TE Offseason 2023

[MichaelWeston]

Foster Moreau played with Burrow at LSU. I honestly had no idea. He is just 26 and ascending. His spot is open now in Las Vegas but maybe he would come here. Would take some cash but IMO if you can solve issues in free agency with young guys do it, we don't have unlimited draft picks. 

[IKOTA]

Not sure why TE is such a huge priority. I wouldn’t allocate more than 3-4mil for that position as it’s the 4th option on this team at best. Maybe even 5th option. IMO Moreau will command close to 7-8mil / yr and that’s not something I see the Bengals doing. 
 

Draft a TE of the future in Rd 2 or 3, sign a vet for cheap, that position is settled. No splash needs to be made. 

[Lawshark13]

Hurst deal details: https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/allbengals-insiders-plus/hayden-hurst-contract-details-with-carolina-panthers-revealed

 

3 year deal...$21.75M...with $13M guaranteed...after he played for $3.47M last year. 

 

I liked Hurst and it would have been nice to keep him...but there is no way we should be putting that much money into Hurst at his age, production, etc. as detailed earlier in this thread.  They should very much be able to find a replacement that is not a drop off for significantly less...

[Jamie_B]

Just now, Lawshark13 said:

Hurst deal details: https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/allbengals-insiders-plus/hayden-hurst-contract-details-with-carolina-panthers-revealed

 

3 year deal...$21.75M...with $13M guaranteed...after he played for $3.47M last year. 

 

I liked Hurst and it would have been nice to keep him...but there is no way we should be putting that much money into Hurst at his age, production, etc. as detailed earlier in this thread.  They should very much be able to find a replacement that is not a drop off for significantly less...

 

 

And almost everyone on here agreed that we would like to keep him IF the deal was team friendly.

 

Good for Hayden, but that is not a deal that we should have done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So who's going to bitch about it?

[sparky151]

34 minutes ago, Lawshark13 said:

Hurst deal details: https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/allbengals-insiders-plus/hayden-hurst-contract-details-with-carolina-panthers-revealed

 

3 year deal...$21.75M...with $13M guaranteed...after he played for $3.47M last year. 

 

I liked Hurst and it would have been nice to keep him...but there is no way we should be putting that much money into Hurst at his age, production, etc. as detailed earlier in this thread.  They should very much be able to find a replacement that is not a drop off for significantly less...

 

Bengals should have matched that. 7.25 is cheap for a vet starter at about any position. Hurst played for cheap last season on a prove-it deal. He proved it and got rewarded with a better contract. Nobody outside of these boards will say the Panthers overpaid for Bell or Hurst. They both signed for very reasonable prices in Carolina. 

[Lawshark13]

32 minutes ago, Jamie_B said:

 

 

And almost everyone on here agreed that we would like to keep him IF the deal was team friendly.

 

Good for Hayden, but that is not a deal that we should have done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So who's going to bitch about it?

 

Someone will definitely bitch. 🤣

 

I wish him all the best...good for him...he was wandering in the wilderness for a bit looking like his career might not pan out...and now he's added at least $13M to his career earning.  If the dude plans well and spends wisely...he's amassing generational wealth for his family...

[Jamie_B]

1 minute ago, sparky151 said:

 

Bengals should have matched that. 7.25 is cheap for a vet starter at about any position. Hurst played for cheap last season on a prove-it deal. He proved it and got rewarded with a better contract. Nobody outside of these boards will say the Panthers overpaid for Bell or Hurst. They both signed for very reasonable prices in Carolina. 

 

I'm not paying a 30 year old that kind of money for 3 years. 

[dex]

7 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

 

Bengals should have matched that. 7.25 is cheap for a vet starter at about any position. Hurst played for cheap last season on a prove-it deal. He proved it and got rewarded with a better contract. Nobody outside of these boards will say the Panthers overpaid for Bell or Hurst. They both signed for very reasonable prices in Carolina. 

The AAV really isn't much of a factor here. The Bengals were never going to fully guarantee the first 2 years. They rarely do that for any position other than QB.

[sparky151]

12 minutes ago, Jamie_B said:

 

I'm not paying a 30 year old that kind of money for 3 years. 

 

He doesn't have a lot of wear and tear on his body due to a couple years spent in baseball. The contract isn't fully guaranteed and if he played all 3 years, he'd be younger than Kelce is today and younger than Marcedes Lewis was 5 years ago.

 

8 minutes ago, dex said:

The AAV really isn't much of a factor here. The Bengals were never going to fully guarantee the first 2 years. They rarely do that for any position other than QB.

 

And that is the problem. Bengals FO is behind the times. 

 

 

[|BlackJesus|]

Hurst should ask Uzomah how his switch to the Jets went after leaving Shiesty. 

 

Some of these guys can't see the forest (Lombardi) for the trees (big numbers they will never get paid as they will be cut before their contract is over from losing teams). 

[Jamie_B]

3 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

 

He doesn't have a lot of wear and tear on his body due to a couple years spent in baseball. The contract isn't fully guaranteed and if he played all 3 years, he'd be younger than Kelce is today and younger than Marcedes Lewis was 5 years ago.

 

 

 

Still not doing it. Father time is undefeated.

