Bengals will be the team to beat for years to come

[LEBills]

Nah, right now Burrow, Chase and Higgins are cheap. Once they all require mega deals they will be broken up because Mike Brown is cheap. Also good chance they start losing good coordinators like we did. They got another 2-3 years max of this. They will always be good with Burrow tho

[GolfandBills]

1 hour ago, Niagara Dude said:

No team in the ACF is in a better situation than the Bengals,  so many star elite players on rookie deals and they have hit on many of their picks .  The biggest thing is the Bengals have a projected 43million in cap space for next season.  The Bills are negative cap space and have many holes,  not a great situation after they beat us in Buffalo.

They won’t be on rookie contracts for long.  

[Gunsgoodtime]

38 minutes ago, Drew21PA said:

Could’ve been us…

 

hare to say it but I’m thinking Miami takes over the reigns next season with the right FA moves at QB

 

 

You are not alone.  I feel like we regress next year and will be fighting to stay out of the bottom of the Afce.  Beane has put us in a terrible place with poor drafting and drafting 3 defensive player for every offensive pick.  Not only that, he failed on those picks too.  Here we are, looking at a garbage OL, no good reciever outside of Diggs, and a trash defensive line that Beane used most our capital on.  Poyer likely gone, and I have no faith in this regime to draft or sign offense

[CincyBillsFan]

1 hour ago, Buddo said:

They will be decent because of Burrow, much like the Bills will be decent because of Allen.

 

The difference will come out eventually, and that will be with Ownership.

 

The Pegulas will pay players, coaches etc. whereas Mike Brown won't, to the same extent.

 

It isn't just a matter of cap space, it's also about being able to afford the players guarantees, which have to be put into escrow, when deals are done.

I agree with most of this but I think there are two factors you neglect here:

 

1)  Mike Brown is not running the team his daughter and son in law are.  And while the Browns don't have the financial strength of some of the other owners the current ownership will pay players and coaches.  This Bengals team really isn't your fathers Bengals team.

 

2)  By selecting an offensive minded head coach and throwing the bulk of their draft capital and FA money at the offense the Bengals are ahead of the Bills in strategically doing what needs to be done to excel in the NFL at the highest level.  If the Bills stubbornly refuse to get with the times they will continue to struggle to beat the truly elite teams late in the playoffs.

 

 

[NORWOODS FOOT]

Yes, the gap was painfully obvious yesterday. That and Joe B is looking like the next you-know-who quarterback. His combo of talent, smarts, and killer instinct is (in my humble opinion) the best in the NFL. Others are better than him in some facets of the game, but to me he has the best overall package. And I know that's saying a lot (Mahomes, Allen, I know....)

 

And no, this is not recency bias. I'm a long time Ohio State fan and have watched him since HS. Teammates (OSU RB Mike Weber, specifically) predicted this. 

 

Add to Burrow's profile the fact that the Bengals (!) have put the seemingly perfect staff and players around him... Going to be VERY hard to beat him going forward. 

Edited January 23, 2023 by NORWOODS FOOT

[Franco_92]

It's always in vogue to be the ascending team. That's why we yearn for 2020. 

 

Cinci's ownership makes them uniquely ill-suited to handle the second contracts of a lot of these players. 

 

There are going to be new threats, new risers, but through all of that the teams with Burrow, Allen and Mahomes will always be among the most likely to win it all. 

[78thealltimegreat]

2 hours ago, Niagara Dude said:

No team in the ACF is in a better situation than the Bengals,  so many star elite players on rookie deals and they have hit on many of their picks .  The biggest thing is the Bengals have a projected 43million in cap space for next season.  The Bills are negative cap space and have many holes,  not a great situation after they beat us in Buffalo.

Burrow is due for a contract extension soon want to see 50 million plus of that cap space disappear? You just did. 

[Nextmanup]

3 hours ago, Niagara Dude said:

No team in the ACF is in a better situation than the Bengals,  so many star elite players on rookie deals and they have hit on many of their picks .  The biggest thing is the Bengals have a projected 43million in cap space for next season.  The Bills are negative cap space and have many holes,  not a great situation after they beat us in Buffalo.

And their QB is as good as anyone and plays a very low key, easily repeatable, style of football.

 

He reminds me of a young Tom Brady.  He's more intellectual than physical in his play, and he can throw the ball where he wants it to go, pretty much all the time.

