Bengals can and will keep the ERFA players just by offering them a minimum salary contract for 2026. I doubt we tender either Foskey or Browning, our two RFA players. For the UFAs, we should re-sign Risner pronto. We should offer Flacco a job for next year but he may go elsewhere. It should be easy enough to keep Hudson, Davis, Sample, Patrick and Anderson. If we lose any of them, no biggie. Bengals will have to decide whether to tag Hendrickson or not. Or to make Ossai an offer. Joey Bosa or Khalil Mack would be cheaper than Hendrickson and cost more than Ossai but we can't go into next season with just Murphy and Stewart as our pass rushers.

8 hours ago, sparky151 said:

Bengals can and will keep the ERFA players just by offering them a minimum salary contract for 2026. I doubt we tender either Foskey or Browning, our two RFA players. For the UFAs, we should re-sign Risner pronto. We should offer Flacco a job for next year but he may go elsewhere. It should be easy enough to keep Hudson, Davis, Sample, Patrick and Anderson. If we lose any of them, no biggie. Bengals will have to decide whether to tag Hendrickson or not. Or to make Ossai an offer. Joey Bosa or Khalil Mack would be cheaper than Hendrickson and cost more than Ossai but we can't go into next season with just Murphy and Stewart as our pass rushers.

Good thoughts.

Personally I like Osaai but not at a crazy price and I’m sure Mulugheta will be looking for max value for his client. I would consider tagging Trey but I’d bet they move on.

I’d consider Giles-Harris and Hayward on 1-year deals also… both are good ST guys.

Here are our pending free agents for this coming offseason:

1 hour ago, sparky151 said:

Here are our pending free agents for this coming offseason:

Would be easier to post who Isn't..

14 minutes ago, claptonrocks said:

Would be easier to post who Isn't..

Eh, that's a pretty typical list. Careers are short in the NFL and so are contracts. The bottom of the roster guys are usually on 1 year deals so the Tanner Hudsons go through free agency frequently. There are only a few guys on the list who would be missed if they went elsewhere.

2 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

Eh, that's a pretty typical list. Careers are short in the NFL and so are contracts. The bottom of the roster guys are usually on 1 year deals so the Tanner Hudsons go through free agency frequently. There are only a few guys on the list who would be missed if they went elsewhere.

Gotcha.

Hudson has allways intrigued me .

Runs routes to get open.

Good third option at TE in pass game

That would require the Bengals to be proactive. Perhaps they do it with a low stakes position (as they see it) like interior O-line. But Bengals aren't ones to negotiate quickly on anything.

1 hour ago, sparky151 said:

That would require the Bengals to be proactive. Perhaps they do it with a low stakes position (as they see it) like interior O-line. But Bengals aren't ones to negotiate quickly on anything.

True, one of their many flaws. I am sure some in the front office will happily let Risner walk and put their hopes in a cheaper Rivers for next season.

3 minutes ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

True, one of their many flaws. I am sure some in the front office will happily let Risner walk and put their hopes in a cheaper Rivers for next season.

I think they sign Risner..

He played well in limited snaps .

Rivers isnt ready ..too raw.

5 minutes ago, claptonrocks said:

I think they sign Risner..

He played well in limited snaps .

Rivers isnt ready ..too raw.

WE know that but the front orfice…..

Yeah, Risner should be extended in the next couple of weeks. Other teams are doing extensions with their players this time of year. He's playing for vet minimum and has been an annual free agent. He's played well and shouldn't cost more than 5 mil per year tops and that's cheap for a starting O-lineman. So it's both a no-brainer and easy deal to get done if the team wants to get it done. But the Blackburns are likely to be off skiing somewhere and let him reach free agency.

1 hour ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

WE know that but the front orfice…..

He's not expensive

He's around average.

Says he wants to stay here.

Fits well in locker room.

Shouldn't be a problem signing him imo

1 hour ago, sparky151 said:

Yeah, Risner should be extended in the next couple of weeks. Other teams are doing extensions with their players this time of year. He's playing for vet minimum and has been an annual free agent. He's played well and shouldn't cost more than 5 mil per year tops and that's cheap for a starting O-lineman. So it's both a no-brainer and easy deal to get done if the team wants to get it done. But the Blackburns are likely to be off skiing somewhere and let him reach free agency.

