2020 Free Agents

[TheBurn]

Cory Littleton, LB, Rams
...gimme this and a 2nd round OL and I'll see it as a good start

[TheBurn]

PFF Free Agency Preview

CINCINNATI BENGALS

Projected cap space: $44.7 million

Players to target: CB Byron Jones, G Joe Thuney, TE Hunter Henry

Soon-to-be unrestricted free agents: WR A.J. Green, DI Andrew Billings, CB Darqueze Dennard, TE Tyler Eifert, S Clayton Fejedelem, T John Jerry, LB Nick Vigil

Potential cuts: T Cordy Glenn (saves $9.5 million in 2020), CB Dre Kirkpatrick (saves $8.4 million in 2020), QB Andy Dalton (saves $17.7 million in 2020)

Since Cincinnati didn’t trade wide receiver A.J. Green at the in-season deadline, it’d be hard to imagine them letting him walk in free agency. A long-term deal or the franchise tag is destined to happen. He hasn’t stepped on the field since Week 13 of 2018, but we have to recognize how great of a player Green is when healthy. Even with not playing the past year and a half, Green still ranks fourth in deep receiving yards (20-plus yard targets) and is tied for first in deep touchdowns since coming into the league in 2011. He’s exactly who Joe Burrow needs, and he should be a priority for Cincinnati this offseason. Cordy Glenn and Dre Kirkpatrick both had limited time on the field in their 2019 seasons due to injury, and if Cincinnati is serious about winning immediately, they would cut both to bring in an extra $18 million to make some plays. In two of the past three seasons, Darqueze Dennard has been one of the top 10 slot corners in PFF coverage grade. Cincinnati can bring him back for a low cost and form a nice secondary with him, William Jackson III, Darius Phillips and, perhaps, Byron Jones to replace Kirkpatrick. Among all 32 NFL teams, the Bengals' offensive guards were 30th in overall grade and 31st in pass-protection, where they lost more than any team. Signing Joe Thuney, who owns the third best two-year pass-blocking grade at the position, would certainly help.

[Joe Bananas]

A lot of sites have been saying 60 plus million, this site says 40 plus and Hobson has us has -$1.50.

Either way I'd love to see a top guard signed and a top LB.

[4256 Hits]

A lot of sites have been saying 60 plus million, this site says 40 plus and Hobson has us has -$1.50.

Either way I'd love to see a top guard signed and a top LB.

I think the difference from 60 to 45 could be the cap space the draft picks take. Cutting/trading Dre, Glenn and Dalton would get them into the 100 million range. Lots of money to fix some of their many problems.

[Mag]

I don't see Brees, or Brady going anywhere. Honestly I don't think we'll get anything for Dalton except maybe a compensation pick but basically nothing. I do hope we keep Green. I know he's getting older but if we are planning on taking Burrows, which we all think we are, then it would be nice to have a guy like Green as a weapon for him. First reaction haven't really dug into the list yet.

Only way to get a compensatory pick is to keep him on the roster and let him walk next year.

[Mag]

Joe Tuney seems to be connected to us quite a bit. He's from Dayton. Unfortunately I don't think he'd be a good fit in the eyes of the team. He's going to command the highest salary for interior OL, and the Bengals don't value guards that highly. Also, Turner likes his interior guys bigger. Tuney is listed at about 285.

An interesting option could be Germain Ifedi, OT Seattle. He's an UFA, and played for Turner at A&M. He's struggled for the most part, but has flashed his first round talent at times, way more than fellow alum Ogbuehi. He's still young (25), and should be a bargain. It's one of those low risk high reward reclamation projects that the Bengals used to do and got lucky on (Nelson, Pacman, Benson), but have not tried again in some time.

Eli Apple would also be another reclamation project worth trying. Played for Anarumo in NY, though had some attitude issues that ended up getting him traded to NO.

Speaking of CB, this seems to be a deep FA class. Should be able to find good value. There are several former first rounders in their 20s like Apple, Byron Jones, Bradley Roby, Artie Burns, Trae Waynes, and Jason Varrett. Then there are a few solid young guys drafted later like Kendall Fuller and Breshawn Breeland. Plenty of other older households names like Talib, Rogers-Cromartie, Jonathan Joseph, and AJ Bouye are expected to be available.

Sportrac lists the Bengals at $47 mil in cap. Say 17 mil goes to the rookie pool and the team's "emergency fund". That's $30 mill left. Cut/ trade Dalton (17.7), Glenn (9.5), and Dre (9) and you're up to $66 mil. The team will likely tag or re-sign AJ at $18. Now we're down to $48. Now will we see extensions to Jackson and or Mixon? They are currently making $9.9 and $1.7 respectively, so extensions would likely be $6 and $10. That leaves us with $32. Now what do we do with Vigil, Eifert, Dennard, Billings, Fejedelem? In any case, we should have about $25-30 mil for outside FAs if we make the above moves. What we do with those moves is anyone's guess.

[skycruiser]

is it bad that i always start reading these lists from the bottom up since we'd be lucky to get someone that's even on this list?

Dehner said recently that the problem with the Bengals FA approach is guarenteed money. they simply won't give someone more than 20M guarenteed up front. since the market has moved in that direction it's what's left us picking up scraps. makes sense.

but, they need to sell tickets. it's the only motivator to the couple of resets they've done since 2001. we'll see how serious they are about wanting butts in seats

[Mag]

is it bad that i always start reading these lists from the bottom up since we'd be lucky to get someone that's even on this list?

Dehner said recently that the problem with the Bengals FA approach is guarenteed money. they simply won't give someone more than 20M guarenteed up front. since the market has moved in that direction it's what's left us picking up scraps. makes sense.

but, they need to sell tickets. it's the only motivator to the couple of resets they've done since 2001. we'll see how serious they are about wanting butts in seats

Another problem is they don't want to sacrifice compensatory picks. Signing too many outside guys too early takes that away.

[4256 Hits]

They couldn't win any big games when he was on his rookie contract they sure are not going to win with him taking up this much cap space. This would kill the teams chances of winning the super bowl just like when Balt gave that huge contract to Flaco.

The report doesn’t put it the way the above headline does, but when considering the value of contracts at the time the contracts are signed, that’s the clear implication.

Via Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News, the Cowboys have offered quarterback Dak Prescott a contract with an average value of $33 million per year. Because Prescott currently has no contract, the so-called “new money” value of any deal he accepts will match the more practical assessment of a new contract: What that new contract is worth, from the moment it’s signed.

For Prescott, both numbers under the reported offer would be $33 million. For Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson‘s most recent deal, currently the richest in league history, the new money was $35 million per year. The total value at signing was $31.4 million per year.

Of course, the more important number comes from the amount of money that is truly and fully guaranteed at signing. Per Watkins, the offer to Prescott carries $105 million in guaranteed money generally. Which says nothing about signing bonus or other fully-guaranteed payments at the time the deal is signed.

Wilson has $107 million guaranteed in his deal, $70 million of which was guaranteed at signing. For Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the general guarantee was lower ($98.7 million), but the full guarantee at signing was higher ($79.2 million).

For Prescott’s deal, the devil will reside in details like signing bonus and fully-guaranteed salaries and fully-guaranteed roster bonuses and other fully-guaranteed payments. Regardless, an average value of $33 million would put him at the top of the all-time contractual stack.

Until Patrick Mahomes signs his new contract, of course.

Cowboys reportedly offer Dak Prescott richest contract in league history originally appeared on Pro Football Talk

[skycruiser]

free agency is going to be lit this year. can't wait to see how the QB situations shake out. hopefully we can get a 2nd or 3rd for dalton!