***NFL Free Agency News & Signings Thread***

[NATI BENGALS]

I lost a lot of bets last year because of Ridley not producing when I thought he would.

I bet that will be a contract that they regret in a year or two

[Luvnit2]

(03-13-2024, 06:24 PM)007BengalsFan Wrote: 23 million per year doesnt sound too far off base.    Over his 5 year NFL career he has put up 4,358 yards with 36 TDs.  Higgins in 4 years has put up 3684 with 24 TDs by comparison.

Higgins is 25 I believe and Ridly is 29, 4 years in NFL wear and tear is a lot.

[Joelist]

(03-13-2024, 06:22 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: It appears a great agent. His job is not to appease fans of teams, his job is to get his client paid big $$$.

He's supposed to represent the best interests of his client. That may or may not involve the biggest possible bag. The notion that great agents should be always advising their clients to change teams to get the biggest bag will eventually destroy the NFL as a sport, as zero team loyalty from players will produce the same from fans. 

[RunKijanaRun]

This FA haul is a big disappointment.

[*ochocincos*]

(03-13-2024, 06:26 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Bengals have Higgins for 21.6 million (not chump change for Tee) and then can tag him again for around 24 million in 2025 if he has a great year. Based on the Ridely contract, Tee is a steal this year.

Bengals control Tee, Tee and his agent don't control the Bengals.

I'd like to see how Higgins performs this year before deciding it's worth tossing another tag on him.
He seems pretty irritated by being tagged this time, so I can only imagine how his camp would be if tagged again.

[Nepa]

(03-13-2024, 06:32 PM)RunKijanaRun Wrote: This FA haul is a big disappointment.

Two days of refreshing threads. And the big excitement so far was the front office tweeting that they couldn't wait to be able to tell us something. Well, now's your chance. Tell us what had you so excited.  

Edit: And whoever decided it would be fun to troll Bengals fans with the Higgins for Jefferson trade, a pox on your house and all your future decedents. ... Unless it was Ja'Marr Chase. . . . Or Joe Burrow's girlfriend. . . . No pox in those cases. All's fine.

[Joelist]

And the whiners are out again...

[007BengalsFan]

(03-13-2024, 06:27 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Higgins is 25 I believe and Ridly is 29, 4 years in NFL wear and tear is a lot.

Looking at the stats Ridley has played in 66 NFL games, Tee has played in 58 and it doesnt look like ESPN is including playoff games which Tee has played many more because I dont think Ridley has ever been on a team good enough to make it to the playoffs.  Despite their ages, the actual number of NFL games played by both guys are about the same.

[Bengalstripes9]

Quote:ZIM
@zimwhodey

& this is why you don’t trade Tee Higgins for just anything. You give away your Top10 WR & watch him go crazy for another team (Aj Brown)
… you draft a bum in Burks as a replacement. Get your Gm fired. Then come back and overpay for a near 30 year old receiver ?Nope. ??‍♂️

Post from Zim (on X) above.

This is such a great point. The Titans got fleeced in that trade for AJ Brown. Tee is a very similar player and has AJ Brown potential.
AJ Brown didn't do much with the Titans. Then he goes to Philly and is fully utilized and balls out.
Bengals don't want to get fleeced in a trade and that's why they haven't pulled the trigger.
They know his value.

If the right offer comes along it makes sense. But man would it have been nice to see Tee go off this year and increase his trade value.
I keep saying this year will be the year he does and then it never happens. He tends to go off for the last half of the year or whenever Jamarr is hurt.
But we still haven't seen him or Jamarr fully reach their potential, and that has to fall on the coaches when it comes down to it.

Maybe it makes sense to keep Tee this year and sell him next year after another tag.

[SunsetBengal]

(03-13-2024, 06:36 PM)Joelist Wrote: And the whiners are out again...

Some fans allow themselves to get too emotionally invested in their teams, when things don't happen the way they think they should they tend to wear their hearts on their sleeves.

[SunsetBengal]

(03-13-2024, 06:22 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: It appears a great agent. His job is not to appease fans of teams, his job is to get his client paid big $$$.

Someone should start keeping track of this agent's athletes, and their success rates in their new destinations.  After a few seasons, we should have enough data to determine weather he's actually doing the sport a disservice or if he's genuinely improving the quality of players' lives.

