I don't know much about Cook, but I like the sound of that.
Cook was a guy high on my list. Cross and Cook were 1a, 1B.
Lloyd to Carolina, but they paid for that. Not sure the Bengals are in the market to pay a LB that much. Especially as they continue to kick tires on finding a DT/3T. Could they pull the trade with Philly? I doubt it. It would cost them the 10th pick plus another hefty contract. Worth it? Maybe...1 pick, for verified NFL production...still young...but I don't see that happening.
At this point, sign Chenal. He upgrades you immediately and you still are looking at improvements from Knight and Carter. There would still be some money to then add some value FA along the defensive line. If you get all of that done, you head into the draft with an open draft board.... Which might lead to us using some draft capital to select OBJs eventual replacement.
Didn't "save" 30M...he wasn't on the books.
My sense is that they were not giving guarantees into second year and that's what Lloyd and his agent wanted. I think this behavior generally has much more to do with the agents as guarantees are trophies on their walls. It's fine that we didn't get him, but the response can't be to turtle up and quit now. There are still two linebackers that can be signed for multiple years and really help this young D. Go get one. And then spend some money to create depth at a few more positions.
Agreed...players, and agents, get caught up on the guaranteed portion - and I do understand it - but when you sign a contract like the Bengals have handed out, and you know their history of not taking on big dead money moves...that 2nd year is all but guaranteed. Sure, there's a chance...but in reality, if any of those guys got cut after 1 year, they are very, very likely getting another contract outside of some catastrophic injury and even in that case, insurance kicks in for the team to cover the contract (IIRC).
I get what you are saying, but you can't force someone to sign, and the Bengals don't offer 2nd year guarantees. We can debate about that until the cows come home, but it's how they do business. They do cash up front in lieu of 2nd year guarantees. Which, honestly, is the same thing because cutting a player like that in year 2 would trigger a massive dead-cap hit, which we all know the Bengals also don't do...so...in effect, it's always at least a 2 year deal with a ton of cash up front.
You aren’t wrong, and I’m not shooting the messenger here. But this explanation is the exact same rationale used by the Brown family inner circle for decades that believe their processes are infallible and everyone else is wrong.
Oh, we don't disagree. The Bengals need to find a way to do business in the modern NFL with contracts. It's that simple. As every other team has moved to 2nd year guarantees...they are going to struggle to land premier guys consistently without offering this.
I also think this used to make sense when the Bengals honored contracts. For years they would hang onto guys with high salaries because they signed the deal. I remember when they were paying Leon Hall an absurd amount of money to limp around on two bum heels. But this hasn't been true for a long time. We cut Rankins after one year. We cut Cappa before his final year of his deal. We forced Mixon to restructure. We forced Geno Stone to restructure after one year. The Bengals are saying - we'll pay you in year one and probably in year two. Just trust us..... But they aren't trustworthy.
