2022 Cincinnati Bengals

Would you rather win the division this year and host a playoff game (or more) or be a WC and go on the road but potentially set yourself up for an easier schedule next season by avoiding the other division winners?
 
Indiandad said:
Would you rather win the division this year and host a playoff game (or more) or be a WC and go on the road but potentially set yourself up for an easier schedule next season by avoiding the other division winners?
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Wow, that's a great question. I would tend to lean on a home game this year and worry about next year, next year.
 
LELL said:
Wow, that's a great question. I would tend to lean on a home game this year and worry about next year, next year.
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I definitely say win out this year and get at least a 2 seed to avoid playing in Buffalo in January. This team is built to win now (and the next couple of years).

I think they are capable of doing next year what they have done (so far) this year and beat the other division champs.
 
Looking at next season.... can the Bengals afford to keep Von Bell and Bates both?

They will need to extend Higgins and Burrow for sure but those two won't start costing alot for until 2024. I think Jonah Williams is under contract for 2023 already as a fifth year option player.

Awuzie, Mixon and Boyd could all be trade/cut candidates if they need cap space. Williams could be a trade candidate as well if they could find a way to move up in the draft to around the 10 spot and get a LT.


Just some thoughts as we wait for game day to get here.
 
Indiandad said:
Looking at next season.... can the Bengals afford to keep Von Bell and Bates both?

They will need to extend Higgins and Burrow for sure but those two won't start costing alot for until 2024. I think Jonah Williams is under contract for 2023 already as a fifth year option player.

Awuzie, Mixon and Boyd could all be trade/cut candidates if they need cap space. Williams could be a trade candidate as well if they could find a way to move up in the draft to around the 10 spot and get a LT.


Just some thoughts as we wait for game day to get here.
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They haven't been able to sign Bates for the last two years, I doubt they will be able to this off-season, which is why they drafted Hill. I would guess they'll re-sign Bell, but target a replacement in the draft.

They're #1 objective this off-season is to sign Burrow and then Higgins 2nd.

I've got no idea what their available cap space looks like, but I could see Mixon being a casualty. Pratt has also been belly-aching on Twitter regarding his current role and lack of time on 3rd down. Awuzie is coming off an ACL injury, so he may not be a hot commodity in the off-season. Boyd does seem to be the odd-man out in the WR trio, but maybe he takes a team friendly deal to stick around? No idea about Williams, and many seem to want to replace him, but can you find a better/more valuable replacement in free agency? And will any solid LTs be available that late in the 1st Round (not that the Bengals have drafted well on the OL in recent years)?
 
adselder09 said:
They haven't been able to sign Bates for the last two years, I doubt they will be able to this off-season, which is why they drafted Hill. I would guess they'll re-sign Bell, but target a replacement in the draft.

They're #1 objective this off-season is to sign Burrow and then Higgins 2nd.

I've got no idea what their available cap space looks like, but I could see Mixon being a casualty. Pratt has also been belly-aching on Twitter regarding his current role and lack of time on 3rd down. Awuzie is coming off an ACL injury, so he may not be a hot commodity in the off-season. Boyd does seem to be the odd-man out in the WR trio, but maybe he takes a team friendly deal to stick around? No idea about Williams, and many seem to want to replace him, but can you find a better/more valuable replacement in free agency? And will any solid LTs be available that late in the 1st Round (not that the Bengals have drafted well on the OL in recent years)?
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Yes about Burrow, let Higgins walk or trade him. Chiefs traded Hill and have not missed a beat. Get a Fort Knox oline and keep Annarumo at DC. NFL is about the QB, oline , and defense. Look at NE with Brady all those years, good oline, good QB and good defense.
 
Stirred not Shaken said:
Yes about Burrow, let Higgins walk or trade him. Chiefs traded Hill and have not missed a beat. Get a Fort Knox oline and keep Annarumo at DC. NFL is about the QB, oline , and defense. Look at NE with Brady all those years, good oline, good QB and good defense.
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The Chiefs also added veterans like MVS and Juju. Additionally, they're not nearly as explosive as they were with Hill. They might be better since they can't rely on him to bail them out on monster plays.

