Are we being realistic with Free Agency expectations?

[THE PISTONS]

(02-19-2022, 12:58 PM)CloeHokie Wrote: With our success and Burrow I think we will have a much better shot at getting the guys we want. Or some of them. Players are wanting to come here now. We are lucky to know exactly what our problem is.

I think it helps some, but players generally go where the most money is offered.

It's older guys chasing a ring that take a discount.

And our free agents, other teams will drive some of their price tag up.

[Fan_in_Kettering]

(02-19-2022, 02:23 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: It's older guys chasing a ring that take a discount.

That’s EXACTLY how to handle free agency next month! Still, we need to define “older” before proceeding. Let’s say “experienced” instead because I don’t want a repeat of the early 2000s where Marvin brought in washed up former stars like Sam Adams. That guy is probably visible from the James Webb telescope by now.

Based on his glowing comments about Joe Burrow I believe Rob Gronkowski might come to Cincinnati on a sweet team friendly deal. A star player like Gronk tends to attract other star players too. Gronk is north of 30 but not too far north. Guys like Brandon Scherff, Morgan Moses, and Terron Armistead aren’t going to win a ring with the Commies, Props, or Aints so I predict their agents are already on the phone with Mike Brown and Duke Tobin.

[Shake n Blake]

(02-19-2022, 12:10 PM)fredtoast Wrote: And why do you consider sacks to be a death sentence for Burrow when lots of QBs have been sacked a lot more thna him with no serious injuries.  You really think Joe is made of glass like Eifert?

How did Burrow hurt his knee last year? On a sack, right? How did he hurt his knee in the Super Bowl? Another sack?

He's not Tyler Eifert, tearing ligaments by sneezing. He's taking hits. Record amounts of them in a short time frame (102 sacks in 30 games).

Forget other QBs. If Joe Burrow gets sacked 200 times or 50 times, which do you think is more likely to lead to injury? Yeah it's possible he gets injured on literally any sack/hit or even some other way. Less likely though.

[CloeHokie]

(02-19-2022, 02:23 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: I think it helps some, but players generally go where the most money is offered.

It's older guys chasing a ring that take a discount.

And our free agents, other teams will drive some of their price tag up.

That's cool. Get some older OL with EXP that are still good players and draft some young guys that can learn and hopefully one of them hits.

[*ochocincos*]

(02-19-2022, 12:17 AM)Bengalbug Wrote: And maybe, just maybe, a super bowl to show for it.  Just saying.  You can’t always keep building for the future.  At some point you need to put your chips in the middle of the table.  The only team that was able to avoid this was patriots and Brady, which isn’t the norm.  

It’s literally the most obvious thing we have ever seen.  Get a good OL.  I don’t care if our backups suck, as long as our starters are good.  We played, down the stretch… 4 backup OL. It’s criminal… and somehow the bengals almost won in spite of that.

No one in their right mind thought the Bengals were actually contending for the Super Bowl. Not even the Bengals themselves.
I'm sure they would have gone more "in" if they had known.
Now that they've shown they can get there, they can be willing to invest more to get back.

[*ochocincos*]

(02-19-2022, 04:06 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: That’s EXACTLY how to handle free agency next month!  Still, we need to define “older” before proceeding.  Let’s say “experienced” instead because I don’t want a repeat of the early 2000s where Marvin brought in washed up former stars like Sam Adams.  That guy is probably visible from the James Webb telescope by now.

Based on his glowing comments about Joe Burrow I believe Rob Gronkowski might come to Cincinnati on a sweet team friendly deal.  A star player like Gronk tends to attract other star players too.  Gronk is north of 30 but not too far north.  Guys like Brandon Scherff, Morgan Moses, and Terron Armistead aren’t going to win a ring with the Commies, Props, or Aints so I predict their agents are already on the phone with Mike Brown and Duke Tobin.

Plenty of good OL who are in their early 30's and never made it to Super Bowl.
Sign a couple on 2-year deals, as that's the big window before guys like Jonah Williams, Tee Higgins, and some others start coming up for their big deals.

[TecmoBengals]

(02-19-2022, 04:06 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: That’s EXACTLY how to handle free agency next month!  Still, we need to define “older” before proceeding.  Let’s say “experienced” instead because I don’t want a repeat of the early 2000s where Marvin brought in washed up former stars like Sam Adams.  That guy is probably visible from the James Webb telescope by now.

Based on his glowing comments about Joe Burrow I believe Rob Gronkowski might come to Cincinnati on a sweet team friendly deal.  A star player like Gronk tends to attract other star players too.  Gronk is north of 30 but not too far north.  Guys like Brandon Scherff, Morgan Moses, and Terron Armistead aren’t going to win a ring with the Commies, Props, or Aints so I predict their agents are already on the phone with Mike Brown and Duke Tobin.

 I appreciate ya for giving me a good laugh.

[Bengalstripes9]

Tomlinson has a better grade than Scherff. For half the money? Played for Shanahan and one of the top rushing attacks in the league.

[Bengalstripes9]

Also, T Brown had the best PFF rating of any free agent olineman available.

[casear2727]

(02-20-2022, 12:48 AM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: Also, T Brown had the best PFF rating of any free agent olineman available.

Which grade are you looking at for Trent?  I'm seeing 72.8 overall. Thanks in advance.

[Bengalstripes9]

(02-20-2022, 01:05 AM)casear2727 Wrote: Which grade are you looking at for Trent?  I'm seeing 72.8 overall. Thanks in advance.

https://www.pff.com/nfl/players/trent-brown/9677

Says 77.6 overall.

[casear2727]

(02-20-2022, 01:30 AM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: https://www.pff.com/nfl/players/trent-brown/9677

Says 77.6 overall.

