Bengals release Germain Pratt

[BigAl2526]

It certainly seems like Specter would be expendable in the minds of Beane and McDermott.  Andreeson was a pleasant surprise, but whether or not he's good enough to depend on in the case of an extended injury to Bernard, I don't know, and I'm not sure anyone here does know.  Ulofoshio is even more of a mystery.  Apart from being on the short side, he has good measurables, but his scouting report stated he lacks speed and instincts.   He barely got on the field on defense as a rookie with 4 total tackles.  My guess is the Bills won't expect much from him in 2025.  He needs to show a lot of growth in the mental aspect of playing professional defense before he's a factor in anything but special teams.

[Cash]

2 hours ago, BigAl2526 said:

It certainly seems like Specter would be expendable in the minds of Beane and McDermott.  Andreeson was a pleasant surprise, but whether or not he's good enough to depend on in the case of an extended injury to Bernard, I don't know, and I'm not sure anyone here does know.  Ulofoshio is even more of a mystery.  Apart from being on the short side, he has good measurables, but his scouting report stated he lacks speed and instincts.   He barely got on the field on defense as a rookie with 4 total tackles.  My guess is the Bills won't expect much from him in 2025.  He needs to show a lot of growth in the mental aspect of playing professional defense before he's a factor in anything but special teams.

Agree with this. LB is one of the few spots where I could see us in the market for a veteran cut. Spector gets hurt every year and is in the last year of his deal, so they won’t hesitate to move on if they think a fading vet will be an upgrade this season. Bernard getting hurt is probably the biggest risk on the defense. Plus there could be a slight trade market for Spector - meaning maybe you get a low 7th rounder for him instead of cutting him outright. 
 

I have no idea if this Bungles guy would be an upgrade over Spector in 2025, but if any of the Football Knowers on the board have a take, please weigh in. 

[buffblue]

8 hours ago, Taro Nimbus said:

This is to make room for Trey Hendrixson.   That team is gonna have 4 players taking up a third of their total 

Signing Tee Higgins was such an asinine move. An absurd failure in roster construction and salary allocation

[Doc Brown]

9 minutes ago, buffblue said:

Signing Tee Higgins was such an asinine move. An absurd failure in roster construction and salary allocation

No it wasn't.  Most teams should at least be able to pay two guys at premium positions near top of the market money even with your QB getting elite money.  I think the Eagles just did.  Outside WR is a premium position.  It's on the Bengals now to nail the draft and find value free agents.

Edited 7 hours ago by Doc Brown

[BillsFanForever19]

14 minutes ago, buffblue said:

Signing Tee Higgins was such an asinine move. An absurd failure in roster construction and salary allocation

 

If you have the ability to have not one, but two bonafide WR1's on your roster and fit it in your salary cap (as the Bengals did) - it would be absurd not to do that.

 

WR is a premium position. If I had one complaint about Beane, it's that he allocates too much cap to non-premium positions. Making it difficult to make big moves at premium positions. I'm jealous that Cinci is the kind of place that realizes that if it comes down to not paying a LB so that you can pay a top end WR - you do that.

 

5 hours ago, Fan in Chicago said:

Serious question cos I don't follow the Bengals closely - is he worth kicking the tires on? I wouldn't mind an experienced LB on our team. 

 

Um... it comes down to his market. I do believe that Middle Linebacker is the least deep position on the team and have been surprised that no one has been brought in to at least compete with Buffalo Joe and Baylon Spector. 

 

I like Joe. He exceeded expectations as a UDFA from UB. But is he someone I think we should be relying on if something were to happen to Bernard? No, I don't. 

 

If Pratt has starting options or people offering him any sort of big money (relative to what he is), than no. But if his market is one in which he's willing to take a backup gig for backup money for us - absolutely.

[buffblue]

20 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

No it wasn't.  Most teams should at least be able to pay two guys at premium positions near top of the market money even with your QB getting elite money.  I think the Eagles just did.  Outside WR is a premium position.  It's on the Bengals now to nail the draft and find value free agents.

