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Bengals Off-season and Draft

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PopesReignOverCardinals

Blue Chip Prospect
Apr 13, 2024
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Tee Higgins with the franchise tag again. Sam Hubbard announced his retirement yesterday. Alex Cappa was cut earlier in the week. What are we looking forward to in free agency and the draft?

They struggle to sign the stars that are already on their team, so they will probably go cheap or heavily discounted in free agency. Bringing Joey Bosa back to Ohio would be amazing, but I'm dreaming.

They have the 17th pick in the NFL Draft. Several pundits expect them to put another weapon around Burrow. I would love to see one of Ashton Jeanty or Tyler Warren fall in their lap, but I also wouldn't be disappointed with Colston Loveland (TE from Michigan). There are some very nice WRs expected to be available in the second round this year as it looks like they are already going to need to replace Jermaine Burton.

What else you got?
 
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PopesReignOverCardinals said:
Tee Higgins with the franchise tag again. Sam Hubbard announced his retirement yesterday. Alex Cappa was cut earlier in the week. What are we looking forward to in free agency and the draft?

They struggle to sign the stars that are already on their team, so they will probably go cheap or heavily discounted in free agency. Bringing Joey Bosa back to Ohio would be amazing, but I'm dreaming.

They have the 17th pick in the NFL Draft. Several pundits expect them to put another weapon around Burrow. I would love to see one of Ashton Jeanty or Tyler Warren fall in their lap, but I also wouldn't be disappointed with Colston Loveland (TE from Michigan). There are some very nice WRs expected to be available in the second round this year as it looks like they are already going to need to replace Jermaine Burton.

What else you got?
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Well the Bengals have a terrible D....so maybe if you pay Burrow all that money...he needs to make offense click with not elite weapons.

So, I'd assume you better be grabbing up all the defense you can if your Bengals. (and they should have let Higgins walk....just silly to pay Chase, Burrow and Higgins with this bad of a D).
 
PopesReignOverCardinals said:
With Hubbard's retirement and Hendrickson being given permission to seek a trade, the Bengals will absolutely have to address the edge now. I don't know what they should expect in return for Hendrickson, but I would think no less than a second-rounder.
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I seen a report that they tagged Higgins but would listen to trades for him also. They sign MG so doubt they draft a TE early. I think they draft a DL/Edge 1st. They need a quality CB and OG also. I’m not sure it was Cappa but I heard one of their OG lead the league in sacks given up
 
Browns sign Garrett to a record deal. Bengals stick their heads in the sand by not getting deals done with their guys and letting others set the market is beyond tiresome.
 
kywildcatsfannumber1 said:
Browns sign Garrett to a record deal. Bengals stick their heads in the sand by not getting deals done with their guys and letting others set the market is beyond tiresome.
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So you are suggestion the Bengals sign their edge rushers like the Browns and Raiders, the 2 worst run franchises in the league??? LOL stick to your day job. Not to mention Garrett is 2 years younger than Tre.
 
assistbyhawkins said:
So you are suggestion the Bengals sign their edge rushers like the Browns and Raiders, the 2 worst run franchises in the league??? LOL stick to your day job. Not to mention Garrett is 2 years younger than Tre.
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Cincinnati should have already found a way to get a deal done for the sacks leader in the NFL prior to this point, and are losing Hubbard from retiring too smart ass!! No Bengals fan should be pointing the finger and talking about other franchises being ran poorly. Other teams are signing their players and setting the market, Bengals failed to get extensions done they knew were coming up prior to the market getting too steep in previous seasons to retain these players outside of Burrow which got broke shortly after. This is nothing new. Crosby and Garrett won't be the highest paid for long before someone else sets the market again. Both sides of the line in Cincinnati are a problem. It isn't going to get better by losing Trey and continuing to piss away Burrow's prime.
 
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kywildcatsfannumber1 said:
Browns sign Garrett to a record deal. Bengals stick their heads in the sand by not getting deals done with their guys and letting others set the market is beyond tiresome.
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To be fair though, the Browns aren't playing for anything. They're not even trying to make the playoffs right now. The only thing they're doing by signing Garrett is hoping that a Browns jersey goes into Canton.

