The Complete 2020-21 Offseason Plan v2

[HoosierCat 553]

7 hours ago, TJJackson said:

It'd be nice if they started to get some of these re-signings done

Well, we aren’t even out of January yet so I wouldn’t worry...for now. That said, the Bengals don’t have a great history of being proactive, and I’d guess that the uncertainty over the cap this year won’t help. Last year the cap wasn’t officially announced until March 15. Hopefully the league speeds that up a bit this year.

Assuming the cap does decrease, I’m very interested to see how they respond. Projections are that it could drop to around $176 million. However, projections for the following two years assume things bounce back to something like normal and it jumps to around $220 million and then $240 million. So there’s big opportunity to be creative and push money into the future!

Yeah, I don’t need to say it, do I?

So yeah, I await contract season with great interest.

[AMPHAR 473]

34 minutes ago, HoosierCat said:

Well, we aren’t even out of January yet so I wouldn’t worry...for now. That said, the Bengals don’t have a great history of being proactive, and I’d guess that the uncertainty over the cap this year won’t help. Last year the cap wasn’t officially announced until March 15. Hopefully the league speeds that up a bit this year.

Assuming the cap does decrease, I’m very interested to see how they respond. Projections are that it could drop to around $176 million. However, projections for the following two years assume things bounce back to something like normal and it jumps to around $220 million and then $240 million. So there’s big opportunity to be creative and push money into the future!

Yeah, I don’t need to say it, do I?

So yeah, I await contract season with great interest.

I think Bengals have a good history of being proactive with their own.     It usually happens in the summer time or right before the season.

What we see as being non proactive in Feb and March before FA with their own may be the result of failed talks from the summer. 

Kevin Zeitler is a good example.  After he left in FA it was released the Bengals knew back in September his asking price was way more than they were going to spend.   It looks like inactivity at the time of the transaction but the reality was they weren't willing to make him the highest paid at his position at the time.

So it probably doesn't bode well for retaining both Lawson and Jackson.  We'll see.

In the summer time the Bengals seem to have a target/wish list of their own for extensions and it's first come first served mentality. 

Come Feb/Mar if the market values don't align they seem more than willing to play the market and sometimes they win and other times they don't.

 

[TJJackson 350]

Joisey - isn't it rather a problem for the FA year to start on Mar 1 but the cap number for that coming year not being known at that time?

[HoosierCat 553]

The nfl will likely have an estimate before fa. Still this would be a good year to do the math early.

[COB 876]

6 hours ago, AMPHAR said:

 

In the summer time the Bengals seem to have a target/wish list of their own for extensions and it's first come first served mentality. 

 

Everyone has a plan until the rookie pool shows up.

[AMPHAR 473]

16 minutes ago, COB said:

Everyone has a plan until the rookie pool shows up.

 

lol, everyone has plan til rookie pool punches you in the face

[Stripes 476]

Rookie Pool is undefeated at Wrestlemania.

[COB 876]

You’re minding your own business, getting ready to execute your brilliant off-season plan that has a 97% probability to result in a division championship.  Suddenly you’re seeing stars, tasting your own blood, and starting an UDFA at center who spent last season on the Lions practice squad.  Rookie Pool.  

[TJJackson 350]

Just as long as we have enough money to let defensive backs take home some gatorade

[TJJackson 350]

well, here we are essentially an entire month into the offseason and what - aside from hiring coaches while retaining most of the coaches that really really needed to be gone - have they done?

Lets see

hmm

uhmm

futures contracts?  Oh yeah, that

so.....pretty much diddly squat

We have no idea how hard it is to run an NFL team, right Pumpkie?

[membengal 384]

TJ - pretty much no team has done anything - teams don't until after the Super Bowl. The Stafford/Goff trade is incredibly atypical. The NFL literally asks teams not to do shit until after the super bowl so as to not take away from Super Bowl week stuff.  FA isn't remotely close to being open yet. 