If it costs them Trey Hendrickson, then yes it was a stupid move. He is the only meaningful player on their wholly inadequate defense. The Bengals have zero chance of winning a Super Bowl pushing all their chips on the offensive side of the ball. 

[billsfan89]

Bills could use some depth at LB. They didn’t spend a pick there and the Bills run through LB’s so having a vet in there won’t hurt if he fits the scheme.

[buffblue]

15 minutes ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

If you have the ability to have not one, but two bonafide WR1's on your roster and fit it in your salary cap (as the Bengals did) - it would be absurd not to do that.

 

WR is a premium position. If I had one complaint about Beane, it's that he allocates too much cap to non-premium positions. Making it difficult to make big moves at premium positions. I'm jealous that Cinci is the kind of place that realizes that if it comes down to not paying a LB so that you can pay a top end WR - you do that.

 

 

Um... it comes down to his market. I do believe that Middle Linebacker is the least deep position on the team and have been surprised that no one has been brought in to at least compete with Buffalo Joe and Baylon Spector. 

 

I like Joe. He exceeded expectations as a UDFA from UB. But is he someone I think we should be relying on if something were to happen to Bernard? No, I don't. 

 

If Pratt has starting options or people offering him any sort of big money (relative to what he is), than no. But if his market is one in which he's willing to take a backup gig for backup money for us - absolutely.

Just to be clear, you are endorsing a strategy where you pay top dollar to both your number one and number two wide receiver. Are you Jeremy White?

[Doc Brown]

1 minute ago, buffblue said:

If it costs them Trey Hendrickson, then yes it was a stupid move. He is the only meaningful player on their wholly inadequate defense. The Bengals have zero chance of winning a Super Bowl pushing all their chips on the offensive side of the ball. 

All their chips?  The Eagles just literally won the Super Bowl paying their two WR's and QB near top of the market money.  Don't tell me it can't be done.  

[buffblue]

Just now, Doc Brown said:

All their chips?  The Eagles just literally won the Super Bowl paying their two WR's and QB near top of the market money.  Don't tell me it can't be done.  

Considering the Bengals have done diddly poo in spite of their offensive prowess for several years running, I think I'm in a pretty good position to say their decisions are questionable

[Low Positive]

2 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

All their chips?  The Eagles just literally won the Super Bowl paying their two WR's and QB near top of the market money.  Don't tell me it can't be done.  

Jeffery Lurie has a metric 💩 ton of cash and spends it kicking cap hits down the road. Mike Brown does not.

[Doc Brown]

Just now, buffblue said:

Considering the Bengals have done diddly poo in spite of their offensive prowess for several years running, I think I'm in a pretty good position to say their decisions are questionable

Yeah.  Their drafts have sucked.  You making the argument that a team has "zero chance" of making the Super Bowl if they pay two elite WR's near top of the market contracts doesn't hold water though.  I think the score was 40-22?

Just now, Low Positive said:

Jeffery Lurie has a metric 💩 ton of cash and spends it kicking cap hits down the road. Mike Brown does not.

That's the Bengals biggest problem.  Ask Carson Palmer.

[buffblue]

Just now, Doc Brown said:

Yeah.  Their drafts have sucked.  You making the argument that a team has "zero chance" of making the Super Bowl if they pay two elite WR's near top of the market contracts doesn't hold water though.  I think the score was 40-22?

Have you watched the Bengals defense? Are there any Copper Dejeans? Jalen Carters? Zach Bauns? You're better than this. Let me know when Cincy even makes a wild card again

[BillsFanForever19]

11 minutes ago, buffblue said:

Just to be clear, you are endorsing a strategy where you pay top dollar to both your number one and number two wide receiver. Are you Jeremy White?

 

I could be.

 

What do you think wins you more Football games? Having Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins lined up on teams CB2 with a lesser MLB or just Chase and a slightly better MLB?