The Bengals are dragging their feet, but they can't afford max contracts for all these guys AND fill their needs at other positions anyway. Even the Chiefs had to make difficult decisions by moving off Tyreek Hill. Every team does if they actually want to compete year-over-year for a playoff spot (and Super Bowl).

Edit: And by "max contracts", I mean top-of-the-market deals at their position. There is no such thing as a max individual contract in the NFL.
 
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PopesReignOverCardinals said:
To be fair though, the Browns aren't playing for anything. They're not even trying to make the playoffs right now. The only thing they're doing by signing Garrett is hoping that a Browns jersey goes into Canton.

The Bengals are dragging their feet, but they can't afford max contracts for all these guys AND fill their needs at other positions anyway. Even the Chiefs had to make difficult decisions by moving off Tyreek Hill. Every team does if they actually want to compete year-over-year for a playoff spot (and Super Bowl).
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They can afford to keep the offense together, plus Trey, and other improvements. It's not really a question of keeping one player over another, it's a question of whether the cheap ass ownership can afford to put the necessary guaranteed money in escrow. Even if what you said were to be completely true, Hendrickson with the lack of depth on the edge is far more valuable to the Bengals if it were one player over another (Higgins) who is oftentimes hurt. It would have been easier to pick up a veteran WR to slide into place as the #2 beside Chase prior to the tag when they have a QB like Burrow throwing to them. As good as Higgins is, the Bengals will be losing an all-pro pass rusher. Cincinnati isn't going to find someone better to take Trey's place. Let's just be real here. Hendrickson should have been their priority all along, especially with the lack of depth on the edge.
 
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kywildcatsfannumber1 said:
They can afford to keep the offense together plus Trey plus other improvements. It's not really a question of keeping one player over another, it's a question of whether the cheap ass ownership can afford to put the necessary guaranteed money in escrow.
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The Bengals spend close to the cap when all is said and done, so how does that make them cheap? The gave Burrow the highest salary at his position, and they will probably do the same for Chase. The Bengals aren't the Reds.

I just don't understand how you think the math works out. Trey is expected get $35m/year. That is Justin Jefferson money.

The Bengals made an incredible signing with him because it's rare for a player to make double in their third contract vs. their second contract. He has gotten better as he got closer to 30-years old, and how often does that happen? Regression should be expected when?

If you have the math figured out, then I would love to see it because there's no way you could be valuing these guys at what they are expecting if you think the Bengals can afford all that you mentioned.
 
PopesReignOverCardinals said:
The Bengals spend close to the cap when all is said and done, so how does that make them cheap? The gave Burrow the highest salary at his position, and they will probably do the same for Chase. The Bengals aren't the Reds.

I just don't understand how you think the math works out. Trey is expected get $35m/year. That is Justin Jefferson money.

The Bengals made an incredible signing with him because it's rare for a player to make double in their third contract vs. their second contract. He has gotten better as he got closer to 30-years old, and how often does that happen? Regression should be expected when?

If you have the math figured out, then I would love to see it because there's no way you could be valuing these guys at what they are expecting if you think the Bengals can afford all that you mentioned.
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Joe Burrow isn't the highest paid at his position. That would be Dak Prescott. (EDIT: Josh Allen as of this evening.) Burrow's contract is the same as Love and Lawrence too. Mahomes broke it like a week after Burrow, but restructured which is what the Bengals can do too. Cincinnati failed to get a deal done knowing extension talks would come up and now the market resets twice this past week on defensive ends. It will cost them more money in the long run in order to replace that production for not having inked Hendrickson prior to this season. I have a hard time believing that Cincinnati offered him $30-$32 million and are willing to let him talk to other teams for $3 million more.

Funny you people want to mention Trey regressing as if the Bengals shouldn't extend him and think the rest of the league wouldn't have those same concerns if there were any validity to those claims as if Cincinnati should steer clear of him as he will become one of the top paid edge rushers. Like I said, should have worked out an extension before this season that would have given him a long-term deal he deserved and kept him in a Bengals uniform through the rest of his prime years.