Interesting, but I think your snap count is low?

[Bengalstripes9]

(02-20-2022, 01:43 AM)casear2727 Wrote: Interesting, but I think your snap count is low?

Could be. I don't pay for PFF, so maybe that's the issue. I just looked up the scores on their website and most of them are blocked. I just get the overall score.

Regardless, I don't see a lot of difference among the options availlable. There don't seem to be any home run lineman available, and a lot of them are atleast 30 years old. It seems difficult to build an offensive line outside of the draft. It's crazy how many misses we have in the draft the last several years. Goes to show you if you hit on the pick, maybe you should hang onto that player.

Seems like the best option is to invest in multiple lineman in FA at the 5mil-9mil/year range. Trent Brown could be too big of an injury risk at 9mil though.

[casear2727]

(02-20-2022, 01:50 AM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: Could be. I don't pay for PFF, so maybe that's the issue. I just looked up the scores on their website and most of them are blocked. I just get the overall score.

Regardless, I don't see a lot of difference among the options availlable. There don't seem to be any home run lineman available, and a lot of them are atleast 30 years old. It seems difficult to build an offensive line outside of the draft. It's crazy how many misses we have in the draft the last several years. Goes to show you if you hit on the pick, maybe you should hang onto that player.

Seems like the best option is to invest in multiple lineman in FA at the 5mil-9mil/year range. Trent Brown could be too big of an injury risk at 9mil though.

I have seen someone else post your score is why I asked.  I like the guy. He did well in NE, I dont think we are getting Brown Jr from KC or Armstead, and he is the younger more expensive RT compared to Moses.  Either will be an upgrade over Spain.

[samhain]

(02-19-2022, 04:06 PM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: That’s EXACTLY how to handle free agency next month!  Still, we need to define “older” before proceeding.  Let’s say “experienced” instead because I don’t want a repeat of the early 2000s where Marvin brought in washed up former stars like Sam Adams.  That guy is probably visible from the James Webb telescope by now.

Based on his glowing comments about Joe Burrow I believe Rob Gronkowski might come to Cincinnati on a sweet team friendly deal.  A star player like Gronk tends to attract other star players too.  Gronk is north of 30 but not too far north.  Guys like Brandon Scherff, Morgan Moses, and Terron Armistead aren’t going to win a ring with the Commies, Props, or Aints so I predict their agents are already on the phone with Mike Brown and Duke Tobin.

One player not mentioned is Jason Kelce.  He's the best center available but gets devalued due to age.  He wouldn't likely require a long-term commitment and is as bona-fide a locker room presence as any player in the league.  Would you rather spend the final years of your career with Jalen Hurts, who seems to have serious issues reading a defense, or Joe Burrow and his loaded offense fresh off of a SB appearance in the town where you played college football?

[TecmoBengals]

(02-20-2022, 11:34 AM)samhain Wrote: One player not mentioned is Jason Kelce.  He's the best center available but gets devalued due to age.  He wouldn't likely require a long-term commitment and is as bona-fide a locker room presence as any player in the league.  Would you rather spend the final years of your career with Jalen Hurts, who seems to have serious issues reading a defense, or Joe Burrow and his loaded offense fresh off of a SB appearance in the town where you played college football?

Kelce would be a great addition and it's also a perfectly good strategy to not worry about long term deals. Get vets who will protect Burrow for 2 to 3 years as we make our way back to the Super Bowl. Nice post.

[*Synric*]

(02-20-2022, 11:34 AM)samhain Wrote: One player not mentioned is Jason Kelce.  He's the best center available but gets devalued due to age.  He wouldn't likely require a long-term commitment and is as bona-fide a locker room presence as any player in the league.  Would you rather spend the final years of your career with Jalen Hurts, who seems to have serious issues reading a defense, or Joe Burrow and his loaded offense fresh off of a SB appearance in the town where you played college football?

Jason Kelce is not a free agent and the only reason he's not retired is because the Eagles asked him to come back for at least one more season. If the Eagles move on from Kelce I expect him to retire.

[TecmoBengals]

(02-20-2022, 11:46 AM)Synric Wrote: Jason Kelce is not a free agent and the only reason he's not retired is because the Eagles asked him to come back for at least one more season. If the Eagles move on from Kelce I expect him to retire.

Oops, didn't know this info. Also a good post. 

[samhain]

(02-20-2022, 11:46 AM)Synric Wrote: Jason Kelce is not a free agent and the only reason he's not retired is because the Eagles asked him to come back for at least one more season. If the Eagles move on from Kelce I expect him to retire.

It's not that simple, though.  If he's on the roster June 3rd he's guaranteed another 30 mil from Philly whether he plays his deal out or not.  They need to work something out, seeing that he's not likely to play his current deal out.  They aren't paying him 30 mil to play one more year, and if he decides he'd rather not re-structure, he could very well be a free agent before that date.  

[Bengalbug]

(02-20-2022, 12:04 AM)ochocincos Wrote: No one in their right mind thought the Bengals were actually contending for the Super Bowl. Not even the Bengals themselves.
I'm sure they would have gone more "in" if they had known.
Now that they've shown they can get there, they can be willing to invest more to get back.

Bro, please…we were 5-2. Burrow was sacked 22 times at that point, on pace for 63 in the regular season (more than we ended up giving). 6 qbs got sacked 30 times or less over 15-17 games.

The bengals at 5-2 (one loss being an OT loss to packers) had real playoff aspirations. Are you telling me they couldn’t have done “something” to help get burrow protection?

Instead we sat on our hands, lost our RT and our OL before and after that loss hindered us throughout the rest of the season.

We won in spite of a huge problem

The past is the past, but there was AMPLE opportunity.