What A Terrible Sad News: Cincinnati Bengals QB Set On Free….
The 2023 season for the Bengals was inevitably going to fail after watching QB Joe Burrow suffer a season-ending wrist injury in Week 11.
But as the QB eyes his return in 2024, the team will have no excuses for doing anything less than contending for a Super Bowl.
With that in mind, here are a trade, cut and signing Cincinnati should make in the coming months.
TRADE: Move up in the 2024 NFL Draft to add a premier offensive tackle
The Bengals currently own the No. 18 pick in the first round of this year’s draft. But that may not be high enough to land a necessary addition to their offensive line.
Offensive tackle Jonah Williams is likely headed elsewhere in free agency after being forced to the right side following the signing of left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. last offseason. He even requested a trade from the team but later rescinded it.
That means Cincinnati must address the right tackle position early in the draft. And with several of the top offensive tackles expected to be taken early, the Bengals may need to trade up to ensure they’ll land one. It will probably take too much draft capital to move up for Notre Dame’s Joe Alt or Penn State’s Olumuyiwa Fashanu.
But Oregon State’s Taliese Fuaga, who ranks as Pro Football Focus’ third-best offensive tackle and No. 11 overall prospect on its big board, could be in the perfect spot for a small trade up.
The 6-foot-6, 334-pound offensive tackle would do his best to help Burrow avoid suffering any more season-ending injuries.
CUT: Safety Nick Scott
Scott signed a three-year, $12 million contract with Cincinnati last offseason as the team scrambled to find replacements for veteran safeties Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell, both of whom left in free agency.
But thanks to the emergence of Cincinnati’s 2023 third-round pick, safety Jordan Battle, Scott is now expendable.
If the team were to move on from Scott this offseason, it would save $2.3M in cap space while taking a $2M dead cap hit, per Spotrac.
It may not be enough savings for Cincinnati to let the reliable veteran backup go. But any extra space the Bengals can free up will help as they prepare to sign the next player below.
SIGNING: Wide receiver Tee Higgins
Higgins, the No. 33 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, is expected to receive the franchise tag if he and the Bengals can’t agree on a new contract.
But the team should do its best to make sure that doesn’t happen. Higgins would be the No. 1 wide receiver on some teams in the NFL after posting 257 catches for 3,684 yards and 24 touchdowns in his first four seasons. And Cincinnati is lucky enough to have him as its No. 2 WR to Ja’Marr Chase.
Higgins, Chase and Burrow are arguably the biggest reasons for Cincinnati’s recent success. So why would they decide to let any of them go?
Higgins is expected to be paid handsomely with a projected four-year, $74.4M contract, according to Spotrac.
But Cincinnati can afford it with $59.4M in cap space heading into 2024 and with a salary cap that continues to rise every year.
The Cincinnati Bengals had an underwhelming 2023-24 NFL season. This was in large part due to star QB Joe Burrow going down for the season with a wrist injury. After that, they had to watch Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs win yet another Super Bowl. Despite Mahomes and the Chiefs capturing their third Super Bowl in five seasons a few days ago, one major sports personality believes Burrow is still better.
Despite Mahomes winning another Super Bowl title this past Sunday, Skip Bayless truly believes Joe Burrow is still the superior quarterback. Bayless cites Burrow’s injury as a fortunate event for Mahomes and the Chiefs. Theoretically, it cleared one roadblock for the Chiefs to come out of the AFC. Here is Bayless’ exact quote:
One big discussion point was what happened in the 2023 AFC Championship game. The Chiefs won that game in a nailbiter and went on to win Super Bowl LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles. However, Bayless argues that Burrow and the Bengals should have won that game.
He cites an egregious penalty committed by the Bengals late in that game. It resulted in gifting the Chiefs an extra 15 yards to set up a game-winning field goal. Bayless believes that AFC Championship loss should not be counted against Burrow and that he has stepped up when it matters most.
Something that strengthens Bayless’ argument is that the Bengals are the only team in the last five seasons to win the AFC Championship besides the Chiefs. Plus, Burrow is just one of two quarterbacks to beat Mahomes in a playoff game. The other one is Tom Brady. It is safe to say that is good company to keep.
Burrow was drafted in 2020 while Mahomes was drafted in 2017. To keep this argument fair, let’s take a look at each of their numbers over the last four seasons. Burrow has over 14,000 passing yards and 97 touchdown passes in his short career.
So, how has Mahomes done in this stretch? He has over 19,000 passing yards and 143 touchdown passes. An important note is that Mahomes has been a lot healthier than Burrow during this stretch. Still, there is a notable difference in numbers between these two quarterbacks. Now, Burrow and the Bengals will have to try to take down the Chiefs while facing salary cap issues in 2024.