Who are the Bengals going to bring in with all of that money saved that will be on the same level as Trey Hendrickson in 2025? They can address other areas of need, but losing Hendrickson/Hubbard on the edge is a huge weakness that needs to be fixed now. Very easily could end up with another Myles Murphy situation building young through the draft and that takes time. Which goes back to Burrow's prime years continuing to be wasted with a subpar defense or rebuilding defenses opposite of him.

The Bengals can structure the cap in order to get them under, and Joe Burrow has said he is willing to do so. If the Bengals gave Chase $40M, Tee $30M and Trey $30M, that would account for about 35% of the cap in 2025. That would bump up to around 41% in 2026, 44% in 2027. At no point would they ever account for even 50% of the total cap. That is including using structures similar to how the Bengals usually do it.
 
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kywildcatsfannumber1 said:
Joe Burrow isn't the highest paid at his position. That would be Dak Prescott. (EDIT: Josh Allen as of this evening.) Burrow's contract is the same as Love and Lawrence too. Mahomes broke it like a week after Burrow, but restructured which is what the Bengals can do too. Cincinnati failed to get a deal done knowing extension talks would come up and now the market resets twice this past week on defensive ends. It will cost them more money in the long run in order to replace that production for not having inked Hendrickson prior to this season. I have a hard time believing that Cincinnati offered him $30-$32 million and are willing to let him talk to other teams for $3 million more.

Funny you people want to mention Trey regressing as if the Bengals shouldn't extend him and think the rest of the league wouldn't have those same concerns if there were any validity to those claims as if Cincinnati should steer clear of him as he will become one of the top paid edge rushers. Like I said, should have worked out an extension before this season that would have given him a long-term deal he deserved and kept him in a Bengals uniform through the rest of his prime years.

Who are the Bengals going to bring in with all of that money saved that will be on the same level as Trey Hendrickson in 2025? They can address other areas of need, but losing Hendrickson/Hubbard on the edge is a huge weakness that needs to be fixed now. Very easily could end up with another Myles Murphy situation building young through the draft and that takes time. Which goes back to Burrow's prime years continuing to be wasted with a subpar defense or rebuilding defenses opposite of him.

The Bengals can structure the cap in order to get them under, and Joe Burrow has said he is willing to do so. If the Bengals gave Chase $40M, Tee $30M and Trey $30M, that would account for about 35% of the cap in 2025. That would bump up to around 41% in 2026, 44% in 2027. At no point would they ever account for even 50% of the total cap. That is including using structures similar to how the Bengals usually do it.
Click to expand...
I didn't say that Burrow was still the highest paid, but he was when he signed the deal. The point being that the Bengals aren't being cheap by setting the market for QBs and WRs when those deals were/are signed for Burrow and Chase.

Several other players have escalators going into the next season despite the growing cap. The minimum salaries are growing too, and they will spend a significant % on backups alone because they have to fill the roster with 53 players. League minimum is nearly $1m, so teams will spend about 20% of the their cap just on filling roster spots with minimum wage players. Those lower-to-middle level contracts will add up quickly when you start filling out the rest of the roster with average or better talent.

They probably can't bring in anybody to match the production right away. There is no crystal ball to know when a football player's prime will end or if they will get hurt. However, they will likely get a 2nd-rounder for him in a trade. They could possibly replace him with the 1st round pick with somebody like Mykel Williams or James Pearce. Two second-rounders could also go a long way in achieving cap flexibility over the next several seasons if they land some good starters. It is going to hurt to lose Trey if a trade actually happens because he has been fun to watch, but the reality is that they are being forced to make a huge investment in a 30-year old who's not a QB. It's never really a great outcome for the teams that do that.
 
PopesReignOverCardinals said:
I didn't say that Burrow was still the highest paid, but he was when he signed the deal. The point being that the Bengals aren't being cheap by setting the market for QBs and WRs when those deals were/are signed for Burrow and Chase.

