Rebuild the Roster Offseason and Mock

[*ochocincos*]

(02-09-2021, 05:12 PM)Hammerstripes Wrote: Mixon can't stay healthy, Bernard should be utilized more in the passing game.  I don't see where keeping him prevents us from getting another free agent.

It really comes down to what guys they re-sign and who they want in FA.

The current projected cap is $185 mill. The Bengals have $10.8 mill in rollover, which would put their $195.8 mill cap.
When you factor in the guys they already have signed, they have a current available cap space of $45.6 mill.

They need to reserve about $10 mill of that just for the draft and injury reserve.
So realistic spending cap on FAs goes down to around $35 mill.
It could really be down to just $25-30 mill depending on if they hold additional back for 2021 extensions like Bates and/or Hubbard.

I also expect Carl Lawson alone will cost $12-15 mill a year to sign, so just his cap will eat a big chunk into that $25-30 mill.
WJ3 will probably be around $10-15 mill too, as he can easily make the argument that Waynes makes $14 mill APY and he's better than him.
Add in the number of other players they need to sign, and they are going to need to make some cuts to fit everyone in.

I would prioritize cutting Hart, Atkins, Finney, and Uzomah more than Bernard, but I want quite a bit of external FA upgrades, so Bernard is on the table for me too.

If it comes down to needing an extra few mill to sign a clear upgrade at another position and they've already cut the other guys I mentioned, I would have no qualms about moving on from Bernard.