Bengals super duper mega free agency signing thread

[Be Weary of Query]

 

[alf8478]

Their plan is to load up on low round compensatory picks for next year's draft

 

[DJ Fieri]

They get a new kicker or punter?

 

[DJ Fieri]

I'm kidding!!!

 

[DanBengalfan]

Their plan is to load up on low round compensatory picks for next year's draft

yep

 

[Kingspoint]

Time to recap.....

These are the players they signed under Future Contracts:

OT Darryl Baldwin, WR Michael Bennett, DB Chykie Brown, LB Jayson DiManche, RB Bronson Hill, K Zach Hocker, OG Trey Hopkins, DE Dezmond Johnson, WR Jake Kumerow, TE Matt Lengel, LB Jeff Luc, TE John Peters, DB Floyd Raven

 

[Kingspoint]

From Rotoworld w/ Rotoworld comments:


Bengals re-signed CB Adam Jones to a three-year contract.

"Pacman" was one of the 3-4 best cornerbacks left on the market. Jones made it clear he was seeking top dollar, but he's getting it from the team that helped save his career. He drew heavy interest during the "legal tampering" period. Going on 33, Jones was one of the league's best corners last season, though his devastating penalty in the Wild Card round helped send the Bengals home early. Even as a tenured veteran, Jones remains a high-risk, high-reward player.

Source: Mike Garafolo on Twitter Mar 9 - 6:57 PM


Bengals re-signed OT Eric Winston to a one-year, $1.09 million contract.

The 11-year veteran played 176 snaps as a reserve last season. His 2016 should unfold in similar fashion.

Source: Aaron Wilson on Twitter Mar 9 - 4:15 PM


Yahoo's Charles Robinson reports the Bengals are not interested in re-signing free agent S Reggie Nelson.

With 2013 third-round pick Shawn Williams ready for a bigger role and George Iloka locked up to a long-term deal, the Bengals appear comfortable letting Nelson walk. Nelson will turn 33 in September, but he showed no signs of decline while leading the league in interceptions last season. Robinson reports the Vikings and Bucs are interested.

Source: Charles Robinson on Twitter Mar 9 - 2:11 PM


Bengals re-signed S George Iloka to a five-year, $30 million contract.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports the deal will pay out $18 million over the first three seasons. Iloka drew "serious interest" from several teams, but the Bengals smartly ponied up the money to keep the 25-year-old in town. With Reggie Nelson expected to hit the market, Cincinnati still has a hole to fill at safety, although they may view 2013 third-round pick Shawn Williams as the heir apparent to Nelson.

Source: Adam Schefter on Twitter Mar 9 - 11:01 AM


Lions agreed to terms with WR Marvin Jones, formerly of the Bengals, on a five-year, $40 million contract.

The deal contains $17 million guaranteed. It's a nice chunk of change for Jones, who has big shoes to fill as Calvin Johnson's replacement as the new No. 1 receiver. It'll be a more collective effort to replace Megatron, but there are a ton of balls to be caught in OC Jim Bob Cooter's offense. Jones will be the preferred option in the red zone, along with third-year TE Eric Ebron, who the Lions hope will make a gigantic leap. Jones caught 10 touchdowns in 2013.

Source: Ian Rapoport on Twitter Mar 9 - 2:53 PM


Vikings signed LB Emmanuel Lamur to a two-year contract.

He also had interest from Miami and Detroit. Lamur played under Mike Zimmer for two seasons in Cincinnati and should compete for a weak-side role opposite Anthony Barr. Lamur's signing suggests the Vikings could move on from free agent Chad Greenway.

Source: Chris Tomasson on Twitter Mar 9 - 4:38 PM

 

[Kingspoint]

Because of the loss of Marvin Jones (the Bengals tried hard to keep him offering him the same money that he signed for in Detroit, but honestly telling him that he wouldn't get as many targets as he'll get there), Hobson says that the Bengals are done with trying to sign UFA's.

If you want to try to understand how the compensatory formula works, good luck. Here's a read that might help: Football 101: Compensatory Picks

But, it doesn't mean that the Bengals can't sign players who have been cut or their own players, such as Reggie Nelson. Those aren't UFA's under the compensatory formula. So, when more players have been cut a month from now, we can look for the Bengals to see if there are any players who would fit onto the team. I know there are a ton of CB's available, and there should still be some a month from now. Same is true for LB's.

 

[DanBengalfan]

looks like Nelson played his way out of here.

maybe New England will sign him and he can laugh at us from the superbowl.

 

[DJ Fieri]

You Bengals fans have a great sense of humor.

 

[cincygrad]

Hobs is already banging the "we're out of money" drum..... Said we only had 15 million to spend and that it is now all gone.

 

[alf8478]

Annual Warning: Pay No Attention to the Cap Room Behind The Curtain

 

[DanBengalfan]

Hobson got A's in English and C's in math.

If we had spent all the cap space then we wouldn't have any money to sign draft picks.