[Joelist]

(03-13-2024, 06:45 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Someone should start keeping track of this agent's athletes, and their success rates in their new destinations.  After a few seasons, we should have enough data to determine weather he's actually doing the sport a disservice or if he's genuinely improving the quality of players' lives.

Exactly. Since his retention rate for players on their original teams is close to zero the next question is how do these players perform on their new teams. 

[pulses]

(03-13-2024, 06:45 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Someone should start keeping track of this agent's athletes, and their success rates in their new destinations.  After a few seasons, we should have enough data to determine weather he's actually doing the sport a disservice or if he's genuinely improving the quality of players' lives.

I agree but they definitely need to be addressing DT because anybody that is any good is just about gone.  Rankins,Reader,Tart....that's about it unless they trade for one.

[Nepa]

(03-13-2024, 06:42 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Some fans allow themselves to get too emotionally invested in their teams, when things don't happen the way they think they should they tend to wear their hearts on their sleeves.

I think in many cases they're just having fun. Kind of like kidding in a locker room. At least I get a laugh out of it.

[depthchart]

(03-13-2024, 06:34 PM)Nepa Wrote: Two days of refreshing threads. And the big excitement so far was the front office tweeting that they couldn't wait to be able to tell us something. Well, now's your chance. Tell us what had you so excited.

They could at least do another Tweet to say that they are now REALLY, REALLY, REALLY wishing they could tell us something

[007BengalsFan]

(03-13-2024, 06:40 PM)Bengalstripes9 Wrote: ..Maybe it makes sense to keep Tee this year and sell him next year after another tag.

If he pulls his hamstring again this next season and misses even more time, what is going to be his trade value next year?  His asking price must already be too high because the Titans passed on him to sign Calvin Ridley instead.  Tee's options are getting slimmer if he wants a long term deal from some team.  If Tee's agent is that great of an agent and Tee is that good of a WR in the NFL, he should have a bunch of teams pounding down the door to get him.  Where are they at?

[Isaac Curtis: The Real #85]

(03-13-2024, 06:27 PM)Joelist Wrote: You do understand that there was never any chance of Tee staying - he was gone the moment he got Mulugheta as his agent - that is Mulugheta's MO. 

Do you understand he isn't leaving? At least not this year. I have no problem tagging Higgins. 

My beef is the total lack of activity in the trenches and sitting on $50 mil of cap space. And no renegotiations to add more space (OBJ). And not getting the idea that having a TE who can block AND catch is a good idea.

If we were cash strapped, our moves would make sense. Good bargain on Stone. Allows the Scott cut. But for a contender with 2 more years of Hendrickson trying to win a SB? Barf. 

We have paid out more for backups/fringe starters (Sample, ADG, Moss, Ford, T. Williams, Gesicki) than for clear starters (Stone). Even if you call Gesicki or Moss starters (they were both backups last year), it still is true. Close to true if you count them both. 

We saved $8.5 mil vs the cap by cutting Mixon & Scott. Stone + Moss count $9 mil vs the cap this year. It is nearly a wash, cap wise. 

The only moves we have made that actually dent our cap are for backups: Gesicki at $2.5, Sample $4.9, ADG $3, Ford $1.35, TWill vet min? 

All the while we have lots of space and glaring holes at DT/NT, RT, WR3, CB4, and TE1. And a desperate need for interior pass rush. Again, I didn't expect ALL those holes filled in FA. But I don't think ONE, with $50 mil to spend, is asking too much. Two? 

Again, it isn't over yet. But I do not want to hear any more Hobson articles on how Volson is gonna be a pro-bowl G or Zach Carter looking really good.

[Joelist]

Or we can just relax and let things develop. They'll happen when they happen and us having anxiety won't speed anything up.

[*pally*]

All these guys with contract years left getting cut….but not one peep about teams being disloyal. #PlayersDeserveEveryPenny

— David Mulugheta (@DavidMulugheta) March 13, 2024

[Isaac Curtis: The Real #85]

(03-13-2024, 06:32 PM)ochocincos Wrote: I'd like to see how Higgins performs this year before deciding it's worth tossing another tag on him.
He seems pretty irritated by being tagged this time, so I can only imagine how his camp would be if tagged again.

That is completely fair. Wise, even.