Off season FA and 3 mocks

[Crowe]

This post will have what I wish to see us do via free agency and our own guys. I also did 3 different mocks using different big boards. I also have a projected salary cap via sportrac.com that takes into consideration 1 year of service for the free agents I have us getting, some of these will be longer than 1 year contracts. I also traded McCarron for the Bears 2nd and 4th rounders, but did not use a draft pick for them two spots as I used Fanspeaks simulator.

FREE AGENCY

Let Dre K walk - replace w/ free agent/in house/draft pick
Let Zeitler walk - replace w/ Westerman/Hopkins/draft pick
Let Rex B walk - replace w/ draft pick

Traded A.J. McCarron (Saved: $690,000) to Chicago Bears for their 2nd and 4th rounders
Released Adam-Pacman Jones (Saved: $6,333,332)
Released Michael Johnson (Saved: $2,875,000)
Released Rey Maualuga (Saved: $3,668,750)
Released Jonathan Brown (Saved: $465,000)
Released Pat Sims (Saved: $1,075,000)

Sign/Resign
Brandon LaFell signed as a free agent (Cap: $2,000,000) - 2 yr deal
Justin Hunter signed as a free agent (Cap: $885,000) - 1 yr prove it deal
Andrew Whitworth signed as a free agent (Cap: $7,500,000) - 2 yr deal
John Sullivan signed as a free agent (Cap: $1,100,000) - 1 yr deal(maybe more)
Andre Smith signed as a free agent (Cap: $1,300,000) - 1 yr deal
Nick Fairley signed as a free agent (Cap: $3,000,000) - 1 yr prove it deal
Kendall Reyes signed as a free agent (Cap: $1,000,000) - 3 yr deal
Zach Brown signed as a free agent (Cap: $1,300,000) - 3 yr deal
Nolan Carroll signed as a free agent (Cap: $2,400,000) - 2-3 yr deal
Paul Dawson signed as a free agent (Cap: $600,000) - 2-3 yr deal

CAP TOTALS - post free agency(for 1 year)/pre-draft

Total Available Cap: $174,578,866
Total Team Cap $: $136,682,439
Cap Space: $37,896,427
Total Savings: $14,417,082

Draft 1 using CBS big board

9: LB REUBEN FOSTER ALABAMA
41: CB DESMOND KING IOWA
73: C PAT ELFLEIN OHIO STATE
114: WR ZAY JONES EAST CAROLINA
137: G DAMIEN MAMA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
144: EDGE TREY HENDRICKSON FLORIDA ATLANTIC
154: RB DONNEL PUMPHREY SAN DIEGO STATE
194: K ZANE GONZALEZ ARIZONA STATE
218: CB JALEN MYRICK MINNESOTA
221: QB JOSHUA DOBBS TENNESSEE
230: TE COLE HIKUTINI LOUISVILLE

Draft 2 using fanspeak big board

9: EDGE MYLES GARRETT TEXAS A&M
41: LB RAEKWON MCMILLAN OHIO STATE
73: G DORIAN JOHNSON PITTSBURGH
114: WR JUJU SMITH-SCHUSTER USC
137: CB KEVIN KING WASHINGTON
144: C TYLER ORLOSKY WEST VIRGINIA
154: RB WAYNE GALLMAN CLEMSON
194: OT JON HECK NORTH CAROLINA
218: EDGE DARIUS ENGLISH SOUTH CAROLINA
221: LB BEN BOULWARE CLEMSON
230: CB JALEN MYRICK MINNESOTA

Draft 3 using Bleacher Reports big board

9: WR MIKE WILLIAMS CLEMSON
41: DL CALEB BRANTLEY FLORIDA
73: EDGE DEMARCUS WALKER FSU
114: C PAT ELFLEIN OHIO STATE
137: CB MARQUEZ WHITE FSU
144: OT CONOR MCDERMOTT UCLA
154: LB PAUL MAGLOIRE JR. ARIZONA
194: RB COREY CLEMENT WISCONSIN
218: EDGE DYLAN COLE MISSOURI STATE
221: LB BEN BOULWARE CLEMSON
230: QB CHAD KELLY OLE MISS

[*ochocincos*]

(02-06-2017, 01:52 PM)Crowe Wrote: This post will have what I wish to see us do via free agency and our own guys. I also did 3 different mocks using different big boards. I also have a projected salary cap via sportrac.com that takes into consideration 1 year of service for the free agents I have us getting, some of these will be longer than 1 year contracts. I also traded McCarron for the Bears 2nd and 4th rounders, but did not use a draft pick for them two spots as I used Fanspeaks simulator.

