Bengals extend Chase (4 yrs $161mill) AND Higgins (4 yrs $115mill)

[FireChans]

18 minutes ago, Alphadawg7 said:

You mean the season where the Eagles had the best defense, top OL, and one of the greatest RB seasons of all time?  The regular season where AJ Brown and Smith has their worst seasons as Eagles and only combined for just 1900 yards despite their massive contracts?  
 

That regular season? 

Okay fine, I’ll go as high as a 6th rounder for Devonta and AJ. 
 

Then the Eagles can focus on more important things.

[finn]

41 minutes ago, Einstein's Dog said:

Or unfortunately we may have to ding Beane a little.  I'm a little jealous of what Burrow has compared to Josh at WR.  But Beane had a chance/choice with the DK Metcalf sweepstakes and did not pony up (yes, I'm still a little bummed about that).

Agree. If the Bills don't win a Super Bowl in the Allen era, we'll be rueing all the chances Beane had and didn't take, or the chances he took but that blew up, like going all-in on the 33-year old Von Miller. The good news is that there is still time. Allen is doing more with less than his peers. If you give him what Mahomes had and Jackson and Burrows have, he'll do the rest. 

[FireChans]

24 minutes ago, Rigotz said:

 

I'm not sure if you're following what's happening to the Eagles this offseason, but they're losing the majority of their good trench players because of the contracts you mentioned to skill position players.

 

2025 will be the season we find out how those contracts work for them.

AJ Brown and Devonta Smith combined have a lower cap hit in 2025 than Dawson Knox and Matt Milano combined.

[The Tomcat]

3 minutes ago, FireChans said:

AJ Brown and Devonta Smith combined have a lower cap hit in 2025 than Dawson Knox and Matt Milano combined.

Yikes

 

[FireChans]

Just now, The Tomcat said:

Yikes

 

That’s just our resident wizard (tm) at work.

[Florida Bills Fanatic]

Obviously, this salary imbalance impacts the rest of their roster.  When they re-signed Cody Ford, it told me everything I needed to know.   Bad defense and a very poor o-line is not a formula to win championships.  They will battle Cleveland and Pittsburgh for fourth place in their division.  Ravens fans should feel very comfortable today.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

Just now, Florida Bills Fanatic said:

Obviously, this salary imbalance impacts the rest of their roster.  When they re-signed Cody Ford, it told me everything I needed to know.   Bad defense and a very poor o-line is not a formula to win championships.  They will battle Cleveland and Pittsburgh for fourth place in their division.  Ravens fans should feel very comfortable today.

 

They have literally done nothing to improve on a bad defense, a line that doesn't protect well, or a bad running attack.  They have 6 picks.  

 

The 3 players they pay all this money to... were on the team last year that went 9-8 and missed the playoffs, and their pay indicates they are among the best at their positions.  Free agency doesn't fix all of your problems, but what's the point of cap space... and making cap space with extensions... if you don't use any of the cap space to improve your roster?  

[ColoradoBills]

Bengals have 6 picks this draft.  All in the 17th pick range.  With that few picks they won't be able to move around so it will be

the luck of the draw for them getting OL/DL/DBs.

 

They have work to do.  

[Einstein's Dog]

9 minutes ago, finn said:

Agree. If the Bills don't win a Super Bowl in the Allen era, we'll be rueing all the chances Beane had and didn't take, or the chances he took but that blew up, like going all-in on the 33-year old Von Miller. The good news is that there is still time. Allen is doing more with less than his peers. If you give him what Mahomes had and Jackson and Burrows have, he'll do the rest. 

I'm starting to dislike the allocation of money strategy.  The FO seems to be moving toward a cheaper WR room.  I thought the FO was under the solid strategy of investing money in top QB/LT/WR1/DE/CB.  If you haven't drafted and extended those positions, you buy them in FA.

 

I had no problems with the shots at Diggs and Von - they were needed IMO.  Now that both had run their course, I wanted to reload with fresh attempts at both.  Bosa is okay, Garrett and Crosby seem to have never been really available.  But Palmer as WR1 is a let down.

 

While you say there is still time, the 2025 FA WR market is really bare at this time.  Now for veterans it's down to A Cooper/Diggs/D Johnson/K Allen.

[Augie]

12 hours ago, Another Fan said:

Wow.  I always thought they had a prior reputation as being a cheap franchise 

 

They paid a QB and 2 WR’s. They will cheap out on guys who do stuff like blocking and tackling…..and all the other football stuff. You can’t pay everybody top dollar. If they had done it sooner they could have had the same stuff a lot cheaper. Poorly played IMO, but at least they are not the Browns. 

[Billl]

10 minutes ago, Bleeding Bills Blue said:

 

They have literally done nothing to improve on a bad defense, a line that doesn't protect well, or a bad running attack.  They have 6 picks.  

 

The 3 players they pay all this money to... were on the team last year that went 9-8 and missed the playoffs, and their pay indicates they are among the best at their positions.  Free agency doesn't fix all of your problems, but what's the point of cap space... and making cap space with extensions... if you don't use any of the cap space to improve your roster?  

So what would have been a better use of their cap space?  Rousseau and Bernard got a combined $32 million a year. Add in Ogunjobi and Hoecht, and you’re at nearly $50 million.  Palmer and Shakir bring you essentially even with what Cincy just spend for Chase and Higgins.  

 

Who would you rather have?  Chase and Higgins or Palmer, Shakir Hoecht, Ogunjobi, Rousseau, and Bernard?  I’m probably going with Chase and Higgins and taking my chances trying to fill in gaps with draft picks and veteran minimum level FAs.