 

Do you think Hurst is as good as Tyler Higbee?

[sparky151]

3 minutes ago, Jamie_B said:

 

 

Still not doing it. Father time is undefeated.

 

Do you think Hurst is as good as Tyler Higbee?

 

Saying you won't sign someone who is 30 is silly. Carolina didn't hesitate. Apparently Travid Kelce isn't good enough for you? 

 

Higbee has better numbers because he plays a bigger role in the Rams offense, especially with Kupp out. Are you suggesting we trade for him? He's not a free agent.

[Jamie_B]

4 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

 

Saying you won't sign someone who is 30 is silly. Carolina didn't hesitate. Apparently Travid Kelce isn't good enough for you? 

 

Higbee has better numbers because he plays a bigger role in the Rams offense, especially with Kupp out. Are you suggesting we trade for him? He's not a free agent.

 

No it isnt, the analytics of what guys do on average past the age of 30 bears that out. Kelsey and Lewis are outliers. 

 

Hurst just got Higbee money, like the exact same salary. That's why I asked. Hurst is not as good as Higbee.

[T-Dub]

8 hours ago, MichaelWeston said:

we can't rely on the draft for a starter. 

 

True but they've done it before

 

[IKOTA]

Maybe Gronk comes here this year! 😂 

[Inigo Montoya]

I wanted Hurst back, but given the contract details I’m not surprised he took the deal and that the Bengals didn’t offer him that.  At best, he’s the 4th option in the passing game and his production was middle of the pack (12th in receptions and 22nd in yards for TE).  That production is replaceable, just as he replaced Uzomah.  TE draft class is very deep so it makes sense to not pay what Carolina did.  

[T-Dub]

16 minutes ago, Inigo Montoya said:

I wanted Hurst back, but given the contract details I’m not surprised he took the deal and that the Bengals didn’t offer him that.  At best, he’s the 4th option in the passing game and his production was middle of the pack (12th in receptions and 22nd in yards for TE).  That production is replaceable, just as he replaced Uzomah.  TE draft class is very deep so it makes sense to not pay what Carolina did.  

 

I liked the guy but unfortunately have to agree.  However I would definitely not be counting on a name on a draft board to replace him as a starter.  

 

Said it before but we've got way too many Happy Thoughts penciled in as starters right now. We're not going to draft NFL-ready RT, TE, S, RB.  We'll be lucky to get one of those that's ready to start this year.

[spicoli]

3 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

However I would definitely not be counting on a name on a draft board to replace him as a starter.  

If they draft a TE at 28 he’s definitely going to be getting starter snaps. Likely the same if they draft one at 60. It might not always be in the traditional TE role but they’ll definitely be getting their opportunities if that’s how it works out. 

[T-Dub]

3 minutes ago, spicoli said:

If they draft a TE at 28 he’s definitely going to be getting starter snaps. Likely the same if they draft one at 60. It might not always be in the traditional TE role but they’ll definitely be getting their opportunities if that’s how it works out. 

 

That's what I'm afraid of - making Pick #28 the starter because they're Pick #28, not because they're ready to play the position.

 

 

[TigerJ@w]

Signing him for one season was just plain stupid imo. 

[happyrid]

23 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

 

I liked the guy but unfortunately have to agree.  However I would definitely not be counting on a name on a draft board to replace him as a starter.  

 

Said it before but we've got way too many Happy Thoughts penciled in as starters right now. We're not going to draft NFL-ready RT, TE, S, RB.  We'll be lucky to get one of those that's ready to start this year.

 

I completely agree with this. I also don't think we can go to $7M per year with multiple years guaranteed to fill all of those spots. 

 

We knew they would be looking for bargains at at least 2 or 3 of those spots and you don't usually get the best bargains (like Hayden Hurst last year) in the first couple days of free agency. 

 

My guess is that Safety is the one spot where they're going to pay up somewhat ($6-7M per year) and I suspect they will want to get a guy in his mid-20s like Julian Love or Taylor Rapp. Those 25 years olds in the roughly $6M per year range are the type of guys who have worked out the best for us in FA (Vonn Bell, Chidobe Awuzie, Mike Hilton, Ted Karras). 

 

At TE, I think they're looking at a $4M per year, one-year deal like they did with Hurst last year (and draft the 2024 starter in April). Same thing at RB and TE. 

[|BlackJesus|]

14 hours ago, TigerJ@w said:

Signing him for one season was just plain stupid imo. 

 

I have always hated 1 year contracts (only benefits the player), and would only do 2 year ones as a principle. 

[spicoli]

[|BlackJesus|]

Gesicki would be an amazing addition ... But damn the testicular veins can only handle so much blood flow at once. 

 

They might want to space these out for the prostate health of the Cincy area 

[snarkster]

22 hours ago, MichaelWeston said:

Foster Moreau played with Burrow at LSU. I honestly had no idea. He is just 26 and ascending. His spot is open now in Las Vegas but maybe he would come here. Would take some cash but IMO if you can solve issues in free agency with young guys do it, we don't have unlimited draft picks. 

Sign Moreau (or of about a half-dozen young vet TE FA:s) still on the market, then take LaPorta in the 2nd round (I'm good with Wilcox as TE3).