12-24-2020, 12:00 AM
Here is my official first mock + offseason. I use spotrac.com for my contracts and free agency if anyone is wondering.
We saw the Bengals front office act aggressively this offseason and I think it was the right decision, however, a couple of our prized FA were injured. I don't think this should deter the team from being active again. We have a number of guys that should be in their final year as Bengals so letting these guys go via cut or end of contract frees up a lot of cap space for us to use.
Cut Players
Geno Atkins - savings 9.6mil
Bobby Hart - savings 5.9mil
CJ Uzo- savings 5.25mil
Billy Price - savings 2.077mil
Cut or Trade Gio - savings 4.1mil
Key Players left to walk
AJ Green
John Ross
William Jackson
Shawn Williams
Randy Bullock
Alex Erickson
Cethan Carter
Leshawn Sims
Mike Daniels
Josh Bynes
Cap Space
68.375mil
Free Agent Signings
Carl Lawson - 3yr/6.5mil per
Kevin Huber - 2yr/2mil per
Mack Alexander - 3yr/5mil per
Brandon Wilson - 2yr/1.5mil per
Christian Covington - 1yr/1.3mil per
Outside Free Agents
Josh Reynolds - 3yr/3-4mil - long athletic build, would have a chance to compete for snaps with Tate and Rookie WR
Leonard Williams - 4yr/8-9mil - has the size and athleticism to allow us to run a 3-4/4-3 hybrid with Williams playing edge, reader playing NT and Hubbard, and the next guy on my list playing opposite.
Ryan Kerrigan - 3yr/8-9mil - He's 32 but man has he been productive. Ryan would be great to rotate with Hubbard, Leonard, Lawson and Khalid Kareem. Also brings some good vet leadership and pairing Kerrigan and Williams together allows us to go back to what made our line so good with not only providing a great pass rush but keeping bodies fresh.
Ahkello Witherspoon - 2yr/4mil - has the size to be elite and has flashed throughout his 4 years, but he needs to be consistent. Adding him to a group of Waynes, Phillips, and Alexander means he has an opportunity to start.
Remaining Cap Space
29.075mil
Enough for rookies and injuries
Possible Coaching Changes
Head Coach - Depending on what happens to Taylor I'd like to make a run at Robert Salah
Def Coor - Lou has to go, I'd bring in Wade Phillips
Off Coor - If you can grab Joe Brady, if not let's see what Brian Callahan can truly do
Line Coach - Make a run at Bill Callahan if you can if not look at a guy like Kyle Flood at Alabama
2021 NFL Draft
So onto the draft. Now most of us including myself are hoping for Sewell at 3, but with the Jets Losing it could open them up to either trading back or drafting Sewell if they are not sold on Fields or Wilson from BYU. In this scenario, this is exactly what happens and Sewell is not available. So what did I do, I thought outside of the box and knew that I had to find a trade partner on a trade that I believe could be very realistic. this is where the Indianapolis Colts come into play. The colts have a solid roster from top to bottom and play in an ok division, They have a very young team and good core on defense and a great offensive line, what they lack is a top-end WR and the most important position the future at QB. They have Rivers, but he's old and it's been showing the last couple of seasons. Yea they drafted a guy this year, but he was a late-round pick for a reason. The Colts are going to want to capitalize on the overall youth of their roster so I believe they would be willing to make a trade to get the top echelon signal caller.
So what do they give up to move up to the 3rd pick. Well they give up their 1st and 2nd rounders this year, pick 24 and 56, their 2nd round pick next year, and the player that I'm hoping we can pull from them, Quenton Nelson. Yes, he's a great lineman, but their overall line is pretty damn good so losing a player of his caliber, while it will hurt, they should still be able to manage the loss. They would have enough draft capital left to add some lineman as well as being able to probably sign a veteran for less.
With that being said here is my draft.