[4merper4mer]

12 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

Bengals will score 30 a game and also give up 30 a game.

0-0-17

 

Might make the playoffs.

[eball]

According to Spotrac those three contracts consume 34% of the Bungles' cap for the upcoming season.  With Hendrickson it goes over 40%.

 

Interesting to see how this plays out for a non-playoff team.

 

[SoonerBillsFan]

58 minutes ago, Florida Bills Fanatic said:

Obviously, this salary imbalance impacts the rest of their roster.  When they re-signed Cody Ford, it told me everything I needed to know.   Bad defense and a very poor o-line is not a formula to win championships.  They will battle Cleveland and Pittsburgh for fourth place in their division.  Ravens fans should feel very comfortable today.

Mike Brown doesn't give a damn about winning.  These guys put butt's in the seats, and thats all he cares about.

30 minutes ago, Billl said:

So what would have been a better use of their cap space?  Rousseau and Bernard got a combined $32 million a year. Add in Ogunjobi and Hoecht, and you’re at nearly $50 million.  Palmer and Shakir bring you essentially even with what Cincy just spend for Chase and Higgins.  

 

Who would you rather have?  Chase and Higgins or Palmer, Shakir Hoecht, Ogunjobi, Rousseau, and Bernard?  I’m probably going with Chase and Higgins and taking my chances trying to fill in gaps with draft picks and veteran minimum level FAs.

We won the AFCE, had the MVP, and played in the AFCCG.  The Bengals will be drafting top 10-15 for years to come and still suck. 

[What a Tuel]

44 minutes ago, FireChans said:

AJ Brown and Devonta Smith combined have a lower cap hit in 2025 than Dawson Knox and Matt Milano combined.

 

Why wouldn't you combine two like positions?

 

Philly - 

WR 32MM 11.5% of cap

TE 16MM 5.8% of CAP

Total 48MM and 17.3% of CAP 

Total Production: 3,088 yards 22 TDs

 

Buffalo - 

WR 21MM 7.7% of cap

TE 16MM 7.3% of CAP

Total 37MM and 15% of CAP

Total Production 3,207 yards 22 TDs

 

Do we need more production out of Knox for his cap hit? For sure although he does do non stat related assignments. We also need a #1 WR.

 

However Beane is actually more efficient than the Eagles in terms of cap utilization and production for the position group.

 

[gjv]

13 hours ago, Low Positive said:

I live in Cincinnati and have to live with their smug fans. Ever since they got Burrow, they have this "us against the world" attitude. I was hoping that Mike Brown's finances would finally break that up, but instead I have to listen to Duke Tobin's "get your own" crap for years to come. Remember that "get your refunds" BS? I hate Burrow's smug baby face on every billboard in town. Did you know that he's "not just your average Joe?" Because Kroger tells you that from every highway in town. I hate that every person in town walks around in ugly orange shirts with tiger stripes. 

Perhaps you should move.

[FireChans]

1 minute ago, What a Tuel said:

 

Why wouldn't you combine two like positions?

 

Philly - 

WR 32MM 11.5% of cap

TE 16MM 5.8% of CAP

Total 48MM and 17.3% of CAP 

Total Production: 3,088 yards 22 TDs

 

Buffalo - 

WR 21MM 7.7% of cap

TE 16MM 7.3% of CAP

Total 37MM and 15% of CAP

Total Production 3,207 yards 22 TDs

 

Do we need more production out of Knox for his cap hit? For sure although he does do non stat related assignments. We also need a #1 WR.

 

However Beane is actually more efficient than the Eagles in terms of cap utilization and production for the position group.

 

I think the point is that their two stars that folks seem to be arguing are some combination of:

 

#1 not important

#2 overpaid

#3 cap flexibility killers

 

are really ultimately less expensive and clearly more valuable than Knox and Milano.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

1 minute ago, What a Tuel said:

 

Why wouldn't you combine two like positions?

 

Philly - 

WR 32MM 11.5% of cap

TE 16MM 5.8% of CAP

Total 48MM and 17.3% of CAP 

Total Production: 3,088 yards 22 TDs

 

Buffalo - 

WR 21MM 7.7% of cap

TE 16MM 7.3% of CAP

Total 37MM and 15% of CAP

Total Production 3,207 yards 22 TDs

 

Do we need more production out of Knox for his cap hit? For sure although he does do non stat related assignments. We also need a #1 WR.

 

However Beane is actually more efficient than the Eagles in terms of cap utilization and production for the position group.

 

 

Right on Knox - we haven't figured out how to use these guys to stretch the field enough. Another year in system though, so maybe a new wrinkle.  They also need to use these guys in the red zone more.  

 

His abilities to block are likely going to reflect positively when you look at the least sacked team in the league, and a top 10 rushing attack.  

[tigerthelion]

2 hours ago, Saint Doug said:

We can hate on the Bengals all we want, but the Bills haven’t beat them in over 5 years. 

I can agree with that.  They are a scary team for the Bills, whether they have a defense or offensive line or not.  

[SoTier]

1 hour ago, MJS said:

The Bengals weren't even a playoff team last year, and they still have the run it back at all cost mentality. Interesting.

 

IMO, these contracts were done to pacify the fan base.   They'll be excited by the long passes that will make the Bengals look like a playoff contender even if their record is only around .500.   It's the quintessential formula for "putting butts in the seats" by keeping/bringing in big names even if those aren't big name players aren't what the team needs.

 

If Mike Brown was serious about building another Super Bowl contending team, he would have extended Chase last year or right after the season rather than waiting around until the market went north of $40 million.  He would have paid Hendrickson early and let Higgins walk.  Then he would have had the money to upgrade the OL and the defense.