I'd be open to trading Higgins because I think he's a #1 on about 25 teams, so there would be a market for him. The Bengals will likely keep him though unless he demands to be paid as a top 10 WR.
 
Stirred not Shaken said:
Yes about Burrow, let Higgins walk or trade him. Chiefs traded Hill and have not missed a beat. Get a Fort Knox oline and keep Annarumo at DC. NFL is about the QB, oline , and defense. Look at NE with Brady all those years, good oline, good QB and good defense.
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The entire O line is under contract for next year. Are you thinking the Bengals should cut O lineman and eat the cap hit?

Annarumo is a coach. His salary does not factor into cap space.

Higgins is under contract for next season with a cap hit of $2.7M if they can get an extension done with him then do it.
 
adselder09 said:
I'd be open to trading Higgins because I think he's a #1 on about 25 teams, so there would be a market for him. The Bengals will likely keep him though unless he demands to be paid as a top 10 WR.
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Trying to follow the logic. You think he would be a #1 WR on about 25 teams. (I agree with you.) But then you say he doesn't deserve to be paid like a top 10 WR? If there are only 7 teams with better #1 WR, this logic does not make sense.

FWIW, here are the top 7 guys in my list: Kupp, D. Adams, J. Jefferson, T. Hill, Chase, Diggs, AJ Brown. I think Higgins is right around #8 to #10, with guys like McLaurin, St. Brown, Lamb.

Now if you are saying "Bengals cannot afford two top 10 WR salaries", then we can discuss that. But you made it sound like he would be making an unreasonable demand to be paid like a top 10. Seems reasonable to me.
 
wolves82 said:
Trying to follow the logic. You think he would be a #1 WR on about 25 teams. (I agree with you.) But then you say he doesn't deserve to be paid like a top 10 WR? If there are only 7 teams with better #1 WR, this logic does not make sense.

FWIW, here are the top 7 guys in my list: Kupp, D. Adams, J. Jefferson, T. Hill, Chase, Diggs, AJ Brown. I think Higgins is right around #8 to #10, with guys like McLaurin, St. Brown, Lamb.

Now if you are saying "Bengals cannot afford two top 10 WR salaries", then we can discuss that. But you made it sound like he would be making an unreasonable demand to be paid like a top 10. Seems reasonable to me.
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I'd love to have 2 top 10 receivers on the Bengals for the next 5 years. The Bengals can afford it if they choose.
 
wolves82 said:
Trying to follow the logic. You think he would be a #1 WR on about 25 teams. (I agree with you.) But then you say he doesn't deserve to be paid like a top 10 WR? If there are only 7 teams with better #1 WR, this logic does not make sense.

FWIW, here are the top 7 guys in my list: Kupp, D. Adams, J. Jefferson, T. Hill, Chase, Diggs, AJ Brown. I think Higgins is right around #8 to #10, with guys like McLaurin, St. Brown, Lamb.

Now if you are saying "Bengals cannot afford two top 10 WR salaries", then we can discuss that. But you made it sound like he would be making an unreasonable demand to be paid like a top 10. Seems reasonable to me.
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Your assumptions here are correct. I wasn't suggesting he shouldn't get paid as a #1 WR, but for the Bengals he isn't the #1 WR, even though he's had to be at times. And yes I don't think the Bengals can afford to tie up that much money between two WRs. Let's be honest, assuming the Bengals lock up JB with a lengthy extension this off-season - as they should - and the conversations turns to Higgins or Chase, they're keeping Chase. I would love to keep them both, but I just don't think it's feasible.
 
adselder09 said:
Your assumptions here are correct. I wasn't suggesting he shouldn't get paid as a #1 WR, but for the Bengals he isn't the #1 WR, even though he's had to be at times. And yes I don't think the Bengals can afford to tie up that much money between two WRs. Let's be honest, assuming the Bengals lock up JB with a lengthy extension this off-season - as they should - and the conversations turns to Higgins or Chase, they're keeping Chase. I would love to keep them both, but I just don't think it's feasible.
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I think if your team is lucky enough to have a top ten player at any position, you keep him. Having a top 3 QB and two top 10 WR is a pretty good recipe for success in today's NFL. You can save money elsewhere.
 
