"I wish our front office was more like the one that hasn't won their division since 1989."

 

* Cleveland is not an organization to emulate. They operate with no concern for fielding a winning football team, so they can afford to overpay individual players. 

11 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

Mike Brown is saving up for the nicest Trophy Case you've ever seen. Rosewood and mahogany with the most delicate veneers....

But seriously, who's going to be laughing in two years when the Eagles have to have a rebuilding year and we're still sitting on $250M in cap space?? That Lombardy trophy won't seem so nice then, will it? (No, seriously, I'm asking. We have no idea what that's like. You regret it later, right??)

 

Nobody is going to regret going all-in if it results in a Super Bowl win. It's the teams that go all-in but miss out that have regrets after the fact. Rams and Tampa don't regret loading up for a trophy run. They survived just fine and have worked through their cap issues. Eagles will as well (provided the cap continues to increase). They'll cut players who underperform their contracts and continue to draft well. That will keep them above water.

 

10 minutes ago, BlackJesus said:

Reminder: The Bengals, like all NFL teams, are legally obligated to spend 90% of the cap over a 5 year period. And they do even more. 

 

This has nothing to do with "cheapness". But a overly conservative financial philosophy, where they are risk averse of doing future payouts for players who may fall off or get injured. 

 

* The deals they offered all of them are probably fair, but not fiscally irrational, like the Cleveland owner just did. 

 

We don't know the Garrett trade is fiscally irrational. He's been in the league for 8 years with 2 more left on his current deal. If the new contract is a 4 year addition, the guaranteed money is probably in the 2025-27 seasons with some fluff at the end. He may well not see the full 160. 

 

19 minutes ago, BlackJesus said:

Reminder: The Bengals, like all NFL teams, are legally obligated to spend 90% of the cap over a 5 year period. And they do even more. 

 

This has nothing to do with "cheapness". But a overly conservative financial philosophy, where they are risk averse of doing future payouts for players who may fall off or get injured. 

 

* The deals they offered all of them are probably fair, but not fiscally irrational, like the Cleveland owner just did. 

 

 

We both know there are a lot of ways to "spend 90% of the cap" in compliance with NFL standards.  It's another thing to guarantee money or pay out bonuses.   Not to mention 10% of $250-300M straight up is a significant difference.  There's your Trey, Chase, or Higgins right there in the margins.

 

When faced with paying their top talent they start looking for replacements in the draft.

12 minutes ago, BlackJesus said:

"I wish our front office was more like the one that hasn't won their division since 1989."

 

* Cleveland is not an organization to emulate. They operate with no concern for fielding a winning football team, so they can afford to overpay individual players. 

By that same logic... Continuing to do Bengals "business as usual" isn't something worth advocating for either. Yet here you are...

3 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

* The deals they offered all of them are probably fair, but not fiscally irrational, like the Cleveland owner just did. 

Because at the end of the year, we look at an Excel spreadsheet of who paid out the most reasonable contracts and award them a trophy, right?? Isn't that how it works? Whomever saved the most money while still being able to show their face in public wins, right?

Ha ha! Jokes on you Philly! We're the real winners! Keep your stupid trophy, we're getting almost 3% interest from our savings account. Boo-yah!

6 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

Jokes on you Philly! 

 

For every Philly, there is a New Orleans, who has been in cap hell for like 4 years and still is not free from it.

 

The Eagles have the best GM in the NFL. Of course it would be great to copy them. But they also draft much better, so are stacked with young cheap rookie-contract talent. 

11 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

By that same logic... Continuing to do Bengals "business as usual" isn't something worth advocating for either.

 

A Super Bowl and AFC championship in 2 of the last 4 years, is within the top 5 of franchise performance. 

 

The Bengals likely feel their strategy is on the right track, when looking at a team like Cleveland. 

Just now, BlackJesus said:

 

A Super Bowl and AFC championship in 2 of the last 4 years, is within the top 5 of franchise performance. 

 

The Bengals likely feel their strategy is on the right track, when looking at a team like Cleveland. 

I feel lost or we all cling to much on 21-22 yrs.

It's 25...

Make a run this year.

So tired of waiting 

11 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

Because at the end of the year, we look at an Excel spreadsheet of who paid out the most reasonable contracts and award them a trophy, right?? Isn't that how it works? Whomever saved the most money while still being able to show their face in public wins, right?

Ha ha! Jokes on you Philly! We're the real winners! Keep your stupid trophy, we're getting almost 3% interest from our savings account. Boo-yah!

 

 

WTF? I didn't say that shit.  😆  That was BJ. 

 

Pass me some of that jersey bro

8 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

 

 

WTF? I didn't say that shit.  😆  That was BJ. 

