AMPHAR

Trey has a strong case to be among the top 5 paid. Back to back 17 sacks season AND I think he gets cheated in the DPOY conversation. He's is clearly the most consistent pass rusher I've ever seen with the Bengals. At the same time his snap count has gone up because Lou didn't have much a rotation and defense couldn't get off the field. He's hitting 30. If they trade Trey, then it will have to be good drafting and probably scheme change to get the number of sacks up. Trey was about half of the sack production.

Trey's comment about finding out via text was weird, IMO. He shouldn't be in a rush to do a deal. There is a lot of rumor/trade/cut demands that could change the market for edge. He's going to be among the top of whatever new market comes about.

Buyer beware tweet regarding Trey Smith.

Rough life for a punter. Regarding Trey Smith - Chiefs board is all over him being overrated given his presumed future contract. They said the same shit about Orlando Brown. I think Brown hasn't been perfect but has been worth the contract Bengals gave him. Chiefs tackles have sucked for a while. If the refs would call all the holding, false starts, lining up in the back field I think they'd still be playing their week 1 game. Anyhoo -Trey Smith overrated according to a lot Chief fans.

Even IF they sign Tee. If Hollywood Brown is out there for what the Chiefs got him for last year. I'd be tempted to do it.

I still think the A++++ situation is getting Chase, Trey and Tee extended out to 2027. But someone is going to have to shoulder risk in their contract in order to do it and as of right now it doesn't appear any of them are willing to do that which makes it very hard to do and improve the team. Chase basically shot that down in the summer. He's going to want his cash outlay to mirror his yearly average as close as possible through the first 3 or 4 years which is going to be $100m+ in 3 years then probably $130m in 4. If the above is given. Then Tee has to give if he wants to be apart of the Trio, IMO. Probably same with Trey. However, the Bengals could absolutely destroy the bounty the Chiefs got for Hill by trading Chase now. He's so much younger. Not saying that would happen but they could probably match the DeShaun Watson bounty Cleveland gave up.

If they pay Tee. I think they'll end up trading Trey. If Tee goes on the franchise tag, doesn't sign it. I think it could flip their strategy. Never for 1 second do I think the front office wrote off extending Tee. His agent was a factor and his overall availability is a factor and its a debate everyone has had holding it up. Can you build a contending team with so much money going to 2 WRs and QB? How much are they willing to overpay Tee consider you'll drop the bag on Chase? People will throw out the Eagles. But the Eagles deferred the money to their key players and its likely they'll dump some of it. Already rumors AJ Brown could be traded. There is a significant difference between the cash Burrow will get vs. Hurts. Probably the same between Chase and Brown. Trey is all about his sacks and tries to pretend he isn't, fake. But I do think he provides a bit of leadership because it seems like a productive competition vs. jealousy. 17 sacks is harder for the Bengals to replace vs. Tee's 900 yards. I wouldn't write off Burton getting 500 yards in that spot even if he's homeless and playing craps all night. However, Trey probably gets you more in a trade with a draft that's deep in D-line talent. They need to get younger there anyway. They hired the college coach that would be used to getting young players to be prepared. An area were Lou flopped big time and has mostly gotten a pass. Trey is older and has a ton of snaps. They've watch Geno Atkins and now Sam Hubbard decline significantly with age. Trey could easily go the path of Whitworth but I think they'll go the path of trading him. Whitworth at a min should of gotten the tag and they tried to get cute and cheap with it.

Those CBs being in the top 10 just scream how not good the quality of the FA class is. Its also hilarious how unaccountable the NFL.com writers are too. Like none of them mention, "Hey here's a name you'll recognize Bryon Murphy wasn't good enough to be in my top 10 a few years ago, but he is now!" Ronnie Stanley is another dude. Yeah he can start in the league. I hope the Chiefs blow their wad on him. He's a injury red flag and really wasn't all that good. Baseball fans are so much realistic about free agency than NFL fans. Probably because the stats are easily to project and they buy into the back of the baseball card mentality.

I'd love Chase Young on a short deal. Would love to try to get Josh Sweat at decent deal but afraid he'd be over priced because of the thin class. Tee Higgins is almost like you have to resign him just to "prove it" to people. When he plays he's great. He don't play. I think he's the classic WR that could go to a team with nobody, monopolize targets, put up stats and the offense ultimately sucks. Zac Baun - Would love to have him. It'd have to be cheaper than a Pratt deal. Hufanga - sounds good. Has been banged up. BJ Hill - wasn't in favor of signing Reader last year to anything but a prove it deal. That's what he got and he only played 45% of snaps. Hill I would not go too deep on as well. I would only go short term on him. If the Bengals trade or cut Pratt which most say is likely. I think Golden will want a veteran LB, Could be wrong I wouldn't think they move Pratt until another LB is signed. Probably plays out like Mixon last year.

