Bengals release Germain Pratt

[Low Positive]

11 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

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.  

Mike Brown is not cheap. He's poor for an NFL owner. His only valuable asset is the small-market team. 

[iccrewman112]

11 hours ago, Mango said:

 

Joe Burrow has to have maybe the worst QB skill: OL protection ratio of all time. Absolutely criminal. It is insane to me that the same franchise that invested in Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins is also responsible for ruining their QB. 

anytime hometown Joey B wants to take less than 55M a year he can.

[JGMcD2]

6 hours ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

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.

That’s not what happened - they paid two top-tier wide receivers, which means they’re struggling to afford to pay a premium defensive end. It’s terrible asset management, that is failing to upgrade their roster in any meaningful way, unless they’re playing 7-on-7. 

Edited 12 hours ago by JGMcD2

[Mango]

4 hours ago, iccrewman112 said:

anytime hometown Joey B wants to take less than 55M a year he can.

 

Lolz.

 

Burrows contract isn't really the issue here. He isnt Dak or Lawrence. He's a top tier QB being paid the market rate.

 

It's a franchise that has put waaay too much priority on pass catcher and not enough on pass protection.

 

 

[Mango]

6 hours 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.

 

The Jalens contract hasn't hit the cap yet. He carried $13m last year.

 

My totally uneducated opinion is that unless Hurts becomes a much better passer I don't think he carries the eagles once the bill comes due.

 

The Bengals paying Burrow, Higgins, and Chase nearly $100M in 2025 cap space is really bad business. They're lucky Burrow hasn't had a career ender with all the hits he's taken. 

 

That's the kind of spending a team should do with a guy on a rookie deal/early into his extension.

[GunnerBill]

9 minutes ago, JGMcD2 said:

That’s not what happened - they paid two top-tier wide receivers, which means they’re struggling to afford to pay a premium defensive end. It’s terrible asset management, that is failing to upgrade their roster in any meaningful way, unless they’re playing 7-on-7. 

 

That isn't what is holding Hendrikson up. The Bengals have cap space - somewhere in the region of $30m of it. The 8th most in the NFL. They have over $60m of cap space next year too.... and sure, it gets a bit trickier next year when they'll be somewhat top heavy, but they already have 53 guys under contract and that much space. 

 

The things holding Hendrikson up are 1) the Bengals understandable reluctance to do a long term deal with a guy who turns 31 during 2025 and 2) Mike Brown's reluctance to hand out another big wad of up front cash when he has already given circa $80m to Higgins and Chase this offseason. Their asset allocation isn't the issue. It is, as always with Cincy, CASH not CAP that is the problem. 

[BillsFanForever19]

27 minutes ago, JGMcD2 said:

That’s not what happened - they paid two top-tier wide receivers, which means they’re struggling to afford to pay a premium defensive end. It’s terrible asset management, that is failing to upgrade their roster in any meaningful way, unless they’re playing 7-on-7. 

 

Struggling? Even with paying both WR's - they're STILL 32 Million Under the Cap this season and 69 Million Under the Cap next season?

 

They're not "struggling" to pay their Defensive End. They simply don't want to pay their Defensive End what he wants.

 

It's a shame they didn't spend the 17th Pick in the Draft on a quality Edge Rusher prospect like Shemar Stewart...

 

Oh wait, they did exactly that.

Edited 11 hours ago by BillsFanForever19

[JGMcD2]

30 minutes ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

 

Struggling? Even with paying both WR's - they're STILL 32 Million Under the Cap this season and 69 Million Under the Cap next season?

 

They're not "struggling" to pay their Defensive End. They simply don't want to pay their Defensive End what he wants.

 

It's a shame they didn't spend the 17th Pick in the Draft on a quality Edge Rusher prospect like Shemar Stewart...

 

Oh wait, they did exactly that.

They can’t afford to pay him, Mike Brown can’t and won’t do it. 
 

If the season started today, Shemar Stewart wouldn’t be suiting up… contract problems even with the rookie wage scale lol 

Edited 11 hours ago by JGMcD2

[BillsFanForever19]

3 minutes ago, JGMcD2 said:

If the season started today, Shemar Stewart wouldn’t be suiting up… contract problems even with the rookie wage scale lol 

You think that they're not going to sign their Draft Picks? When has that ever happened with any team?

 

If the season started today, Maxwell Hairston, TJ Sanders, and Deone Walker wouldn't be suiting up for us either. What's your point?

[Coach Tuesday]

6 hours ago, Low Positive said:

Mike Brown is not cheap. He's poor for an NFL owner. His only valuable asset is the small-market team. 

What are you basing that on?  There are myriad ways the Browns could free up more cash if they wanted to, such as selling a minority share of their team which has soared in value relative to what they bought it for.  
 

They are cheap.

[wjag]

Led their team in tackles last year.  Surprising move.  Their offense is gonna be a juggernaut, their defense a sieve.

[JP51]

14 hours ago, Sierra Foothills said:

 

 

I've heard of him so there's that!

 

 

Git 'er DONE BEANE!!!!!

 

Thank you!!!! I needed that!!!! 

[Big Blitz]

 

[JGMcD2]

1 hour ago, BillsFanForever19 said:

You think that they're not going to sign their Draft Picks? When has that ever happened with any team?

 

If the season started today, Maxwell Hairston, TJ Sanders, and Deone Walker wouldn't be suiting up for us either. What's your point?