 

Pass me some of that jersey bro

?? Forum software. Don't know how that happened.

 

2 minutes ago, LostInDaJungle said:

?? Forum software. Don't know how that happened.

 

 

 

Not me scrolling back to make sure

 

All good 🍻

39 minutes ago, BlackJesus said:

 

A Super Bowl and AFC championship in 2 of the last 4 years, is within the top 5 of franchise performance. 

 

The Bengals likely feel their strategy is on the right track, when looking at a team like Cleveland. 

I'm sure the rest of the league is looking into the the whole "Suck really bad for 30+ years, get two straight #1 picks, and hope for the best". Just like I'm asking every lottery winner I meet the secret to success.

But the cap space we saved from not resigning Jesse Bates hasn't resulted in the sustained success it advertised. Sure, we can trade Trey for a few more lottery tickets. Birds in the hand are overrated.

Edited March 9, 20251 yr by LostInDaJungle
Too much "but"

1 hour ago, BlackJesus said:

 

For every Philly, there is a New Orleans, who has been in cap hell for like 4 years and still is not free from it.

 

The Eagles have the best GM in the NFL. Of course it would be great to copy them. But they also draft much better, so are stacked with young cheap rookie-contract talent. 

So we could at least make efforts to draft better? Add some quality people to the scouting department? That is inexpensive and could yield significant results. Low risk really. 
We have had several teams look at Trey Brown , how about asking him how he would build a better scouting staff? 

This mock draft already including the Commanders #1 pick ... Would be amazing

 

If we're trading Trey, we'll need more than 1 edge in the draft. Unless you think they'll get some in free agency.

 

He may have to play on his current deal then ... 

 

Ideally Trey also realizes that potentially trade compensation is part of his value. What other teams are demonstrating to him by not offering a first IS an indication of that. You can’t judge the money in a vacuum. 

3 minutes ago, alleycat said:

Ideally Trey also realizes that potentially trade compensation is part of his value. What other teams are demonstrating to him by not offering a first IS an indication of that. You can’t judge the money in a vacuum. 

 

Yeah, if he's worth a big contract, he's worth fair trade compensation. Other teams are acting like the Bengals are under pressure to trade Trey when their preference is to keep him. So he won't get dumped. Five days ago was the time to work out a trade, now it's basically too late unless there is a good player coming back to the Bengals. 

48 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

 

Yeah, if he's worth a big contract, he's worth fair trade compensation. Other teams are acting like the Bengals are under pressure to trade Trey when their preference is to keep him. So he won't get dumped. Five days ago was the time to work out a trade, now it's basically too late unless there is a good player coming back to the Bengals. 

And if a team says, wed give him 32 million but not a first or high second round pick, what would you pay him if you were going to provide one of those picks? Right now, he’s on a 1 year contract with the Bengals but at an insanely low price. That also has value. And Trey can only blame himself for signing up for that. Point is, the bengals lose significant value if they lose him, so they need something in return. One would think Trey would understand that the bengals offer to him equals money minus value of pick that another team would offer. I’m sure there’s also a hold up on term and guarantees, but no one should let there be a one to one equivalence between other teams’ offers and the Bengals’. 

1 hour ago, alleycat said:

And if a team says, wed give him 32 million but not a first or high second round pick, what would you pay him if you were going to provide one of those picks? Right now, he’s on a 1 year contract with the Bengals but at an insanely low price. That also has value. And Trey can only blame himself for signing up for that. Point is, the bengals lose significant value if they lose him, so they need something in return. One would think Trey would understand that the bengals offer to him equals money minus value of pick that another team would offer. I’m sure there’s also a hold up on term and guarantees, but no one should let there be a one to one equivalence between other teams’ offers and the Bengals’. 

 

Well, the insanely low price is the source of his disgruntlement. If the Bengals had moved at the end of the regular season, I think he'd have taken 2/50 on an extension with 15 mil signing bonus and been happy. Now he wants 30+ per year with 20+ in signing bonus. The team could easily structure a deal with a nominal value of 32 mil per year but backloaded to the point he's only here 2 or 3 more years before the big numbers kick in. It would satisfy his ego for a big headline number and increase his cashflow this year with the signing bonus. Bengals could even give him a minimal salary for this season to lower his cap number and increase roster flexibility. 

 

But they won't do that because it's not their style. 

I would tell Trey he can sign a 2 year, 54 mill extension, 27 per  (guarantee all of it) -- or he can play this season with injury risk for his remaining 16 mill. 

 

Life is about choices. And he chose to extend into his current deal. 

 

I would also be open to trading him for Chicago's two second rd picks if they are interested. (39 & 41), which I would prefer to even a first rd pick since I think the strength of this draft is from picks 15-45.