I think Trey Smith is really the prize player in FA over Higgins. I'm not going to be mad IF they would sign Higgins to a long term deal but will certainly be interested in the structure of it. I'd absolutely go for Trey Smith at the highest paid for 4/5 years over Higgins but the likely hood of them paying a guard that much is unlikely. There's several stop-gap or hole fillers players but most of them scream two year deal. Bryon Murphy and Ward at CB are prime examples. No way on earth would I want top CB money for either of those two and locked in for multiple years. Sure they are bona fide starters but Murphy was ranked in the 30s his last free agency voyage and signed a cheap deal. What's changed? Ward was ranked 89th best FA back in 2022. Now top 10? You got to be fucking kidding me. I hope Chiefs sign him so I can watch Chase torch his ass repeatedly. I don't know if I'd want Ward at the 4th CB on our team right now and our secondary got roasted repeatedly. Just searching through these FA rankings reminds you that in the month of March Bengals fans and NFL fans in general are going to be acting like fools over 2nd tier at best players. Yes its possible to get the Hendrickson. Trey got a decent deal but a lot of people questioned it at the time even though he was the 4th best FA that year.

The problem with this Free Agent class that the top 15 rankings are a joke. This FA class is so thin to flat out not impressive. So there will be players you would like to catch on the way up that are going to be way overvalued even more so than a typical FA year. Josh Sweat would be a good get at mid contract. You ready to make him among the highest paid? I dunno. Case in point below are some of the names sprinkled in the top 15 FA rankings: 1. Tee Higgins- Hasn't had 1,000 yards in two season. Hasn't played over 60% of snaps in two seasons. Has never played more than 80% snaps in his entire career. Completely overrated at $30m or whatever a year. He's a fan favorite but I'd really like to see that contract structure IF they ever get an extension done. But on the free market he'd be some franchises key building block. Not sure if that would happen but whatever Bengal fans and Joe loves him. 2. Trey Smith - that's solid starter. Comfortable having him as a top 5 paid guard? Maybe. 3. Chris Godwin - in the top 10? Laughable at $25m+ he's had two major surgeries in the past 3 years. Torn ACL and Dislocated ankle. This is guy that should be ranked were DJ Reader was last year in the 40s and be looking at a prove it deal. 4. Ronnie Stanley - OT Ravens - Top 10? I dunno about that. Major injury red flags. This is guy that should be ranked around that Panthers tackle a few years ago that had the knee surgeries and could only get 1 year deals. 5. Zac Baun - This is my favorite top 10 Free Agent. WTF? I actually would love him on a cheap deal. However, he wasn't on any top 100 FA list last year I could find. Had to settle last year for 1 year $4m deal. Rags to Riches, I guess. 6. Bolton Chiefs - solid player. Top 10? 7. Ward - CB - He's in the top 10? I'd have a hard time thinking CB spot was solid if you have him marked down as a starter. Maybe a solid depth piece. 8. Byron Murphy CB - Top 10? Laughable. He was a FA two years ago ranked in the 30s. Had to settle for a low 2 year deal with Vikings. Starting CB. Had real trouble beating out Dre Kirkpatrick back in the day. But Hey, a defensive conerstone! 9. Josh Sweat - I would love to have as potential up and comer with a contract that matched that. Think Carl Lawson/Hendrickson value 1st FA contract. I don't know if I'd make him my cornerstone on a defense and equal cap hit. There's a couple guys you'd like to have as a stop gap starter. But the most likely out come is that you are cycling through 2nd tier players that for some reason can't land a 4/5 year deal with the team that drafted them. When guys like Ward, Baun and Murphy on their regularly scheduled Free Agent tour are in a top 10 the quality is way down.

If Al wants more pressure generated from his LBs then he's going to need to add new faces. It felt like when Wilson/Pratt recorded a sack it was out of a spy or Green Dog (add on) blitz situation. It seemed very rare LBs were the designated blitz that mostly came off the Corner Spot under Lou. It just was a very conservative scheme and it rarely changed even when an opposing offense demonstrated they figured out his zones.

Tee getting tagged according Rapien. Non exclusive. Speculates further long term deal still on the table, I guess. I think Rapien broke the news last year as well. Of course Rapien floated out there Tee could get $30m-$35m a year. I wonder where he gets all this stuff from? In other Tee news - Trevor L would love to have him. I would personally love for them to have him as well for pick No. 41. Or picks 72 and 94. Of course anything greater would be gravy. Tee playing at $26m on the Bengals cap isn't ideal. Not horrendous but not ideal.