In his case, I don't think so.

13 hours ago, claptonrocks said:

He's not expensive

He's around average.

Says he wants to stay here.

Fits well in locker room.

Shouldn't be a problem signing him imo

And he needs the money.

2 hours ago, High School Harry said:

And he needs the money.

Unless he likes going to Hard Rock to meet up with Burton…he had a reported net worth of $14 Bills as of 2024. His wife’s influencer numbers not included.

31 minutes ago, Le Tigre said:

Unless he likes going to Hard Rock to meet up with Burton…he had a reported net worth of $14 Bills as of 2024. His wife’s influencer numbers not included.

He wasn't there yesterday evening. Neither were Amarius Mims and Lucas Patrick.

The comp DeAndre Watson sandwich (pulled pork barbecue), fries and two pieces

of cheesecake to go were excellent and the price was right.

BTW... didn't bet the game.

I like Ossai, Murphy, even Stewart as part of a rotation. I'd be in no hurry to name any one of them a starter again, though. Same goes for the whole DL. There's nothing about Hill's game that'd make me hesitate to bring in another DT. Would like to move on from Trey but, eh.. see the first sentence. They don't have another impact player anywhere on the line. Shouldn't be counting on the draft to fix that, again, either.

There's not a position on defense that couldn't be upgraded. Got a couple nice DB's but now there's the hole at safety & anyone worth a damn will find a spot somewhere in the backfield. LB's desperately need a vet to settle things down.

tl;dr they need some defensive FA's that aren't discount bullshit,

someone should ask Duke about that before the public flogging part of the show commences

I’m guessing that Trey will play elsewhere next year. Seems like it wasn’t stupid to be hesitant to give him multiple years with large guaranteed money after all. He can get his retirement deal from someone else. There are enough holes on defense that it’s probably better to use that cap space on multiple players rather than just one.

I wouldn't be surprised if the team tags and trades him. At best they could get a late 3rd round pick in 2027 if they let him leave in free agency. And that's only if they don't sign more free agents than they lose. Given the team needs to be active in free agency this year to cover for the misses on draft day, they should expect to sign 4 or more qualifying free agents while there's no guarantee any of the Bengals free agents will go elsewhere. So they might not get a comp pick at all for Trey.

He'll have a market, even if tagged, if the Bengals aren't holding out for a first round pick again this year. A mid 2nd rounder should get it done and maybe Dallas or Detroit or San Francisco will go after him. The Jets have lots of cap space and an early 2nd rounder so they'd be a good landing spot for him from the Bengals perspective.

Eh...

On 1/6/2026 at 5:11 PM, sparky151 said:

I wouldn't be surprised if the team tags and trades him. At best they could get a late 3rd round pick in 2027 if they let him leave in free agency. And that's only if they don't sign more free agents than they lose. Given the team needs to be active in free agency this year to cover for the misses on draft day, they should expect to sign 4 or more qualifying free agents while there's no guarantee any of the Bengals free agents will go elsewhere. So they might not get a comp pick at all for Trey.

He'll have a market, even if tagged, if the Bengals aren't holding out for a first round pick again this year. A mid 2nd rounder should get it done and maybe Dallas or Detroit or San Francisco will go after him. The Jets have lots of cap space and an early 2nd rounder so they'd be a good landing spot for him from the Bengals perspective.

Imagine a possible 3rd round in 2027 being a consideration for anything. If something as inconsequential as that is affecting their thinking they are not serious about building a winning team

1 hour ago, T-Dub said:

Imagine a possible 3rd round in 2027 being a consideration for anything. If something as inconsequential as that is affecting their thinking they are not serious about building a winning team

Let's not forget we have a pseudo GM who covets and collects

7th round draft picks like gold ducats.

1 hour ago, High School Harry said:

Let's not forget we have a pseudo GM who covets and collects

7th round draft picks like gold ducats.

He sits in the draft room with the family and Zach..

He voices his opinion but they finalize any pick ..