Expectation around the league is for Justin Herbert’s (and Joe Burrow’s) contract extension(s) to surpass the $50.3 million AAV currently held by Aaron Rodgers as QB1 on the market, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
If I were the Bengals, I'd trade Higgins (who still has his 5th year option) this offseason. They need draft picks to deal with the cap. You ride with Chase, Boyd (in his final year) and Hurst. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Higgins has a WR1 skill-set.
Now can he put that to full use playing with some slapdick QB and newbie head coach? Probably not (and that's almost certainly the kind of team that will throw huge money at him to be a 1).
But I do think he has the skills to be a damn dynamic player.
He's got "Gets paid big money by the Bears and goes on to be a good not great player" written all over him. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Hoover:
If I were the Bengals, I'd trade Higgins (who still has his 5th year option) this offseason. They need draft picks to deal with the cap. You ride with Chase, Boyd (in his final year) and Hurst.
Just saw that he wasn't a first rounder, so I guess you could trade him but he would have more value to the team just to play it out. [Reply]
Originally Posted by RunKC:
They have paycor money from their stadium deal so that will help. They’ll be able to keep Burrow and Chase but not much else.
Unfortunately they have been a very good drafting and personnel team acquiring some quality vets for fair prices so I think they’ll be okay, but not as good as they are currently
That's easy when you are picking in the Top 5. Not great when you are picking 31st. This years: 1st round pick Dax Hill is the back up safety. 2nd round Cam Taylor-Britt starts at corner, but has a worse PFF than Watson our 7th round pick and much worse than Williams our 4th round pick. Zak Carter, 3rd round pick DL gets some rotational play but his PFF is 31. 4th round pick Volson starts at OG, but his PFF is only 51, compared to Trey Smith's rookie year of 72. 5th round Pick Tycen Anderson has been on IR all year. 7th round pick Jeff Gunter, edge, has 1 tackle recorded and is listed as 3rd on the depth chart. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DRM08:
I don’t think the Cincy offense will drop off very much. It’s the defense that is bound to regress at some point when Burrow & Chase are no longer on cheap deals. I’ll be glad when they no longer have the same defense that just held an explosive Buffalo offense to 10 points.
Losing Higgins and Boyd considering they’re playing inferior CBs where they’re slotted is a huge loss. Good chance they lose hurst too. I think burrow is still good enough to make it work. But I don’t think he can carry an offense nearly as well as mahomes. And as you stated their offense even without these guys is going to be WAY harder to field a defense than KCs. We’re talking about making it work where kc is really well positioned to be elite for years.
I think burrows sick riches at WR are why he can get rid of the ball quickly. And we saw what it can look like if he doesn’t. He began the year on a record pace for sacks. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
That's a hell of a lot easier to say when you're not the guy who's going to get fired for taking a 10-7 team to 4-13 because you cut an established quarterback to sign a rookie.
I mean Mac Jones? Sure, fine - but the 'Mac Jones of the world' and the 'Justin Herberts of the world' aren't the same animal. Same with Lamar - he's a flawed QB but he's a guy who makes the Ravens dangerous and relevant.
As fans, it's easy for us to move on from guys who aren't top 5 options. But as owners/executives, moving on from that guy directly impacts the relevance of your franchise. It impacts ticket sales and in the end jobs.
Honestly the Ravens week 18 game and playoff game against the Bengals are evidence of why Baltimore will have a hard time moving on from Jackson. They were bad on offense with Brown and Huntley under center against a division rival.
Starting over when Pittsburgh has a promising QB and could be improved next year, a talented Browns team that should be better with Watson having an off-season in that offense, and a very talented Bengals team with the 2nd best QB in football won’t go over well. They almost have to sign Jackson long term and he won’t be cheap as he also possesses a league MVP. [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
He's got "Gets paid big money by the Bears and goes on to be a good not great player" written all over him.
He would still be WAY better than anyone we have. And no I don’t think we need to break the bank nearly as much for this kind of WR nor do I think a great WR breaks our piggy bank. I’d prefer a speedier option but I don’t think people realize how big of a difference a true WR1 makes to this offense, even if he’s mid level to lower tier. [Reply]
Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501:
He would still be WAY better than anyone we have. And no I don’t think we need to break the bank nearly as much for this kind of WR nor do I think a great WR breaks our piggy bank. I’d prefer a speedier option but I don’t think people realize how big of a difference a true WR1 makes to this offense, even if he’s mid level to lower tier.
Originally Posted by tredadda:
Honestly the Ravens week 18 game and playoff game against the Bengals are evidence of why Baltimore will have a hard time moving on from Jackson. They were bad on offense with Brown and Huntley under center against a division rival.
Starting over when Pittsburgh has a promising QB and could be improved next year, a talented Browns team that should be better with Watson having an off-season in that offense, and a very talented Bengals team with the 2nd best QB in football won’t go over well. They almost have to sign Jackson long term and he won’t be cheap as he also possesses a league MVP.
In the next year you’re gonna see gigantic contract increases for….
Lamar
Herbert
Burrow (probably)
Hurts
Dak
Allen’s bills will see huge cap inflation
Even Carr, Daniel jones, geno are set to get paid very handsomely
Kyler, Russell, Watson ain’t going anywhere.
Rodgers and maybe Brady will get huge money for a new team
Teams like Tampa and New Orleans are severely strapped after buying off credit card.
We are going to see an almost unprecedented payroll increase for QBs. There will be way less teams available to drunkenly splurge on WRs as they have in years passed. And that’s not even getting into the insane riches of guys like justin Jefferson and chase playing on rookie contracts. Those guys will get paid too. So you’ll see way less of teams making it rain by stockpiling great WRs.
The wide receiver market will reset. We just need to be patient. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
Higgins has a WR1 skill-set.
Now can he put that to full use playing with some slapdick QB and newbie head coach? Probably not (and that's almost certainly the kind of team that will throw huge money at him to be a 1).
But I do think he has the skills to be a damn dynamic player.
I would like to see if he can do it when he is “The Guy”. Will he be able to produce when defenses game plan to stop him or will he be a JJSS. [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
A mid to low tier isn't a true #1.
A WR like that matches up against top CBs way better than everyone else we have. And it allows role guys like juju to slot downwards in the rotation where they belong. Not saying juju is a long term answer just that a WR1 let’s you fill the rest of the WR room with role guys which seems to be the path you’re more than comfortable with.
And worst case scenario with a low tier WR1… you keep working to draft a WR1 and if you find one, boom, now we have a WR1 and a terrific WR2. A great thing to have as you prepare for kelces eventual regression. [Reply]
Originally Posted by O.city:
A mid to low tier isn't a true #1.
A "#1 WR" is akin to an Ace starting pitcher.
Sure, every team has a defacto ace starter - the guy they'd hand the ball to in a win or go home game.
But having a de facto ace doesn't mean having an Capital A Ace.
Ain't many 'true #1 receivers' in this game. But Higgins is big, fast, agile and has good hands. He does have the tools to be one.
It just remains to be seen if he will. I really wouldn't be surprised to see him succeed and have an Allen Robinson type of performance where he lands as a #1. It just ain't a given. [Reply]