ESPN - Troy Blackburn comments on Bobby Hart signing

[leonardfan40]

(03-28-2019, 04:06 PM)Ravage Wrote: Again, hating to be fair to that idiot, but look at the contract details. Hart's deal is really a 1 year deal with easy outs the following two years. The three years isn't awful if he can put it together and play well. If he just is what he is and doesn't improve (he's still young-ish at 25), they can cut him in the off season before the roster bonus hits and have a pittance of dead cap as a result (2 mil). Much as I loathe the Hart signing, on the off chance he figures it out and becomes a decent tackle, I'd rather have him under contract than have to pay him a ton on the off chance he performs well. His money looks stupid considering his past performance (and it IS stupid make no mistake), but compared to the top FA tackles, it isn't THAT bad. 

I'm just choosing to believe it's really a 1 year contract, with team options in years 2&3. Sure he might (OK, likely will) be here all 3 years, or he might be gone next March. Until we see who we get in the draft and who's available on the 2020 FA market, at least we know we have one semi-competent (I'm being very generous) RT on the roster. Hart isn't anything to write home about, but he's better than Fisher or Ogbuehi were at least. I think what happened was they panic signed Hart, way overpaid, and preferred to go with the devil they knew than an outside player.

Was it a ridiculous over-pay? Absolutely. Was it dumb? Most likely. Is it surprising considering who runs the team? Not at all. Could it be worse? Absolutely, they could have re-signed Ogbuehi instead (I still can't believe Jacksonville gave him a contract, he'd be a benchwarmer in the AAF).

Dammit, I just managed to defend the Bobby Hart contract...I need a drink, or a shower, or both...

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cincinnati-bengals/bobby-hart-16952/

If past experience is any indication I highly doubt they will cut him. They may set up contracts now and then that they could get out of but how often do they actually cut guys who don’t live up to their salary? In fact, I believe one of their selling points in negotiations is that they almost never do so players are more likely to see all of their money if they sign with us than with another team for more money but end up getting cut after a year or two.

That’s why I cringed at the 3 years. I would feel a bit better if it were an actual one year deal. At least then I can dream about improving the next year