Can't take him seriously.

With that said, I don't expect them to sign any expensive free agents, they will use that kind of cash to keep current players.

 

[Cincyfan78]

There was a good article on the cap space. Showed the Bengals had about 30MM in cap space, but that you have to factor in a lot of things. When it was all said and done, I think it showed they had about 15MM+/- for free agents. Just a part of them signing a lot of their own guys back.

People just see 30MM in cap space and freak out about how they don't spend it all. I think, at least at this point, the Bengals approach in F/A has been pretty good. Hard to argue with the results.

 

[Cincyfan78]

looks like Nelson played his way out of here.

maybe New England will sign him and he can laugh at us from the superbowl.

Nelson had a great year, but he's not worth the money he's looking for at his age.

Between him or Iloka, it's a no brainer why they went after Iloka. Top 5 safety, in his prime years.

 

[alf8478]

There was a good article on the cap space. Showed the Bengals had about 30MM in cap space, but that you have to factor in a lot of things. When it was all said and done, I think it showed they had about 15MM+/- for free agents. Just a part of them signing a lot of their own guys back.

People just see 30MM in cap space and freak out about how they don't spend it all. I think, at least at this point, the Bengals approach in F/A has been pretty good. Hard to argue with the results.

0-7

 

[Cincyfan78]

0-7

Yes, the playoff struggle is real, but you can't say that the model that they've used to build this team up has not worked. You can argue playoff success, or lack there of, but you can't argue that this team has been good enough to win those games, and that is a result of their approach to free agency and the draft.

Trying to argue their results in the playoff doesn't really come into play here. I see why people want to do that though, but it's not an apples to apples comparision for the sake of this discussion.

 

[cincygrad]

There was a good article on the cap space. Showed the Bengals had about 30MM in cap space, but that you have to factor in a lot of things. When it was all said and done, I think it showed they had about 15MM+/- for free agents. Just a part of them signing a lot of their own guys back.

People just see 30MM in cap space and freak out about how they don't spend it all. I think, at least at this point, the Bengals approach in F/A has been pretty good. Hard to argue with the results.

While I basically agree with you, and I've given up on the idea of signing big name outside free agents (I actually don't think it's a great idea), I have a hard time 'factoring in a lot of things.' Other teams, with much less money to spend, seem to spend much more.... Now, you can argue that these contracts aren't real because they never intend to honor them, and I think you'd be right to make that argument. But, there are other ways to approach it if you wish.

BTW -- I think our strategy helps re-sign older vets. Take PacMan..... He watched Leon get paid his full salary last year, even though his performance wasn't close to that salary. The Bengals generally honor contracts. If Pacman took a big deal elsewhere, got hurt or somehow had a bad season, he wouldn't make too much next year.

 

[Cincyfan78]

While I basically agree with you, and I've given up on the idea of signing big name outside free agents (I actually don't think it's a great idea), I have a hard time 'factoring in a lot of things.' Other teams, with much less money to spend, seem to spend much more.... Now, you can argue that these contracts aren't real because they never intend to honor them, and I think you'd be right to make that argument. But, there are other ways to approach it if you wish.

BTW -- I think our strategy helps re-sign older vets. Take PacMan..... He watched Leon get paid his full salary last year, even though his performance wasn't close to that salary. The Bengals generally honor contracts. If Pacman took a big deal elsewhere, got hurt or somehow had a bad season, he wouldn't make too much next year.

You are right. There are things that the team can do to improve that number. They could re-structure contracts, cut guys now, and so forth, but you always have to pay at some point. You see why the Steelers have struggled recently to really get over that hump, and it's because they continue to kick the can down the road with big contracts. This model the Bengals are following was exactly what the Steelers used to do, but then they went all in for a SB run 4-5 years ago and are still recovering from that decision.

I think the Bengals do hurt and help themselves by honoring those contracts. It means, that when they sign a guy they are having to take into consideration that they will pay that contract out. Many teams sign a guy that is a 5 year deal, but they are only counting on paying about 2 years of that contract. It hurts in the sense that they can't then sign other guys or offer a bigger contract to a bigger player, but it does help when you are a guy who is looking for a 4-5 year deal where you know you are going to get your check. You're going to see the end of that contract. 90% of players don't.

So, I agree with you in that there are many things this team *COULD* do to open up more avenues for finding a bigger name player or signing a guy, but I think it's just a matter of which direction you choose to go. Do you want to be restructuring contracts every year, or every other year, just to try and keep up or do you maybe miss out on the Big A free-agents and find guys who are more under the radar but fit better with what you do, and re-sign those guys when they are due?

It is what it is, but ultimately, the plan has worked very well in building this team. You can argue playoff success, but I would say that is a different argument. The team build on this approach is good enough to have won some of those games, if not nearly all of them.

 

[alf8478]

Why is playoff success a different argument?

Isn't the whole point to create/build/draft a team with a goal of winning the super bowl?