He's refusing to participate in team activities because the Bengals are trying to include language in his rookie contract that they've never used before. He has the option to sign a waiver and practice in the meantime, but he's choosing not to.

 

How is that even remotely the same as what’s happening with the three players in Buffalo?

 

[Fleezoid]

 

[HappyDays]

3 hours ago, JGMcD2 said:

If the season started today, Shemar Stewart wouldn’t be suiting up… contract problems even with the rookie wage scale lol 

 

Yeah and that kind of counters your original point, right? Cincy will always have these issues until another owner takes over. Extending Higgins wasn't the problem. If they hadn't extended him they would still be reluctant to rip up the deal Hendrickson signed and they'd also have a hole at WR.

 

Spending big money on two #1 WRs means they don't really have to spend draft picks or FA money on the position. They are good for the next 4-5 years. Locking up your superstars at premium positions is always good business. The problem with Cincy is they do a lot of bad business besides, but there's no crossover from one side to the other.

[JGMcD2]

33 minutes ago, HappyDays said:

 

Yeah and that kind of counters your original point, right? Cincy will always have these issues until another owner takes over. Extending Higgins wasn't the problem. If they hadn't extended him they would still be reluctant to rip up the deal Hendrickson signed and they'd also have a hole at WR.

 

Spending big money on two #1 WRs means they don't really have to spend draft picks or FA money on the position. They are good for the next 4-5 years. Locking up your superstars at premium positions is always good business. The problem with Cincy is they do a lot of bad business besides, but there's no crossover from one side to the other.

This doesn’t counter my original point. Extending Higgins is clearly limiting their ability to extend Hendrickson. When you’re paying Burrow $46M and Chase $24M, you’d expect them to manage without giving Higgins $25M. It’s a backwards allocation of resources. Premier edge rushers with 17.5 sacks in consecutive seasons don’t grow on trees - they’re much harder to find than WR with Higgins production. Nobody else in the league is built this way - no team has one-third of their cap tied up in a QB and two WRs.

Edited 6 hours ago by JGMcD2

[Doc Brown]

 

5 hours ago, Mango said:

 

The Jalens contract hasn't hit the cap yet. He carried $13m last year.

 

My totally uneducated opinion is that unless Hurts becomes a much better passer I don't think he carries the eagles once the bill comes due.

 

The Bengals paying Burrow, Higgins, and Chase nearly $100M in 2025 cap space is really bad business. They're lucky Burrow hasn't had a career ender with all the hits he's taken. 

 

That's the kind of spending a team should do with a guy on a rookie deal/early into his extension.

We'd always just restructure Allen's deal and I figured the Bengals would do the same thing with Burrow.  They didn't.  They did the right thing in re-signing two guys at premium positions coming off their rookie contracts.  That's really good business.  It's just the contract structure on Burrow, Higgins, and Chase's deals are unusual.  They're not back loaded at all.  Chase in particular actually will count more against the cap this year than he would've on his 5th year option.  That's crazy for a team shooting for the Super Bowl.  If they don't nail their draft picks of doing business this way they're screwed.

23 minutes ago, JGMcD2 said:

This doesn’t counter my original point. Extending Higgins is clearly limiting their ability to extend Hendrickson. When you’re paying Burrow $46M and Chase $24M, you’d expect them to manage without giving Higgins $25M. It’s a backwards allocation of resources. Premier edge rushers with 17.5 sacks in consecutive seasons don’t grow on trees - they’re much harder to find than WR with Higgins production. Nobody else in the league is built this way - no team has one-third of their cap tied up in a QB and two WRs.

No it isn't.  They could sign all three and still put out a Super Bowl contending roster if their draft picks hit.  They'd have to be willing to re-structure those deals though and Brown's too cheap for that.

[HappyDays]

30 minutes ago, JGMcD2 said:

Extending Higgins is clearly limiting their ability to extend Hendrickson.

 

But it isn't. Gunner pointed out above they have plenty of cap space. They aren't extending Hendrickson because of his age and Mike Brown's cash limit. The choice was not Hendrickson or Higgins. Even if it was you could easily make the case that the 26 year old WR takes higher priority over the 30 year old pass rusher.

[billsfan89]

1 minute ago, Doc Brown said:

 

We'd always just restructure Allen's deal and I figured the Bengals would do the same thing with Burrow.  They didn't.  They did the right thing in re-signing two guys at premium positions coming off their rookie contracts.  That's really good business.  It's just the contract structure on Burrow, Higgins, and Chase's deals are unusual.  They're not back loaded at all.  Chase in particular actually will count more against the cap this year than he would've on his 5th year option.  That's crazy for a team shooting for the Super Bowl.  If they don't nail their draft picks of doing business this way they're screwed.

 

I give Burrow if he's somewhat healthy and not damaged goods two years before he asks out of Cincy similar to Carson Palmer. The Bengals owner is one of the most broke and notoriously cheap in the NFL. If they can't put together a good coaching staff, good offensive line, and decent defense around him and he's stuck for the next two seasons playing behind a bad O-line and a defense that can't stop anyone with a lackluster coaching staff Burrow's gonna get 31 after 2026 I can't see him wanting to spend the rest of his prime in that situation. 

 

If I were a team looking for a QB in the 2026 NFL draft I would be very interested in trading down to acquire picks for 2027 to make a play for Burrow. Any extra picks esp a first would be insanely helpful to facilitating a trade.