Round 1
Zaven Collins LB Tulsa - We just drafted 3 lb'ers this year, but if we do transition to a 3-4, we'll need a couple of more. Collins is a freak of an athlete and he would give us great athleticism on the outside allowing us to move Logan Wilson inside with Pratt.
Round 2
Patrick Jones Edge Pittsburgh - The panthers have a great dline and Jones is the premier player on it. We've lacked in the pass rush dept something serious this year. He helps fix this along with Lawson, Kerrigan, Hubbard, Kareem, and Williams, we now have a plethora of rushers that can play edge and outside rush lb
Jaylen Tywman DT Pittsburgh - Here is one of the other monsters along pitts line. He has a chance to come in and be our aaron donald/geno atkins type player. We've seen how bad the DT spot got hit with injuries and opt outs this year.
Round 3
Dillon Radunz OT North Dakota - No I didn't forget about getting Joe protection. Adding Dillon to a line of Jonah, Quenton, Finney/Hopkins, Spain(if resigned)/XSF would be great. That would allow us to continue to use Hakeem Adenji as our extra tackle as well as Fred Johnson and it would also mean that Jordan goes to the bench and sits and learns as he's been below average
Round 4
Anthony Schwartz WR Auburn - Smooth soft handed WR. Good height, but will need to add a few pounds. Gives us a nice option if Tate or Reynolds underperforms or gets injured
Round 5
Alec Lindstrom C Boston College - Has the pedigree as his dad and brother both played/play in the NFL. Was a top-rated center this season and allows us to get creative on the interior. Could move Hopkins to RG or to backup G/C same with Finney.
Round 6
Trey Sermon RB Ohio State - Gives us some depth. I released Gio due to money as well as getting Mixon back, but it never hurts to grab a guy who can carry the load from time to time, but at a fraction of the cost.
Round 7
Alaric Jackson OT Iowa - Was once a highly rated prospect. I saw last year there were talks of him going early rounds. He drops and for us that's great. We grab a guy we get to groom who hopefully lives up to his potential.
Quentin Lake S UCLA - Gives us a guy to groom behind Bates, Bell, and Wilson. He battles Trayveon Henderson for the last safety spot
We saw the Bengals front office act aggressively this offseason and I think it was the right decision, however, a couple of our prized FA were injured. I don't think this should deter the team from being active again. We have a number of guys that should be in their final year as Bengals so letting these guys go via cut or end of contract frees up a lot of cap space for us to use.
Cut Players
Geno Atkins - savings 9.6mil
Bobby Hart - savings 5.9mil
CJ Uzo- savings 5.25mil
Billy Price - savings 2.077mil
Cut or Trade Gio - savings 4.1mil
Key Players left to walk
AJ Green
John Ross
William Jackson
Shawn Williams
Randy Bullock
Alex Erickson
Cethan Carter
Leshawn Sims
Mike Daniels
Josh Bynes
Cap Space
68.375mil
Free Agent Signings
Carl Lawson - 3yr/6.5mil per
Kevin Huber - 2yr/2mil per
Mack Alexander - 3yr/5mil per
Brandon Wilson - 2yr/1.5mil per
Christian Covington - 1yr/1.3mil per
Outside Free Agents
Josh Reynolds - 3yr/3-4mil - long athletic build, would have a chance to compete for snaps with Tate and Rookie WR
Leonard Williams - 4yr/8-9mil - has the size and athleticism to allow us to run a 3-4/4-3 hybrid with Williams playing edge, reader playing NT and Hubbard, and the next guy on my list playing opposite.
Ryan Kerrigan - 3yr/8-9mil - He's 32 but man has he been productive. Ryan would be great to rotate with Hubbard, Leonard, Lawson and Khalid Kareem. Also brings some good vet leadership and pairing Kerrigan and Williams together allows us to go back to what made our line so good with not only providing a great pass rush but keeping bodies fresh.
Ahkello Witherspoon - 2yr/4mil - has the size to be elite and has flashed throughout his 4 years, but he needs to be consistent. Adding him to a group of Waynes, Phillips, and Alexander means he has an opportunity to start.
