Important NFL Dates approaching

[Luvnit2]

The official off season begins very soon.

https://operations.nfl.com/gameday/nfl-schedule/2025-important-nfl-dates/

February 24 - NFL combine begins
February 18 - March 4 - Teams can tag their own free agents
March 10- 12 Free agency begins
March 12 - teams can trade
April 24-26 - NFL draft in Green Bay

I hope the Bengals are active in FA and the FO becomes more creative structuring contracts.

I would argue this is a very important off season for Zac. I have a hunch the FO expects better production with a Joe Burrow led team.

Hopefully winter ending soon as the NFL ramps up the off season for 2025.

[George Cantstandya]

(Yesterday, 12:25 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: The official off season begins very soon.

https://operations.nfl.com/gameday/nfl-schedule/2025-important-nfl-dates/

February 24 - NFL combine begins
March 4 - Teams can tag their own free agents
March 10- 12 Free agency begins
March 12 - teams can trade
April 24-26 - NFL draft in Green Bay

I hope the Bengals are active in FA and the FO becomes more creative structuring contracts.

I would argue this is a very important off season for Zac. I have a hunch the FO expects better production with a Joe Burrow led team.

Hopefully winter ending soon as the NFL ramps up the off season for 2025.

Regarding the bold, teams could tag players starting the 18th of Feb.  The deadline to tag a player is March 4th at 4PM Eastern time. 

[Luvnit2]

(Yesterday, 12:33 PM)George Cantstandya Wrote: Regarding the bold, teams could tag players starting  the 18th of Feb.  The deadline to tag a player is March 4th at 4PM Eastern time. 

TY, I will update the OP

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

Exciting times. Would be a good move to tag Tee soon and bring back BJ Hill and Mike Hilton IMO.

[Luvnit2]

(Yesterday, 06:43 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Exciting times. Would be a good move to tag Tee soon and bring back BJ Hill and Mike Hilton IMO.

I think Hilton and Hill are not the priority. Higgins, Chase and Trey first.

I do hope we sign Hill. I ilke Hilton as well, but seems his coverage sjills are starting to decline a little. We have Turner, Hill, Taylor-Britt and Newton as well under contract.

I agree exciting times, i hope we are not disappointed with our FO after the draft. I know many will call the off season a failure if team does not sign player(s) they want in fitst 2 weeks, but I try to look at the entire off season including aftrer the draft. I can see us keeping some vets until after the draft until we cut them. Othr team will do the same espeially those in cap hell.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(Yesterday, 07:26 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: I think Hilton and Hill are not the priority. Higgins, Chase and Trey first.

I do hope we sign Hill. I ilke Hilton as well, but seems his coverage sjills are starting to decline a little. We have Turner, Hill, Taylor-Britt and Newton as well under contract.

I agree exciting times, i hope we are not disappointed with our FO after the draft. I know many will call the off season a failure if team does not sign player(s) they want in fitst 2 weeks, but I try to look at the entire off season including aftrer the draft. I can see us keeping some vets until after the draft until we cut them. Othr team will do the same espeially those in cap hell.

Well, I would think the priority would be to keep players we don't want to lose from seeing the open market. We have time to extend Ja'Marr
and Trey. As you and George said about the dates Tee being tagged should be first. Hilton is our best tackler on Defense even if he may be 
falling off a touch in coverage and I don't really see it, when he gets beat it has more to do with being undersized than being a poor cover
Corner IMO.

Yeah, have to judge the Offseason as a whole, FA and the Draft together. Shouldn't cut certain players until we have a possible replacement
in house.

[pulses]

(Yesterday, 06:43 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Exciting times. Would be a good move to tag Tee soon and bring back BJ Hill and Mike Hilton IMO.

Spotrac says Hilton should get somewhere in the 13/yr range. We're not paying him anywhere near that. He is probably gone. I would move CTB to his spot and leave Hill and Turner on the outside.

[Luvnit2]

(Yesterday, 09:16 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote:
Well, I would think the priority would be to keep players we don't want to lose from seeing the open market. We have time to extend Ja'Marr
and Trey. As you and George said about the dates Tee being tagged should be first. Hilton is our best tackler on Defense even if he may be 
falling off a touch in coverage and I don't really see it, when he gets beat it has more to do with being undersized than being a poor cover
Corner IMO.

Yeah, have to judge the Offseason as a whole, FA and the Draft together. Shouldn't cut certain players until we have a possible replacement
in house.

I agree team should keep players we don't want to lose to FA. I would argue the players WE WANT, the team may not have them as a priority. I just don''t see us locking up all these guys by March 10 (15 days).