[Doc Brown]

50 minutes ago, buffblue said:

Signing Tee Higgins was such an asinine move. An absurd failure in roster construction and salary allocation

 

2 minutes ago, buffblue said:

Have you watched the Bengals defense? Are there any Copper Dejeans? Jalen Carters? Zach Bauns? You're better than this. Let me know when Cincy even makes a wild card again

You're shifting the goal posts.  You talked about roster construction and salary allocation in general and are now trying to apply it only to the Bengals as I pointed out the Eagles constructed their roster that way.

[buffblue]

Just now, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

I could be.

 

What do you think wins you more Football games? Having Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins lined up on teams CB2 with a lesser MLB or just Chase and a slightly better MLB?

You can't be serious with this??? The Bengals havent even made the playoffs the last 2 years. I feel like I'm in an alternate universe 

[BillsFanForever19]

4 minutes ago, buffblue said:

You can't be serious with this??? The Bengals havent even made the playoffs the last 2 years. I feel like I'm in an alternate universe 

 

Yeah, they lost Joe Burrow for the season in early November 2023.

 

Injuries and a slow start derailed them early. They were one of the hottest teams in the league down the stretch. One of only a couple that I truly feared us playing. In large part bc of their Offensive firepower.

[LABILLBACKER]

10 hours ago, JP51 said:

Not gonna lie, I look at every release like could this person help us, would they fit in the scheme and cap...  Not sure he is they type to fit our LB scheme... he is big at a little over 240 and has a 5.5mm cap hit if we claim him... obviously if we waited we could negotiate a new contract... but not sure he fits the scheme... 

Lets see what happens? Doubtful Spector survives the final cut and there's about a 90% chance this is Milano's last season.  

[JGMcD2]

58 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

All their chips?  The Eagles just literally won the Super Bowl paying their two WR's and QB near top of the market money.  Don't tell me it can't be done.  

Lol, it’s not the same thing. The Bengals are spending over 1/3 of their cap on three players. 

2024 Eagles

Jalen Hurts: $13.6M cap hit (16th among QBs)

A.J. Brown: $12M (13th among WRs)

DeVonta Smith: $8.2M (23rd among WRs)

Total cap hit: $33.8M

Percentage of $255.4M cap: 13.2%

 

2025 Bengals

Joe Burrow: $46M cap hit (3rd among QBs)

Tee Higgins: $24M (6th among WRs)

Ja'Marr Chase: $23.5M (7th among WRs)

Total cap hit: $93.5M

Percentage of $279.2M cap: 33.5%

 

If they decide to give Hendrickson a cap hit around $30M (reportedly what he’s asking for based on the EDGE market), they’re going to be allocating 45% of their cap to four players that were already on their 9-8 team that missed the playoffs last season… 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by JGMcD2

[Doc Brown]

14 minutes ago, JGMcD2 said:

Lol, it’s not the same thing. The Bengals are spending over 1/3 of their cap on three players. 

2024 Eagles

Jalen Hurts: $13.6M cap hit (16th among QBs)

A.J. Brown: $12M (13th among WRs)

DeVonta Smith: $8.2M (23rd among WRs)

Total cap hit: $33.8M

Percentage of $255.4M cap: 13.2%

 

2025 Bengals

Joe Burrow: $46M cap hit (3rd among QBs)

Tee Higgins: $24M (6th among WRs)

Ja'Marr Chase: $23.5M (7th among WRs)

Total cap hit: $93.5M

Percentage of $279.2M cap: 33.5%

 

If they decide to give Hendrickson a cap hit around $30M (reportedly what he’s asking for based on the EDGE market), they’re going to be allocating 45% of their cap to four players that were already on their 9-8 team that missed the playoffs last season… 

 

Good information.  Thanks.  The Bengals have more of a cash issue that creates the cap issue.  Restructuring contracts to push the cap hit down the road means be more willing to have cash in hand to pay now.  Mike Brown is cheap and this idea that Joe Burrow has changed the way the Bengals do business is a myth.