Remaining Cap Space
29.075mil
Enough for rookies and injuries
Possible Coaching Changes
Head Coach - Depending on what happens to Taylor I'd like to make a run at Robert Salah
Def Coor - Lou has to go, I'd bring in Wade Phillips
Off Coor - If you can grab Joe Brady, if not let's see what Brian Callahan can truly do
Line Coach - Make a run at Bill Callahan if you can if not look at a guy like Kyle Flood at Alabama
2021 NFL Draft
So onto the draft. Now most of us including myself are hoping for Sewell at 3, but with the Jets Losing it could open them up to either trading back or drafting Sewell if they are not sold on Fields or Wilson from BYU. In this scenario, this is exactly what happens and Sewell is not available. So what did I do, I thought outside of the box and knew that I had to find a trade partner on a trade that I believe could be very realistic. this is where the Indianapolis Colts come into play. The colts have a solid roster from top to bottom and play in an ok division, They have a very young team and good core on defense and a great offensive line, what they lack is a top-end WR and the most important position the future at QB. They have Rivers, but he's old and it's been showing the last couple of seasons. Yea they drafted a guy this year, but he was a late-round pick for a reason. The Colts are going to want to capitalize on the overall youth of their roster so I believe they would be willing to make a trade to get the top echelon signal caller.
So what do they give up to move up to the 3rd pick. Well they give up their 1st and 2nd rounders this year, pick 24 and 56, their 2nd round pick next year, and the player that I'm hoping we can pull from them, Quenton Nelson. Yes, he's a great lineman, but their overall line is pretty damn good so losing a player of his caliber, while it will hurt, they should still be able to manage the loss. They would have enough draft capital left to add some lineman as well as being able to probably sign a veteran for less.
With that being said here is my draft.
Round 1
Zaven Collins LB Tulsa - We just drafted 3 lb'ers this year, but if we do transition to a 3-4, we'll need a couple of more. Collins is a freak of an athlete and he would give us great athleticism on the outside allowing us to move Logan Wilson inside with Pratt.
Round 2
Patrick Jones Edge Pittsburgh - The panthers have a great dline and Jones is the premier player on it. We've lacked in the pass rush dept something serious this year. He helps fix this along with Lawson, Kerrigan, Hubbard, Kareem, and Williams, we now have a plethora of rushers that can play edge and outside rush lb
Jaylen Tywman DT Pittsburgh - Here is one of the other monsters along pitts line. He has a chance to come in and be our aaron donald/geno atkins type player. We've seen how bad the DT spot got hit with injuries and opt outs this year.
Round 3
Dillon Radunz OT North Dakota - No I didn't forget about getting Joe protection. Adding Dillon to a line of Jonah, Quenton, Finney/Hopkins, Spain(if resigned)/XSF would be great. That would allow us to continue to use Hakeem Adenji as our extra tackle as well as Fred Johnson and it would also mean that Jordan goes to the bench and sits and learns as he's been below average
Round 4
Anthony Schwartz WR Auburn - Smooth soft handed WR. Good height, but will need to add a few pounds. Gives us a nice option if Tate or Reynolds underperforms or gets injured
Round 5
Alec Lindstrom C Boston College - Has the pedigree as his dad and brother both played/play in the NFL. Was a top-rated center this season and allows us to get creative on the interior. Could move Hopkins to RG or to backup G/C same with Finney.
Round 6
Trey Sermon RB Ohio State - Gives us some depth. I released Gio due to money as well as getting Mixon back, but it never hurts to grab a guy who can carry the load from time to time, but at a fraction of the cost.
Round 7
Alaric Jackson OT Iowa - Was once a highly rated prospect. I saw last year there were talks of him going early rounds. He drops and for us that's great. We grab a guy we get to groom who hopefully lives up to his potential.
Quentin Lake S UCLA - Gives us a guy to groom behind Bates, Bell, and Wilson. He battles Trayveon Henderson for the last safety spot
