sparky151

Boyd is a vet now

There will be. The LB tag numbers are getting ridiculous as they are set by 3-4 edge rushers. Bears have 3 LBs heading to free agency who are better than anyone we have. Danny Trevathan is getting older but Kevin Pierre-Louis or Nick Kwiatkowski aren't. Browns don't seem to want Joe Schobert back. Rams want Corey Littleton back but are cap strapped. Etc.

I'm fine with using a 2nd or 3rd round pick on a WR. This is a deep class. We won't be picking up the 5th year option on Ross for 15 mil so this is probably his last year here. But we also shouldn't expect a rookie WR to replace a healthy AJ Green. The vet free agents are no great shakes. Thomas is broken down now.

Good question. Yes, AJ should have to both pass a physical and do a workout before he is extended. Ideally before he is tagged but teams generally can't call players in during the offseason for things like that.

Huh? Various broadcasters and commentators said overturning OSU's fumble return for a TD was incorrect. Including the former officials who consult for NBC and Fox. I'd say the game turning targeting call was also incorrect though that's more controversial.

Tags haven't been announced but this should be a decent year for O-linemen in free agency. At least for players who are better than the Bengals current starters. It's a good tackle class in the draft too. The draft is thin at LB but free agency is also deep. Assuming they tag Green, they can negotiate an extension with lower cap number than the tag amount. An extension for WJ3 is also in order and should have a lower number than his 5th year tender. Mixon deserves an extension and might get 8-9 mil per year. The team starts about 50 mil under the cap and the draft class will cost about 12 mil. They can easily clear another 40 mil by trading or cutting some guys like Dalton, Glenn, Hart, Kirkpatrick, etc. The team doesn't have any must-sign free agents. We're likely to re-sign Dennard and Billings, maybe Eifert. Beyond that we should hope for 2 free agent LBs and 1 O-lineman. Maybe a CB too. Bengals have plenty of cap space to accomplish this but I have considerable doubts they will manage to get it done. At a minimum, they need to upgrade the O-line before the draft and that might be within their competence. But these are the people who watched Bobby Hart try to play in 2018 and decided he needed a large raise.

OSU fans aren't complaining about Clemson's big plays. They are complaining about the officials who are supposed to be neutral. In that game they weren't and cost OSU at least 7 points in a game decided by 6. Furthermore, the officals on the field made correct calls and the replay guy from the SEC overturned them into wrong calls. If the refs with the benefit of slow mo and multiple camera angles get it wrong, what can you do but complain?

Assuming we're drafting Burrow, the focus of this offseason should be on making sure his career gets off to a good start. Having a healthy AJ Green would make that a lot easier. So, at a minimum, tag AJ and keep him for 2020. I'd offer him a 5 year deal for a stated value of 90 mil but with only about a 10 mil signing bonus and only the first year guaranteed. It would also be backloaded, and pay as you go so the team could get out of it after each season without great difficulty. Base salaries would be veteran minimum with the rest of the annual pay based on per game roster bonuses. So if AJ is healthy and productive, he'll see the whole 90 mil. If not, he'll get paid a lot less. Green's agent might not like that structure, but it's an above market rate for an often injured player who seems to be in decline.

Hard hitting safeties aren't hard to find. Raiders are shopping Karl Joseph for instance. It's finding guys who hit hard without drawing flags and who can also play good pass defense that's hard.

Well, that was the problem in that game. The on-field refs were correct on a couple of the biggest calls that went against OSU and the replay guy buzzed in and changed them to wrong ones.

Yep. I actually agree that OSU got screwed by the refs vs Clemson, and I was tired of him.

Burrow played at a much higher level vs better competition than Manning or Luck faced in college. Apart from his huge numbers, he faced and beat 7 top 10 teams and carried his team to the national title. So it's entirely reasonable to consider him a better prospect than the other 2. Aren't you late for mah jong at Billy Price's?

No, in fact they will generally act in a more intelligent manner than the Bengals will. AJ Green is well past his prime and isn't going to get Amari Cooper or Mike Thomas money on the open market. Especially when this year's WR draft class is so deep. A team signing Green to a multi-year deal would have to be highly confident his health issues were behind him. There is no reason to think that, indeed strong evidence that proposition isn't true.

But Green isn't worth as much to any other team as the Bengals. The tag is about 18 mil and he wouldn't get that on the open market from anyone including the Bengals. If he really wants to finish his career here and wants a multi-year deal, then something like 4 years 60 mil with 15 mil in signing bonus, low annual salaries with most of the yearly payout in per game active roster bonuses is the way to go. Green and his agent can hardly object to being paid for availability when he's missed 23 of his team's last 32 games.

Yes, they did that after the Steve Hutchinson imbroglio.