wolves82 said:
I think if your team is lucky enough to have a top ten player at any position, you keep him. Having a top 3 QB and two top 10 WR is a pretty good recipe for success in today's NFL. You can save money elsewhere.
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Like I said would love to keep all 3, but the WR pay scale jumped dramatically in the past 3-4 years and we know much money gets tied into the QBs. I'm hopeful JB would rather worry about winning then being the top paid QB, hopefully to save a little money to pay the likes of Chase and Higgins, but we will see.
 
adselder09 said:
Like I said would love to keep all 3, but the WR pay scale jumped dramatically in the past 3-4 years and we know much money gets tied into the QBs. I'm hopeful JB would rather worry about winning then being the top paid QB, hopefully to save a little money to pay the likes of Chase and Higgins, but we will see.
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Don’t forget, the salary cap keeps increasing every year
 
adselder09 said:
Like I said would love to keep all 3, but the WR pay scale jumped dramatically in the past 3-4 years and we know much money gets tied into the QBs. I'm hopeful JB would rather worry about winning then being the top paid QB, hopefully to save a little money to pay the likes of Chase and Higgins, but we will see.
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If Burrow takes less, fantastic! But if I'm not going to pay someone, it's Higgins. I don't think he is a top 10 receiver. He just doesn't get enough separation, so he needs a QB with elite accuracy. Burrow makes Higgins who he is.
 
adselder09 said:
Like I said would love to keep all 3, but the WR pay scale jumped dramatically in the past 3-4 years and we know much money gets tied into the QBs. I'm hopeful JB would rather worry about winning then being the top paid QB, hopefully to save a little money to pay the likes of Chase and Higgins, but we will see.
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It is a great thought, but as my friend who is a longtime Bengals fan pointed out, there has to be some assurance that any money Burrow leaves on the table is spent on other talent. Don't leave money on the table only to have it stay in the Brown Family's pockets.
 
The Bengals can resign Burrow after this season and Chase after the 2023 season. Higgins is a very good wr but I don’t know about Top 10. The Bengals will have Burrow & then Chase to resign over the next two years, I think Higgins may cost too much to keep as well.

Here is the cap hit over the next couple of seasons for Mahomes, Watson & Adams. Burrow & will cost more.

KC Patrick Mahomes:
* 2022 - $35.7 of $208 mil = 17.16% of cap
* 2023 - $46.7 of $220 mil (projected) = 21.23%
* 2024 - $44.2 of $240 mil (projected) = 18.42%

Cle Deshawn Watson
* 2022 - $9.3 of $208 mil = 4.42% of cap
* 2023 - $54.9 of $220 mil (projected) = 24.95%
* 2024 - $54.9 of $240 mil (projected) = 22.88%

LV Davante Adams
* 2022 - $12.1 of $208 mil = 5.82 % of cap
* 2023 - $14.5 of $220 mil (projected) = 6.60%
* 2024 - $25.9 of $240 mil (projected) = 10.79%
 
The Bengals have done a much better job of manipulating the cap the last several years and as long as they keep Burrow and Chase and a decent O-line they will be in the mix every year. Tee is an excellent Robin to Chases Batman but this is a business at the end of the day. I’m just enjoying this year and next year when they will still all be Bengals. The NFL is all about having an elite QB and as long as Joe B is in Cincy and stays healthy they will win more than they lose
 
Tyler Boyd has a cap hit of 10.3M next season. He should bring a 2nd or 3rd round pick in a trade. Joe Mixon has a cap hit of 12M next season. He could yield a decent draft pick as well.

I would rather draft a RB and 3rd receiver and sign Higgins without really impacting the cap at all.

There are a few deals they could rework to free up money for Bates as well and there will still be cap room left for Burrow.
 
Higgins is under contract for next year.
Bengals have $50mill under CAP for next year; if they don't sign Bates it is because they don't think he is worth it. IMHO wouldn't be the first time Bengals let a good player walk.
 
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