Hendrickson, Higgins, and Chase

[cincygrad]

The media portion of the offseason is in full-swing. Today's news deals with Trey Hendrickson on the Pat McCafee show. Shocker - Trey is insulted by the Bengals lack of communication. Doesn't really care for the comments that Duke Tobin has made in the media. Same shit - Different day with this club.

I think I defended the club here and there through the Bates fiasco, but they really do need to be called out for what they are facing this offseason. Three of their top 4 players need a new deal and even a good front office would struggle with how to accommodate new deals for three top-line players at once. But, it never had to be this way. If they would have paid Tee two seasons ago, they'd have him on a deal that was probably costing them a fraction of what his market is now. WIth Trey, if they would have extended him for more than one extra year, they could have had him on a decent rate this season. And don't get me started on Chase.

 

[DanBengalfan]

get ready to be surpassed by Cleveland. Brown family in sticker shock mode.

 

[DanBengalfan]

Some major players will be demanding trades.

 

[DanBengalfan]

dont' know that for sure, but at least I'll be pleasantly surprised if they do anything good.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

They will resign Chase to a mega deal, they will not be able to sign Higgins and they will force Hendrickson to live up to his final year of his contract and then he will be gone. Anything that goes beyond that will be icing on the cake, because this is what I fully expect from this front office.

 

[Cincyfan78]

get ready to be surpassed by Cleveland. Brown family in sticker shock mode.

I know this is likely tongue in cheek - but the Browns are the worst run franchise in the NFL, and they are nowhere near competing for a playoff, let along a SB run. Their roster/cap management make the Bengals look like damn super stars.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Bengals do one major thing poorly - and that is they don't use the cap loopholes to their advantage when they have players worth paying. They pay Burrow, then Higgins, and then Chase, there is PLENTY of cap space among the years of those contracts to spread out bonuses and keep the cap where it needs to be to add good veteran players, and re-sign your own guys. Bengals don't like playing this game, and it puts them behind the 8-ball every time they do actually have a good draft, or two, and land guys that end up needing to be paid what they are worth in the NFL market if they want to keep them and keep winning.

The other issue at play, isn't a Bengals issue that they can control in a way - and that is the escrow. Bengals are not poor by any stretch, but in terms of NFL owners, the Bengals are not multi-Million/Billion $$$ owners. With more position players getting high % of guarantees in their contracts, that requires teams to hold a certain amount in Escrow. Teams like the Bengals are ALWAYS going to struggle when a situation like this happens because they are not going to have the liquidity required to put that kind of money away in an escrow account. The NFL needs to figure out a way to even the playing field. Either the NFL needs to back the escrow accounts to a certain degree, or there has to be a forced sale of teams who meet a certain threshold of income/ownership in order to function in today's (and in the future) NFL.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I know this is likely tongue in cheek - but the Browns are the worst run franchise in the NFL, and they are nowhere near competing for a playoff, let along a SB run. Their roster/cap management make the Bengals look like damn super stars.

That is not necessarily true. They lack what ever NFL team lacks to be consistent and push for the playoffs year in and year out. A true franchise QB. You put Joe Burrow on the Browns with that defense, and they are willing to spend on free agents, they would probably do better. They were desperate for a franchise QB and fucked up the Watson thing. They have not been able to get a true franchise QB for a long time, Baker was the best, but he was trending down when they released him to sign Watson, and then of course Baker rebounded fantastic.

If you are going to be a franchise that sees success, you need a true franchise QB. Now, the Bengals have Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson and they have missed the playoffs last two years, even with guys that could of won MVP this year, Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Now you tell me which franchise is worse run when you have the true franchise QB having an MVP year, the best WR in football, the best defensive player in football and you are not making the playoffs?

 

[Cincyfan78]

That is not necessarily true. They lack what ever NFL team lacks to be consistent and push for the playoffs year in and year out. A true franchise QB. You put Joe Burrow on the Browns with that defense, and they are willing to spend on free agents, they would probably do better. They were desperate for a franchise QB and fucked up the Watson thing. They have not been able to get a true franchise QB for a long time, Baker was the best, but he was trending down when they released him to sign Watson, and then of course Baker rebounded fantastic.

If you are going to be a franchise that sees success, you need a true franchise QB. Now, the Bengals have Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, Tee Higgins and Trey Hendrickson and they have missed the playoffs last two years, even with guys that could of won MVP this year, Offensive Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. Now you tell me which franchise is worse run when you have the true franchise QB having an MVP year, the best WR in football, the best defensive player in football and you are not making the playoffs?

They have next to no cap thanks to Watson...that is the reason why they lack a QB.
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I get your point, but this really does boil down to about 1 thing - the roster in Cleveland isn't good enough, and they have next to no flexibility thanks to their idiotic extension of Watson (not to mention obviously the original contract at 100% guaranteed), and they've had to make moves already on offense, and now guys on defense want to go elsewhere. If Garrett is saying it out loud, you know there are others without the clout he has that want out as well. The see the writing on the wall. Cleveland is not set to compete at all for the next few years.

 

[Cincyfan78]

As for the cap game, the Bengals refuse to play...this would be step 1 to getting everything they ever needed done.

 

[BigKen]

There are several things in play............................

1. Pay your franchise QB
2. Protect your franchise QB
3. Give your franchise QB at least one outstanding target.
4. Once you've done 1 thru 3, figure out how you're going to staff your defense to stop other franchises' 1-3.

Or play the KC game. Pay your QB a half billion and then restructure his contract every year to allow you to screw with the cap.