Hilton
Hill
Gesicki
Higgins
 
They also working on Chase, Trey and possible Burrow. Lot to get done in 2 weeks.

[*Synric*]

(Today, 06:09 AM)pulses Wrote: Spotrac says Hilton should get somewhere in the 13/yr range. We're not paying him anywhere near that. He is probably gone. I would move CTB to his spot and leave Hill and Turner on the outside.

I would like to see Daxton Hill replace Mike Hilton as the STAR if he's ready to go week one. Hill played more box safety for the first 5 or 6 games of 2023 and he looked like one of the NFLs best defenders. Hill had like 2 ints, 1.5 sack (+ a couple pressures), 4 TFLs, 2 PDs etc...

[Luvnit2]

(7 hours ago)Synric Wrote: I would like to see Daxton Hill replace Mike Hilton as the STAR if he's ready to go week one. Hill played more box safety for the first 5 or 6 games of 2023 and he looked like one of the NFLs best defenders. Hill had like 2 ints, 1.5 sack (+ a couple pressures), 4 TFLs, 2 PDs etc...

I like Hill in that roll as well. Didn't Newton also play in the slot in 2024?


I would love Hilton signed for backup money, just not at 6 million+ per year.

[SunsetBengal]

(4 hours ago)Luvnit2 Wrote: I like Hill in that roll as well. Didn't Newton also play in the slot in 2024?


I would love Hilton signed for backup money, just not at 6 million+ per year.

Aside from drafting a skilled rookie, specifically to play that position, I don't think that you could find anyone with half of Hilton's talent level for $6M or less. He is literally one of the top tacklers in the NFL.

[*rfaulk34*]

(Today, 06:09 AM)pulses Wrote: Spotrac says Hilton should get somewhere in the 13/yr range. We're not paying him anywhere near that. He is probably gone. I would move CTB to his spot and leave Hill and Turner on the outside.

https://overthecap.com/player/mike-hilton/5000

Click on the valuation tab.

[pulses]

(1 hour ago)rfaulk34 Wrote: https://overthecap.com/player/mike-hilton/5000

Click on the valuation tab.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/market-value/_/id/19256/mike-hilton


12.3 million

[*rfaulk34*]

(56 minutes ago)pulses Wrote: https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/player/market-value/_/id/19256/mike-hilton


12.3 million

I've looked at those spotrac valuations for years. They're usually wwwwaaaayyyyyy high. 

What NFL team is going to pay Hilton 12.3M a year at his age and production? I don't see a single one since he's singularly a slot corner. I like him and would like to see him back, but 12M is laughable. 

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(Today, 06:09 AM)pulses Wrote: Spotrac says Hilton should get somewhere in the 13/yr range. We're not paying him anywhere near that. He is probably gone. I would move CTB to his spot and leave Hill and Turner on the outside.

13 million per year for Hilton at his age? That seems way high to me...

(7 hours ago)Luvnit2 Wrote: I agree team should keep players we don't want to lose to FA. I would argue the players WE WANT, the team may not have them as a priority. I just don''t see us locking up all these guys by March 10 (15 days).

Hilton
Hill
Gesicki
Higgins
 
They also working on Chase, Trey and possible Burrow. Lot to get done in 2 weeks.

Should of mentioned Gesicki as well, yes a lot to get done in a short amount of time.

(7 hours ago)Synric Wrote: I would like to see Daxton Hill replace Mike Hilton as the STAR if he's ready to go week one. Hill played more box safety for the first 5 or 6 games of 2023 and he looked like one of the NFLs best defenders. Hill had like 2 ints, 1.5 sack (+ a couple pressures), 4 TFLs, 2 PDs etc...

Dax would definitely be the ideal player to replace Mike in the Slot if we do lose Mike I agree.

[pulses]

(33 minutes ago)rfaulk34 Wrote: I've looked at those spotrac valuations for years. They're usually wwwwaaaayyyyyy high. 

What NFL team is going to pay Hilton 12.3M a year at his age and production? I don't see a single one since he's singularly a slot corner. I like him and would like to see him back, but 12M is laughable. 

He's just 30 and A LOT teams don't value guys at that age like we do. I can see someone giving him more than we will and he'll be gone.

[SunsetBengal]

(17 minutes ago)pulses Wrote: He's just 30 and A LOT teams don't value guys at that age like we do. I can see someone giving him more than we will and he'll be gone.

If Hilton were to accept a 2yr deal for $15M or under, it would be worth keeping him on board. Natural tackling machines don't just grow on trees. However, if the Spotrac valuation is closer to reality, then yes, it's time to let him go get his money.