[TJJackson 350]

re-signing existing key players can - and should - take place

[HoosierCat 553]

Go Brandon Allen!

 

[membengal 384]

1 hour ago, TJJackson said:

re-signing existing key players can - and should - take place

Which teams have done that since season ended?

[TJJackson 350]

dont know, dont care.

Bengals FO should be addressing this instead of sitting with their thumbs up their butts

[Wraith 122]

Look, I am all about being proactive....the facts are that the official cap number has not been released.  Until that time neither the teams nor the player's representatives are going to be very interested in signing contracts.

[membengal 384]

1 hour ago, Wraith said:

Look, I am all about being proactive....the facts are that the official cap number has not been released.  Until that time neither the teams nor the player's representatives are going to be very interested in signing contracts.

Thanks. Come on TJ, what the hell.

[AMPHAR 473]

Bengals have track record of getting business done with their players in the summer.   It's good chance the guy you think they should be proactive in February before FA starts a decision has already been made by both parties.  

 

[TJJackson 350]

They should be dealing with WJ3 and Lawson right now, or at least trying to

They can make the contract (or numbers thereof) a percentage of the cap to adjust for the unknown cap number

[HoosierCat 553]

I’m sure they are, but you know the deal with FA. Right now WJ3 and Lawson have no incentive to sign unless the Bengals drop a blockbuster deal on the table. I’m sure their agents have an idea of the team’s number for their guy, now the question is can they beat that in the open market? As we get into March and the “legal tampering period” that’ll get clearer. I’m not really expecting much for at least another month.

[TJJackson 350]

assuming for the sake of argument that I accept that -- how about signing some of the lower cost players they wish to retain.....Spain, Brandon Wilson, Huber, Perine, Daniels, maybe even the Estonian Nightmare, etc?

Theres not much wiggle room in those lower dollar contracts

Make some progress, get some work done

Now as I say that, I understand that they might be making contact with the players they want to retain and at least trying to get them to be aware "hey we want you back" so that there can be amicable dialog if another team makes an offer.  and that kind of talk wouldnt be making news.  Hopefully, that kind of stuff at bare minimum should be taking place

[membengal 384]

Again, the salary cap for next year is not set. That matters.

[TJJackson 350]

Since the salary cap for last year was according to Joisey not set until 2 weeks into the free agency period last year, I'm gonna have to disagree

Plenty of players were signed within that first 2 weeks

Further, many players reupped with their current team in advance of FA starting

[membengal 384]

You tilt at the weirdest windmills. 

Read this:

Report: NFL Players’ Association projecting salary cap to drop to $180M (msn.com)
 

Quote

 

So, while the league typically provides teams an estimate of the range the salary cap for the next year is expected to fall within at some point late in the season, that did not happen this year. However, the first official estimates are expected to come out later this week, and a significant drop is indeed expected....

The NFL Players’ Association is projecting the league’s 2021 salary cap to drop to $180 million, according to league sources, though that number is not official yet. There will be more NFL discussions on the cap early this week. The league’s cap was $198.2 million in 2020.

 

That number matters. This isn't a typical off-season. The cap is plummeting, teams need to know that number to properly fit players in. 

[Wraith 122]

I get it, this is (imho) the most important off-season in Bengals history, this will tell us whether they are willing to do what it takes to make this team Superbowl contenders.  The hardest part is to get a franchise QB under a rookie contract....they have that for four more seasons, they need to make hay.  Burrow will win Superbowls (plural) whether he does it in a Bengals uni depends on their ability to put a team around him.

That said this is a unique off-season with unique challenges and we are all going to have to wait longer than we want.  No team is going to sign players until they have some idea of the pool they working with.  This is the first year where the cap is supposed to drop so this is uncharted territory.  On the other side, right now if the cap is in the 170-180 range up to 13 teams are currently over the cap.  No agent worth his degree is going to let anyone sign until they have some idea what the market is going to look like.