 

 

2 hours ago, thenorthremembers said:

This year and next year for sure.  But this offseason they will need to pay Burrow, which means the 1st year of his large deal would start in 2024 and they also need to pay Jonah Williams, DJ Reader, Tyler Boyd, Chidobe Awuzie, and Tee Higgins in 2024.   They will eventually run into the same issues the Chiefs and Bills currently have in paying people.  

The OP didn't suggest they won't eventually run into problems. Everyone will.

 

But they are setup well right now.  Our "cheap Allen" window is closing and we didn't get it done.

 

 

[34-78-83]

change the word "the" to "a" in the thread title and you have full accuracy.

[Goin Breakdown]

2 hours ago, Big Blitz said:

Lol if Huntley holds on to the ball they don’t even win a playoff game this year.  

Ugh and yet the night Buffalo Bills couldn't do what Huntley and the ravens could....well couldn't, but came a lot damn closer that we did. Sorry I'm not a happy fan. 

[benderbender]

That’s insulting to all 31 other NFL teams. Just because we pissed down our legs in front of our long suffering fans, on our own home dirt, in front of a teammate who was barely 3 weeks stolen from his ride to the pearly gates, doesn’t mean any other NFL team would have actually had the gaul to give themselves permission to have done that. Hell, even Jacksonville gave the Chiefs a scare and they were outclassed from jump street. 

[Livinginthepast]

The Bengals have to win the SB to become dominant. KC did it and this has propelled to be perennial powerhouses with Mahomes.  In addition, Burrow has already ripped up his knee once. If the Bengals are unlucky that could happen again and that will surely end the chances.  

[Caesar]

2 hours ago, thenorthremembers said:

This year and next year for sure.  But this offseason they will need to pay Burrow, which means the 1st year of his large deal would start in 2024 and they also need to pay Jonah Williams, DJ Reader, Tyler Boyd, Chidobe Awuzie, and Tee Higgins in 2024.   They will eventually run into the same issues the Chiefs and Bills currently have in paying people.  

 

2 hours ago, FrenchConnection said:

And Mike Brown has no other source of income other than the team. He owns no businesses and his father was a football coach.

 

1 hour ago, Donuts and Doritos said:

Burrow & Tee Higgins in same draft class, Chase a year or 2 later. That's gonna get awful expensive awful soon. We'll see who they can afford to keep & how they do w/ no $. But yeah until then they are the team to beat. They will beat KC.

 

 

1 hour ago, LEBills said:

Nah, right now Burrow, Chase and Higgins are cheap. Once they all require mega deals they will be broken up because Mike Brown is cheap. Also good chance they start losing good coordinators like we did. They got another 2-3 years max of this. They will always be good with Burrow tho

 

1 hour ago, GolfandBills said:

They won’t be on rookie contracts for long.  

 

5 minutes ago, 78thealltimegreat said:

Burrow is due for a contract extension soon want to see 50 million plus of that cap space disappear? You just did. 

Couple things. 

1.  Bengals will have enough money to sign who they want. Mike Brown is not pulling the strings anymore.  The Bengals have been very active in free agency the last couple of years.  The narrative that the Bengals won't/can't spend money is not as limiting as it once was, we will always have issues with the guaranteed escrow requirements.

2.  Bengals will attempt to extend Burrow and Tee immediately after this season.  Burrow's high salary will most likely not have a major impact until 2026.  The goal is to sign Burrow to a Mahomes-like longterm contract with rolling guarantees, perhaps a 10 yr, $500M deal which would make him the highest paid, but also limit the required escrow, and spread prorated payments every season.

3.  If Burrow agrees to the Mahomes-like deal, the Bengals would be able to keep the team together much easier.

4.  I expect the Bengals to lose Bates and most likely Pratt after this season.
 

[SCBills]

Bengals are in a great spot for next year, but then it gets real dicey for them.  
 

Chiefs are set up well, but Kelce is going to be 34.. outside of Mahomes, he is the focal point of their offense and why they are so difficult to defend.  
 

This off-season is massive for Beane.  If he just runs it back, minor moves here and there, he better smoke his draft. 
 

Im sure our offense will be much more talented next year, even if it’s just an upgrade at 1 OL position and a legit WR2 to push Gabe down to WR3, but the defense is going to be very dependent upon the return from injury of Von, Tre and Hyde. 