FREE AGENCY

Let Dre K walk - replace w/ free agent/in house/draft pick
Let Zeitler walk - replace w/ Westerman/Hopkins/draft pick
Let Rex B walk - replace w/ draft pick

Traded A.J. McCarron (Saved: $690,000) to Chicago Bears for their 2nd and 4th rounders
Released Adam-Pacman Jones (Saved: $6,333,332)
Released Michael Johnson (Saved: $2,875,000)
Released Rey Maualuga (Saved: $3,668,750)
Released Jonathan Brown (Saved: $465,000)
Released Pat Sims (Saved: $1,075,000)

Sign/Resign
Brandon LaFell signed as a free agent (Cap: $2,000,000) - 2 yr deal
Justin Hunter signed as a free agent (Cap: $885,000) - 1 yr prove it deal
Andrew Whitworth signed as a free agent (Cap: $7,500,000) - 2 yr deal
John Sullivan signed as a free agent (Cap: $1,100,000) - 1 yr deal(maybe more)
Andre Smith signed as a free agent (Cap: $1,300,000) - 1 yr deal
Nick Fairley signed as a free agent (Cap: $3,000,000) - 1 yr prove it deal
Kendall Reyes signed as a free agent (Cap: $1,000,000) - 3 yr deal
Zach Brown signed as a free agent (Cap: $1,300,000) - 3 yr deal
Nolan Carroll signed as a free agent (Cap: $2,400,000) - 2-3 yr deal
Paul Dawson signed as a free agent (Cap: $600,000) - 2-3 yr deal

CAP TOTALS - post free agency(for 1 year)/pre-draft

Total Available Cap: $174,578,866
Total Team Cap $: $136,682,439
Cap Space: $37,896,427
Total Savings: $14,417,082

Draft 1 using CBS big board

9: LB REUBEN FOSTER ALABAMA
41: CB DESMOND KING IOWA
73: C PAT ELFLEIN OHIO STATE
114: WR ZAY JONES EAST CAROLINA
137: G DAMIEN MAMA SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
144: EDGE TREY HENDRICKSON FLORIDA ATLANTIC
154: RB DONNEL PUMPHREY SAN DIEGO STATE
194: K ZANE GONZALEZ ARIZONA STATE
218: CB JALEN MYRICK MINNESOTA
221: QB JOSHUA DOBBS TENNESSEE
230: TE COLE HIKUTINI LOUISVILLE

Draft 2 using fanspeak big board

9: EDGE MYLES GARRETT TEXAS A&M
41: LB RAEKWON MCMILLAN OHIO STATE
73: G DORIAN JOHNSON PITTSBURGH
114: WR JUJU SMITH-SCHUSTER USC
137: CB KEVIN KING WASHINGTON
144: C TYLER ORLOSKY WEST VIRGINIA
154: RB WAYNE GALLMAN CLEMSON
194: OT JON HECK NORTH CAROLINA
218: EDGE DARIUS ENGLISH SOUTH CAROLINA
221: LB BEN BOULWARE CLEMSON
230: CB JALEN MYRICK MINNESOTA

Draft 3 using Bleacher Reports big board

9: WR MIKE WILLIAMS CLEMSON
41: DL CALEB BRANTLEY FLORIDA
73: EDGE DEMARCUS WALKER FSU
114: C PAT ELFLEIN OHIO STATE
137: CB MARQUEZ WHITE FSU
144: OT CONOR MCDERMOTT UCLA
154: LB PAUL MAGLOIRE JR. ARIZONA
194: RB COREY CLEMENT WISCONSIN
218: EDGE DYLAN COLE MISSOURI STATE
221: LB BEN BOULWARE CLEMSON
230: QB CHAD KELLY OLE MISS

No chance in hell the Bengals let DK walk and cut Jones. As much as we all want to see WJ3 and Dennard play, you have to keep at least one of the two starting CBs in Cincinnati for 2017 at least as a bridge.

Also, if Whitworth and LaFell come back on those two lowball deals, they cheated themselves. Whitworth knows the Bengals need him, and he deserves to be paid $9 mill a year or more. The two year deal makes sense though. Brandon LaFell already played on his "prove it" deal at ~$2.5 mill last year and showed he is worth way more than that. He deserves at least $4 mill a year somewhere. What's your reasoning for these two important starters staying with Cincinnati on deals that are much more team-friendly?

If the Bengals retain LaFell and sign Justin Hunter, who is cut from the 6 WR spots to then make room for a draft pick? You're keeping AJ Green and Tyler Boyd. The other 3 are James Wright, Alex Erickson, and Cody Core. Given that none of the WRs you picked are return specialists, one has to assume the two players cut are James Wright (duh) and Cody Core? I think Cody Core showed enough last year to warrant sticking around. I can only see the Bengals adding two new WRs at most if LaFell isn't retained.

