SHRacerX Wrote: Howard is an amazing talent, and this is a question the Bengals will absolutely have to be asking themselves. 

Eifert would deserve the next contract if he is able to prove his health this season.  We already know when healthy that he is also an amazing talent.  If he can show he is 100% healthy and contribute all season, I think he will have earned the second contract and be a franchise cornerstone.  

Barnett has fallen out of favor with some here and some national scouts due to his "limited moves", but the thing about Barnett is even when teams knew about him, and game-planned for him, he still "got home".  A guy like that on this front four could be a huge addition.  This defense stubbornly sticks with the front four to generate pressure and rarely blitzes.  Without a significant upgrade at the RDE position, I think we still see a mean game of paddy-cake when the opposition goes maximum protection.

This early in the first round, the best values (if they are rated similarly) are the QBs, WRs, and pass-rushers because they command the most money in free agency.  I guess you can include CBs in that.  The extra year before they hit free agency for a first round pick is a HUGE advantage to the club on those premium-priced positions.

If Barnett is there, I think they take him.  I don't think he, Garrett, Allen, or Thomas will be...then the question becomes (if there is no trade back partner), do they take Davis or Ross at WR or a talent like Howard?  For this offense, I would rather have Ross or Davis.  But that is just this offense.  If I was the Patriots, or any number of teams that run even 3 TE sets?  I would take Howard. 

One thing people need to remember is that the Bengals absolutely value blocking from the TE position, and Howard is one of the only ones in this draft that has been a good blocker. A majority of the drafted TEs nowadays are primarily just receiving threats. Butt has been used as an inline blocker, but isn't quite as good as Howard in that regard. Howard really is a NFL-ready all-around TE that should be able to be a significant contributor from day 1. All the other TE prospects have at least some key area of improvement they need to make before being a complete TE in the NFL.

And I don't think anyone is really arguing that Barnett isn't talented, but how much more talented is he (and how much more potential does he have) over the other DEs outside of the Big 3? He should be a very solid contributor, but his ceiling might not be high enough vs the ceiling of some of the other players still available at 9.

I think it would improve the team more to go with a receiving threat in Round 1 and then a pass rusher in Round 2 and/or Round 3 vs Barnett in Round 1 and a TE after.