[The Jokeman]

1 hour ago, zow2 said:

It’s easy to say that about Cincinnati but let’s face it, this is the NFL, rarely do things go according to plan, or what’s on paper.  I think Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cleveland will be aiming their guns squarely at the Bengals and it won’t be easy.  What KC has done in recent years with their string of AFC Championship games is remarkable. 

KC is like the Patriots in that their division rivals aren't competitive which allows them to get wins abounds. I'll admits Mahomes is the best QB in the NFL too but his lack of wins against the Bengals and Bills in the regular season the last few seasons gives me pause. As Reid was great at leading Eagles to conference champion games too.

 

The Bengals will be in trouble if Higgins and Boyd want to get paid and if their DTs leave in UFA or Hubbard gets a top deal elsewhere. 

Edited January 24, 2023 by The Jokeman

[BillzFreak]

2 minutes ago, Caesar said:

 

 

 

 

 

Couple things. 

1.  Bengals will have enough money to sign who they want. Mike Brown is not pulling the strings anymore.  The Bengals have been very active in free agency the last couple of years.  The narrative that the Bengals won't/can't spend money is not as limiting as it once was, we will always have issues with the guaranteed escrow requirements.

2.  Bengals will attempt to extend Burrow and Tee immediately after this season.  Burrow's high salary will most likely not have a major impact until 2026.  The goal is to sign Burrow to a Mahomes-like longterm contract with rolling guarantees, perhaps a 10 yr, $500M deal which would make him the highest paid, but also limit the required escrow, and spread prorated payments every season.

3.  If Burrow agrees to the Mahomes-like deal, the Bengals would be able to keep the team together much easier.

4.  I expect the Bengals to lose Bates and most likely Pratt after this season.
 

That's life in the NFL players talk about keeping the core together untill one of them is offered less then what they think they deserve, then that whole I don't want to leave this place talk dies down real quick. I'm not saying the Bengals won't be able to resign all those guys but you can't ever bank on it happening. 

[buffblue]

2 hours ago, H2o said:

The Bengals won't win it all. They will either lose this week to the Chiefs or in the SB to the Eagles/Niners. Watch. 

They are almost definitely going to beat the Chiefs. The Bengals are a much better team top to bottom than KC imo

[ArtVandalay]

The Bengals had a 1 win season, took Burrow, surpassed the Bills all within the time frame the Bills were competing with Allen in the playoffs. 

 

McDermott has to go. 

[Caesar]

11 minutes ago, The Jokeman said:

KC is like the Patriots in that their division rivals aren't competitive which allows them to get wins abounds. I'll admits Mahomes is the best QB in the NFL too but his lack of wins against the Bengals and Bills in the regular season the last few seasons gives me pause. As Reid was great at leading Eagles to conference champion games too.

 

The Bengals will be in trouble if Higgins and Boyd want to get paid and if their DTs leave in UFA or Hubbard gets a top deal elsewhere. 

Higgins is the biggest question mark, Boyd will not get a big contract.  Reader signed thru next season and Hill thru 2024.  Hubbard is never leaving Cincy, born in Cincy, went to OSU, guy will be the Mayor one day.

 

7 minutes ago, BillzFreak said:

That's life in the NFL players talk about keeping the core together untill one of them is offered less then what they think they deserve, then that whole I don't want to leave this place talk dies down real quick. I'm not saying the Bengals won't be able to resign all those guys but you can't ever bank on it happening. 

I dont expect it to happen 100%, I am glad we are trying.  Tee will be the most questionable, he has a very tough agent and he may want to be a #1 elsewhere.  Tee is extremely close with the other WRs and a bit of an introvert, he may stay for the "family aspect", but that is a long shot, better chance we pay him large or tag him.  Jamar has already said he is never leaving Joe, they are "bread & butter".  

We are in pretty good shape cap wise with a relatively young roster.

Edited January 24, 2023 by Caesar

[BullBuchanan]

The Bengals aren't built to win a championship yet either. They have too many leaks in their OLine and secondary. They just made us look like chumps because McDermott sets himself up for that and Taylor had a major coaching advantage. They lose that advantage against Reid, Shanahan and maybe even Siriani too. Every team left in the playoffs is better than the Bengals.

The NFC will probably smoke whoever goes from the AFC.