Several other players have escalators going into the next season despite the growing cap. The minimum salaries are growing too, and they will spend a significant % on backups alone because they have to fill the roster with 53 players. League minimum is nearly $1m, so teams will spend about 20% of the their cap just on filling roster spots with minimum wage players. Those lower-to-middle level contracts will add up quickly when you start filling out the rest of the roster with average or better talent.

They probably can't bring in anybody to match the production right away. There is no crystal ball to know when a football player's prime will end or if they will get hurt. However, they will likely get a 2nd-rounder for him in a trade. They could possibly replace him with the 1st round pick with somebody like Mykel Williams or James Pearce. Two second-rounders could also go a long way in achieving cap flexibility over the next several seasons if they land some good starters. It is going to hurt to lose Trey if a trade actually happens because he has been fun to watch, but the reality is that they are being forced to make a huge investment in a 30-year old who's not a QB. It's never really a great outcome for the teams that do that.
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The Bengals haven't set any market for WRs with Ja'Marr Chase yet, if they do manage to get a deal done. Let's not put the cart before the horse. Higgins on a tag is in line to make roughly $4 million more than Chase in 2025 unless they work out an extension. How anyone can defend this FO and say they aren't being cheap is a mystery to me. Neither Chase, nor Higgins have long-term deals done yet as Cincinnati continues to drag ass. They will risk Higgins sitting out next year while they attempt to give him a 3rd franchise tag and dupe people into believing they can't afford both, one or the other as they are doing to people now.

Letting their best defensive player and the league's sacks leader Trey Hendrickson seek a trade out. That is a bad look when the organization is telling the player to go find a deal as if you aren't important enough for them to shop around for the best deal and burn bridges between players and agents, making them less likely to even want to sign here. Bengals will likely get lowballed and can't blame anyone but themselves. Two second-rounders? You can't make the claim of Trey being old and ask for the moon so applying that logic...what team would be investing two second-round picks in a trade, let alone first round if they think Hendrickson is nearly used up for a player in the last year of a contract and will be the ones paying the extension? A 2nd round pick similar to what Seattle received for DK Metkalf, maybe a mid to lower-round draft picks are included would be a realistic return. Any prospect in the draft is a gamble. Could be a HOFer, diamond in the rough, or may end up with another Myles Murphy when you need someone close to Hubbard/Hendrickson to come in immediately via trade, FA or draft.

I will tell you what hurts. Watching a defense lose their starting edge rushers, one being the league leader in sacks, and Joe Burrow's prime years be spent with a subpar defense. By all means, the Bengals should keep as much of the core as long as possible while in their prime during this current window to make another run for the SB before blowing it all up. Bengals fans are all too familiar with the alternative with the rebuilding years, and we're fed up with mediocrity. Joe Burrow and that offense could have made noise in the playoffs as well as they were playing down the stretch. The Bengals don't get an out here, saying Hendrickson is too old to sign to a contract when this franchise should have never let it get to this point before extending Hendrickson, where he would have already been re-signed prior to his age 30 season and finish out his prime years, as I have previously said but will again to make myself clear. Bengals may still end up moving Higgins. As I said, he is great receiver, would be the #1 WR on a number of teams, and replacing his production isn't easy, but acquiring the next WR in the draft would let Cincinnati free up cap space too or sign a vet to come in and allow Cincinnati to focus on the defensive side of the ball is the bigger weakness.

This Bengals defense already needed to be addressed, especially the defensive line prior to this past week when Hubbard retired and Cincinnati granted Trey permission to seek a trade. Make no mistake, the impact of losing Hubbard and Hendrickson are two massive blows. If it boiled down to one or the other between Higgins/Hendrickson, I would be okay with that money spent to bring back Trey Hendrickson while looking to move Higgins to free up cap space. Burrow is a good enough QB that drafting a young WR or signing a veteran won't sting near as bad compared to the impact losing both Hubbard/Hendrickson on the edge. If they are entirely done with Hendrickson, stop pussyfooting and get some deals done with the WRs they value more and get on with the defensive rebuild instead of further pissing off their players. The fact that not one of these guys has an extension yet is BS.
 