The fact he fired his agent and hired Chase's agent. Then that agent is rumored to have had contract extension talks last week. Tells me the Bengals didn't telegraph this for two years they were moving on. Tells me they want to try to work something out IF they can get the money right for both parties. Its about his value that's variable factor. Not the Bengals deciding to move on and that's that. They wouldn't be talking at all.

The Bengals being a winning franchise refutes the claim they are Archaic. If you want to argue with the Scoreboard when determining football effectiveness. Have at it. Tee Higgins firing his agent. Hiring Chase's agent. Then that agent rumored to be in talks with the Bengals. Clearly refutes Tee leaving in Free Agency was the Bengals plan. Better arguments have been made. You've read them You still take issue with them. Why?

Right. Tee just happend to fire his agent. Tee just happened to hire Chase's agent. Then by some miracle of GOD this agent is rumored to be in talks with the Bengals. But according to you the Bengals plan all along was to have him walk and this was set in stone for 2 years. WTF?

Being a winning franchise doesn't support the front office being Archaic, right? Tee Higgins only being available for 60% of snaps, firing his agent, and the rumors of current contract talks certainly disputes that this was their plan for two years, right? Ignore facts keep bitterness of the 90s handy is a much better approach.

Aside from him playing only 60% of snaps for 4 years. Firing his agent and ignoring the recent rumors of contract talks. Yes, this was telegraphed for two years, lol. Ignore everything its just the way they roll, lol.

Teams can sign Tee to a contract that's says $35 per year all day long. Good for Tee. Tag him and then trade him. Higgins would be a fool to pass that up if its reality. The Bengals would be committing roster malpractice to match. They have the medicals etc. He's played 60% of snaps the last 4 seasons and its been declining. The last time he played 70%+ was 2020. Keep in mind the majority of reports from last year's TC said it was his best camp/off season. His body failed him anyway. A fair deal for Higgins is what Joe said. Do the Eagles model. That's Devonta Smith deal. Which would pay him $33m over 2 years, $48m over 3, and $69 over 4 and simultaneously giving the Bengals an out after year 2. Higgins would be a fool to accept a fair deal for fantasy free agency fest. Thus it would be wise for the Bengals to tag AND fans would be wise to ignore any chicken little bullshit about speculation of the locker room falling apart. However, Rapien speculation and all the others is mostly agent driven hyping up the client right before FA. Good for Tee. I'd really wouldn't want to see the Bengals lock themselves into Tee past 2027.

Tee Higgins has played less than 55% of the offensive snaps the past 2 years. He's only played 60% of offensive snaps the past 4 years. Its likely Tee is missing more than half the snaps playing on the tag, long term deal, or with another team.

From SI and James Rapien. Personally this sounds like James doing a solid for the agent and Higgins. If a team wants to give Tee $30m+ per year more power to them.

Part 2 Burrow says follow the Eagles. That means Chase needs to take his top of the market deal that's going to be somewhere around 5 years and $160-170m and do what AJ Brown accepted which puts 52% of the deal in years 3,4,5, and 6 while representing cap flexibility after year 2. Chase is unlikely to sign that structure because Justin Jefferson gets 60% of his $159m total value in Years 1,2, and 3 and the Vikings get cap flexibility going into year 4. JJ's structure outlay aligns close to his yearly average. CeeDee Lamb also receives 60% of his $154m deal in years 1,2, and 3. The Cowboys also get cap flexibility going into year 4.

Burrow says follow the Eagles. That means Tee needs to sign a 5 year $90m+ deal. Like Devonta Smith. But push 50% of the value to years 4 and 5 and simultaneously have the Bengals minimal cap hit IF they choose to cut after year 3. 100% for that. Effectively makes Tee a $16-$18m a year player. IF Tee has to play on the tag. He would earn $48m over 2024/2025. That's significantly more than Smith earned. More than Pittman and $3m less than AJ. Fans can believe and lick up whatever bullshit they want. There would be no excuse for a bad season because of Tee playing on a tag.

True. But I can also guarantee some free agent signing from 2 years ago or sooner will also be cut out from underneath that contract without batting that same eye. I really don't see the value in locking yourself into Tee Higgins in 3/4 year deal at $26m given his lack of production due to his availability. If the Bengals want to do that, fine. He's a fan and QB favorite so could be worse. I believe Tee if he wants to stay with the Bengals will probably have to choose to do what Burrow and presumably Chase won't do and is push money back in the contract and shoulder more risk. Which oddly enough is what the franchise tag forces the player to do. Him playing on the tag compensates equal or more than market he just doesn't get the multi guarantee but he wouldn't get that IF he does what Joe suggests.

Him playing on the tag again gives him more than Pittman and Devonta Smith in the same time period. Again, who gives a shit? You? Fine.