Why is Nick Fairley going to play on a "prove it" deal? 6.5 sacks and 9 TFL with a brand new team aren't enough to have proved it? I do think he can be a good addition though if the team is looking for an interior rush specialist and don't believe that Hardison, Thompson, or Williams can be good enough to get it done.

I think overall, you're really giving low estimates for what FA players will sign for. If this was a mock for New England where a player will sacrifice some $ for an outstanding shot at a ring, perhaps. But it doesn't make any logical sense for so many of the players you listed to sign for arguably peanuts when they likely could go to a better team and get paid more.

[Crowe]

(02-06-2017, 02:37 PM)ochocincos Wrote: No chance in hell the Bengals let DK walk and cut Jones. As much as we all want to see WJ3 and Dennard play, you have to keep at least one of the two starting CBs in Cincinnati for 2017 at least as a bridge.

Also, if Whitworth and LaFell come back on those two lowball deals, they cheated themselves. Whitworth knows the Bengals need him, and he deserves to be paid $9 mill a year or more. The two year deal makes sense though. Brandon LaFell already played on his "prove it" deal at ~$2.5 mill last year and showed he is worth way more than that. He deserves at least $4 mill a year somewhere. What's your reasoning for these two important starters staying with Cincinnati on deals that are much more team-friendly?

If the Bengals retain LaFell and sign Justin Hunter, who is cut from the 6 WR spots to then make room for a draft pick? You're keeping AJ Green and Tyler Boyd. The other 3 are James Wright, Alex Erickson, and Cody Core. Given that none of the WRs you picked are return specialists, one has to assume the two players cut are James Wright (duh) and Cody Core? I think Cody Core showed enough last year to warrant sticking around. I can only see the Bengals adding two new WRs at most if LaFell isn't retained.

Why is Nick Fairley going to play on a "prove it" deal? 6.5 sacks and 9 TFL with a brand new team aren't enough to have proved it? I do think he can be a good addition though if the team is looking for an interior rush specialist and don't believe that Hardison, Thompson, or Williams can be good enough to get it done.

I think overall, you're really giving low estimates for what FA players will sign for. If this was a mock for New England where a player will sacrifice some $ for an outstanding shot at a ring, perhaps. But it doesn't make any logical sense for so many of the players you listed to sign for arguably peanuts when they likely could go to a better team and get paid more.

I think the team should cut bait with Jones and as far as Dre K, I think they will try to resign him, but dude is going to try to get elite money and he's nowhere near elite not too mention we have 4 CB's on the roster already even if we lose both of those guys, plus if we sign one in free agency as I have us doing at a much more reasonable price as well as having us draft 1 which would take us back to 6 CBs. 

Whit definitely could get 9 mil a year for 2 years, I'm just hoping knowing that he probably will only play 1 or 2 more years, he decides to come back for a 2 year deal worth around 15-16 million, but as far as Lafell, I do think he has earned a new deal and he's ok, but I'd say 2-3 million a year for 2 years would be about right for him. He had a solid year, but not spectacular and you know the team needs to rely more on the youth at WR.

Justin Hunter would be brought in on a buy low kind of deal for a player who has immense talent, but has not established himself. He would battle with Wright(who's been dealing with injuries now for the last few seasons) and Core who could be a solid guy for us or falls off like so many other's buried on the depth chart. If Hunter doesn't show up then he get's cut.

It's simple, why hasn't Fairley gotten a long term deal thus far??? He's good, but he's shown that he only plays when he want's to. I would love to sign him to a 3 year deal, but will he show up all 3 years or will he go back to ol' Fairley. I do think he would be a good addition as well and would even be willing to pay him more, he just has a poor work ethic that he's shown more than once.

[Jpoore]

(02-06-2017, 03:21 PM)Crowe Wrote: I think the team should cut bait with Jones and as far as Dre K, I think they will try to resign him, but dude is going to try to get elite money and he's nowhere near elite not too mention we have 4 CB's on the roster already even if we lose both of those guys, plus if we sign one in free agency as I have us doing at a much more reasonable price as well as having us draft 1 which would take us back to 6 CBs. 

Whit definitely could get 9 mil a year for 2 years, I'm just hoping knowing that he probably will only play 1 or 2 more years, he decides to come back for a 2 year deal worth around 15-16 million, but as far as Lafell, I do think he has earned a new deal and he's ok, but I'd say 2-3 million a year for 2 years would be about right for him. He had a solid year, but not spectacular and you know the team needs to rely more on the youth at WR.

Justin Hunter would be brought in on a buy low kind of deal for a player who has immense talent, but has not established himself. He would battle with Wright(who's been dealing with injuries now for the last few seasons) and Core who could be a solid guy for us or falls off like so many other's buried on the depth chart. If Hunter doesn't show up then he get's cut.