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kywildcatsfannumber1 said:
Two second-rounders? You can't make the claim of Trey being old and ask for the moon so applying that logic...what team would be investing two second-round picks in a trade, let alone first round if they think Hendrickson is nearly used up for a player in the last year of a contract and will be the ones paying the extension? A 2nd round pick similar to what Seattle received for DK Metkalf, maybe a mid to lower-round draft picks are included would be a realistic return. Any prospect in the draft is a gamble. Could be a HOFer, diamond in the rough, or may end up with another Myles Murphy when you need someone close to Hubbard/Hendrickson to come in immediately via trade, FA or draft.
Click to expand...
Yes, their own second-round pick plus the single second-rounder (or better) they will likely get for Hendrickson. That would be two second-rounders.

I'm not worried about it. We need to see how free agency shakes out this week to have a better picture of the overall situation.
 
cmallory4121 said:
They should trade every pick to free up money to sign the big 3
Click to expand...
They don’t need to trade any picks.

The Bengals do NOT get anywhere near the salary cap. For those that say they do let me ask you this: How do the Eagles pay 3 OL, 2 WR, a RB, a QB BIG Money and the Bengals can’t pay Tee, Chase, Joe and Trey.

Ineptitude at the HIGHEST level by the Front Office and Ownership!
 
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RDF922 said:
They don’t need to trade any picks.

The Bengals do NOT get anywhere near the salary cap. For those that say they do let me ask you this: How do the Eagles pay 3 OL, 2 WR, a RB, a QB BIG Money and the Bengals can’t pay Tee, Chase, Joe and Trey.

Ineptitude at the HIGHEST level by the Front Office and Ownership!
Click to expand...

Do you enjoy posting lies on a message board? Or do you just not have a clue what youre talking about? Its clearly one or the other.

The Bengals spent the 3rd most money in the NFL in 2024. Here is a link to backup my claims instead of just saying stupid shit like you.


Also, anyone that thinks losing Sam Hubbard is a big loss, well you haven't been paying attention. Sam has been HORRIBLE for 2 years. There are horrendous stats about him all over the internet if you'd like me find them. He graded out as one of the bottom 3 starting DE's in the NFL last year, and bottom 8 the year before. Yeah boy, we will really miss those 2 sacks he had this year!!! I love Sam and what he did as a Bengal and the city, but he did the right thing by retiring. Class act. But his production has been trash for 2 years, and he knew it.
 
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PopesReignOverCardinals said:
With Hubbard's retirement and Hendrickson being given permission to seek a trade, the Bengals will absolutely have to address the edge now. I don't know what they should expect in return for Hendrickson, but I would think no less than a second-rounder.
Click to expand...
Yes, they absolutely have to address the edge after losing both of their starting DEs if Trey is traded. Joseph Ossai was re-signed. It was already a position that lacked depth. No doubt it was a weakness other than Trey, which makes it all that more important to add depth after this past week losing both starters is a lot of change with a new DC Al Golden coming in which was needed. Myles Murphy hasn't progressed like many thought he would when the Bengals spent a 1st Round pick on him. Recently picked up Oren Burks & TJ Slaton. Bengals need to draft a young, controllable edge rusher and sign an experienced DE such as Bosa bringing him back to Ohio. Or the former Cat Za'Darius Smith. I posted an article here when the Lions released him and he is available. As far as the O-Line, re-signed Cody Ford and are looking at Mekhi Becton from Philly. I much prefer the experienced route of beefing up the O-Line. Also, Samaje Perine is coming back to Cincinnati and he is a solid blocker in the passing game.
 
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Bereacat420 said:
I seen a report that they tagged Higgins but would listen to trades for him also. They sign MG so doubt they draft a TE early. I think they draft a DL/Edge 1st. They need a quality CB and OG also. I’m not sure it was Cappa but I heard one of their OG lead the league in sacks given up
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Cappa signed with the Raiders.
 