 

[Cincyfan78]

I will say this, though - you can have 4-5 guys all saying they want to stay together and then also say they need to be paid their worth. In general, that's not going to be something that happens. If you all truly want to stay together to win - then you are likely all going to take deals that don't pay at the top end of the position group. You take less so that everyone can stay.
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If you want market value - that is fair, and they've earned it, but it comes with the cost of breaking up the group. So, in a sense, while the Bengals can absolutely make this work - there should also be some concessions from the group of 4-5 guys that are all talking about wanting to stay together. I think it paints an unfair picture of the team in that aspect...you don't get to request to be #1 or #2, request that the same be said for the other 3-4 guys, AND request that the team make it happen the way they want. Has to be a bit of fair negotiating on both ends.

 

[cincygrad]

Bengals do one major thing poorly - and that is they don't use the cap loopholes to their advantage when they have players worth paying. They pay Burrow, then Higgins, and then Chase, there is PLENTY of cap space among the years of those contracts to spread out bonuses and keep the cap where it needs to be to add good veteran players, and re-sign your own guys. Bengals don't like playing this game, and it puts them behind the 8-ball every time they do actually have a good draft, or two, and land guys that end up needing to be paid what they are worth in the NFL market if they want to keep them and keep winning.

The other issue at play, isn't a Bengals issue that they can control in a way - and that is the escrow. Bengals are not poor by any stretch, but in terms of NFL owners, the Bengals are not multi-Million/Billion $$$ owners. With more position players getting high % of guarantees in their contracts, that requires teams to hold a certain amount in Escrow. Teams like the Bengals are ALWAYS going to struggle when a situation like this happens because they are not going to have the liquidity required to put that kind of money away in an escrow account. The NFL needs to figure out a way to even the playing field. Either the NFL needs to back the escrow accounts to a certain degree, or there has to be a forced sale of teams who meet a certain threshold of income/ownership in order to function in today's (and in the future) NFL.

Honestly, I think the Bengals policy around the cap isn't a complete deal breaker if they are aggressive about re-doing contracts with multiple years left. This used to be a strategy that was effective for them. They did it with Atkins and Dunlap twice, they did it with Chad Johnson multiple times, Palmer, Leon Hall, Joe Mixon, Sam Hubbard, etc., etc..... None of these involved the dreaded guarantees, but not ALL agents need these if there is enough salary commitment coming early (I realize Bates and Higgins would have been problematic). To me, the Bengals just haven't been as aggressive with these moves. Hendrickson is case in point - They could have thrown some big money at him after two years with the club and that deal would be looking favorable right now. Chase was the same last offseason - they had the money and they knew they'd sign him this year.

 

[cincygrad]

As for the cap game, the Bengals refuse to play...this would be step 1 to getting everything they ever needed done.

View attachment 387973

I like how much Burrow is putting public pressure on the Bengals without implicating them as bad actors..... He keeps saying a positive message about how they have plenty of resources to get this done and all the players are onboard. Burrow is more important than any player that has ever played for the Bengals (based on his talent and the social media era we live in)..... The club can absolutely be made to look bad if they aren't careful. They might not have cared too much in the past, but they are also in the middle of stadium negotiations. Not the best time for bad-will among the fan-base.

 

[DanBengalfan]

I would prioritize Chase. he's basically the majority of our offense. yes, burrow is good, but we have found, that without chase, he's not good enough.

then Hendrichson, and the defense. if we can't piece together a good defense, no playoffs.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Now this is what I am talking about. 3 years left on a contract, expensive but worth it. Better than spending it on Higgins. No draft capital, but damn that changes a lot right there.

MSN

 

[DanBengalfan]

contract ends some time in march.

but yes, our defense was really bad during some of the game, maybe most. getting something for higgins would be nice.
the other team still needs to pay higgins though, so they might not take the risk. there are some teams out there with a lot of cap space that could pay higgins #1 receiver money. among them the washington redskins.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

contract ends some time in march.

but yes, our defense was really bad during some of the game, maybe most. getting something for higgins would be nice.
the other team still needs to pay higgins though, so they might not take the risk. there are some teams out there with a lot of cap space that could pay higgins #1 receiver money. among them the washington redskins.

Did you read the article? It was about a tag and trade of Higgins for Jeffrey Simmons, DT of the Titans. It frees up their contract on Simmons to sign Higgins, plus they have ample cap space available. Plus, Simmons has 3 years left on his 4 year contract. It is a good price tag, but the Titans take the biggest hit on that contract due to trading him after one season.

I don't think the Titans would do this, but Higgins with Callahan again, does make for a talking point.

 

[Cincyfan78]

Did you read the article? It was about a tag and trade of Higgins for Jeffrey Simmons, DT of the Titans. It frees up their contract on Simmons to sign Higgins, plus they have ample cap space available. Plus, Simmons has 3 years left on his 4 year contract. It is a good price tag, but the Titans take the biggest hit on that contract due to trading him after one season.

I don't think the Titans would do this, but Higgins with Callahan again, does make for a talking point.

Talking point because of Callahan, non-talking point because it would be one of the only times the Bengals would make such a trade. The other would be Palmer, who was disgruntled and was retiring rather than returning to play under Brown/Lewis.
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It's a nice story, sure to drive views and clicks...but if we were handicapping this in %chance that it actually happens, I would have it somewhere around less than 1%.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Talking point because of Callahan, non-talking point because it would be one of the only times the Bengals would make such a trade. The other would be Palmer, who was disgruntled and was retiring rather than returning to play under Brown/Lewis.
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It's a nice story, sure to drive views and clicks...but if we were handicapping this in %chance that it actually happens, I would have it somewhere around less than 1%.

Facts. But, considering the position, talent, contract and age of Simmons that is for sure worth thinking about if it was on the table. These pundits love click bait and I am not quite dumb enough to think this is anything but. However, a trade for a piece for a piece that strengthens a position of weakness...ehhh...interesting thoughts.