It's simple, why hasn't Fairley gotten a long term deal thus far??? He's good, but he's shown that he only plays when he want's to. I would love to sign him to a 3 year deal, but will he show up all 3 years or will he go back to ol' Fairley. I do think he would be a good addition as well and would even be willing to pay him more, he just has a poor work ethic that he's shown more than once.

I would rather get some big time free agents like kilo Alonso and aj bouye. Dennnard is a Non factor and a HUGE bust. He hasn't gotten out of tc healthy yet and when he's on the field he allowed an 86 percent completion rate. Than means Russell is our number 2? Sorry but I'm signing dre k. Dre k will not get elite money. They're are about 2-3 teams per year that will pay elite money to a cb. Thankfully for us the draft class is DEEP. the corners I would put ahead of dre k include Logan Ryan, Trumain Johnson, stephon gillmore, aj. Bouye, Malcom butler, prince amukamara. Ryan, gillmore, butler, Johnson will get elite deals. Dre k will get 9.5 to stay here. As far as lb go if u can sign Alonso to a 4 year deal I think u go that route.as far as lafell he was garbage the first 10 games. U can not have a number 2 receiver get a combined 32 yards in 4 games. So I don't resign him u get mike Williams in the draft, or if he's gone trade back a couple and get Davis.

[Crowe]

(02-07-2017, 02:35 AM)Jpoore Wrote: I would rather get some big time free agents like kilo Alonso and aj bouye. Dennnard is a Non factor and a HUGE bust. He hasn't gotten out of tc healthy yet and when he's on the field he allowed an 86 percent completion rate. Than means Russell is our number 2? Sorry but I'm signing dre k. Dre k will not get elite money. They're are about 2-3 teams per year that will pay elite money to a cb. Thankfully for us the draft class is DEEP. the corners I would put ahead of dre k include Logan Ryan, Trumain Johnson, stephon gillmore, aj. Bouye, Malcom butler, prince amukamara. Ryan, gillmore, butler, Johnson will get elite deals. Dre k will get 9.5 to stay here. As far as lb go if u can sign Alonso to a 4 year deal I think u go that route.as far as lafell he was garbage the first 10 games. U can not have a number 2 receiver get a combined 32 yards in 4 games. So I don't resign him u get mike Williams in the draft, or if he's gone trade back a couple and get Davis.

Kiko Alonso is hardly a big name free agent. AJ Bouye would be a nice pick up, but he'll probably be one of the most sought after CB's in free agency, if we could land him great. As for Dennard, yea he wasn't great this past season, but in 2015 he was pretty solid, remember it took Dre K 3 seasons to even begin to make an impact. I do like the CB crop this year in the draft, maybe not a lot of heavy hitters, but definitely solid depth at the position. I don't mind Dre K., but I personally would rather either we upgrade from him or sign a solid guy for less.

Lafell pretty much outplayed his counterparts that left Cincy in free agency last year, say what you want about him, but he lead the team in TD's and had a solid catch rate and made some solid clutch catches, he's earned a new contract, it just won't be big like the gentleman above stated. Mike Williams would be nice and I have him in one of the drafts, but our WR's weren't the issue this year, it was the oline and the inability to open lanes for the running game almost all season or to protect Dalton along with our defense which couldn't provide any pressure and our LB's who outside of Burfict were disappointing.

[*ochocincos*]

(02-07-2017, 09:34 AM)Crowe Wrote: Kiko Alonso is hardly a big name free agent. AJ Bouye would be a nice pick up, but he'll probably be one of the most sought after CB's in free agency, if we could land him great. As for Dennard, yea he wasn't great this past season, but in 2015 he was pretty solid, remember it took Dre K 3 seasons to even begin to make an impact. I do like the CB crop this year in the draft, maybe not a lot of heavy hitters, but definitely solid depth at the position. I don't mind Dre K., but I personally would rather either we upgrade from him or sign a solid guy for less.

Lafell pretty much outplayed his counterparts that left Cincy in free agency last year, say what you want about him, but he lead the team in TD's and had a solid catch rate and made some solid clutch catches, he's earned a new contract, it just won't be big like the gentleman above stated. Mike Williams would be nice and I have him in one of the drafts, but our WR's weren't the issue this year, it was the oline and the inability to open lanes for the running game almost all season or to protect Dalton along with our defense which couldn't provide any pressure and our LB's who outside of Burfict were disappointing.

Alonso will be a RFA. That greatly decreases any chance he leaves the Dolphins, especially to the Bengals. I can't recall the last time the Bengals signed a RFA. They just don't like giving up picks like that.