K_TIME said:
Well the Bengals have a terrible D....so maybe if you pay Burrow all that money...he needs to make offense click with not elite weapons.

So, I'd assume you better be grabbing up all the defense you can if your Bengals. (and they should have let Higgins walk....just silly to pay Chase, Burrow and Higgins with this bad of a D).
Click to expand...
The defensive line is a huge concern, so is addressing the secondary. Ranked 21st in passing defense, 223.5 yards per game. Marco Wilson is back on a one-year contract today.
 
assistbyhawkins said:
Do you enjoy posting lies on a message board? Or do you just not have a clue what youre talking about? Its clearly one or the other.

The Bengals spent the 3rd most money in the NFL in 2024. Here is a link to backup my claims instead of just saying stupid shit like you.


Also, anyone that thinks losing Sam Hubbard is a big loss, well you haven't been paying attention. Sam has been HORRIBLE for 2 years. There are horrendous stats about him all over the internet if you'd like me find them. He graded out as one of the bottom 3 starting DE's in the NFL last year, and bottom 8 the year before. Yeah boy, we will really miss those 2 sacks he had this year!!! I love Sam and what he did as a Bengal and the city, but he did the right thing by retiring. Class act. But his production has been trash for 2 years, and he knew it.
Click to expand...
In all fairness to Sam this past season, injuries had an impact on that for Hubbard. Nagging ankle injuries in 2023, underwent a complete deltoid reconstruction at the end of the year. Played through a torn hamstring all of 2024 that occurred in training camp until the knee injury that cost him the rest of the year on the touchdown catch vs Tennessee. Good for Sam knowing when to retire when the injuries took a toll on him. Now they must find a viable replacement for him.

www.cincyjungle.com

Sam Hubbard shares brutal injury update about torn muscle that almost cost him the entire 2024 season

Hubbard was in danger of missing the entire season.
www.cincyjungle.com www.cincyjungle.com
 
RDF922 said:
They don’t need to trade any picks.

The Bengals do NOT get anywhere near the salary cap. For those that say they do let me ask you this: How do the Eagles pay 3 OL, 2 WR, a RB, a QB BIG Money and the Bengals can’t pay Tee, Chase, Joe and Trey.

Ineptitude at the HIGHEST level by the Front Office and Ownership!
Click to expand...
As mentioned above, the Bengals were 3rd in total cap allocations in 2024. They were also last (32nd) in dead cap money, which means they weren't wasting tons of space on guys not even on the team. They also had several contributing players get injured ($58m+ in 2024 contract money finished the season IR/PUP). What information are you viewing that shows they do not get anywhere near the cap?

The Eagles structured the contracts for those guys to be ridiculously backloaded. The Eagles have options extending out to 2031 for most of those guys, and the only player the Bengals have under contract beyond 2028 is Joe Burrow. The Eagles created a window to win between 2023-2025 at the expense of a potential cap hell over the next several seasons beyond that. They will have very little flexibility, which is why they are losing tons of guys in free agency right now off a Super Bowl win.

Have a look to see how the years lay out as of right now:

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/philadelphia-eagles/yearly
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cincinnati-bengals/yearly

And not to mention, the Eagles have won the draft for a few years in a row. They haven't been afraid to take risks that have fallen due to off-field issues (Jalen Carter) or lack of size (Nakobe Dean). They have won some lottery tickets with a lot of their guys on defense (Milton Williams, Nolan Smith, Cooper DeJean, and Quinyon Mitchell in addition to Carter and Dean - all of whom were still on rookie deals) and free agent signings (Zack Baun - probably the biggest bargain in the NFL in 2024). They had a hit with Josh Sweat, who was a 4th-round pick who was dedicated to returning and trying to win it with this team (and did). And they also brought in the best RB in the game right now, a future Hall of Famer in part because he is from the Philadelphia area. You can't compare any team to the Eagles with how their 2024 team was structured because their hit rate was simply amazing beyond structuring contracts for people who want big money.
 
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