FanPost

An Early Look at Free Agency


Seeing as we are on a bye week, and real Bengals news is going to be hard to come by, this seems like a good time to begin thinking who are going to be free agents this season and next. The biggest thing to consider is that we will need to keep cap space open for next season, because we have a decent amount of guys coming due then, including AJ. All info is according to spotrac.com

Free Agents this season:

Anthony Collins (T)
Chris Crocker (S)
Brandon Ghee (CB)
Andrew Hawkins (WR)
Michael Johnson (DE)
Michael Boley (LB)
Taylor Mays (S)
Mike Pollak (G)
Chris Pressley (FB)
Vincent Rey (LB)
Dane Sanzenbacher (WR)
Alex Smith (TE)
Brandon Tate (WR)

My thoughts: I'd like to keep Collins, and Paul Alexander loves having tackle depth, but given how well he has played in spot starts and how overvalued tackles usually are on the market, I doubt we match what FA gives him. Crocker will be gone after the season... again. We most likely keep Ghee cheap, considering his injury history and our lack of secondary depth. I can't imagine Baby Hawk going anywhere else, but he could get some nice offers elsewhere if he performs well to end the season. Michael Johnson is playing his way to a big deal, not sure if we can take the cap hit. Boley is likely gone. Mays is probably back, he won't be terribly expensive and Zim still likes the upside. Pollak is likely returning because we need interior line depth. I hate to say it, but Sanzenbachah might be the odd man out at WR. We have a logjam around WR 4 or 5 with a bunch of guys who haven't separated themselves. Especially since Tate has shockingly played pretty well this season and probably earned another contract.

I skipped three guys who could be interesting. Vinny Rey, Chris Pressley, and Alex Smith. Vinny has played exceptionally well filling in for Maualuga, and has probably earned some field time even after Maualuga returns. The question is, will someone give him starter money? Between Lamur, Maualuga, Burfict, and Harrison, he may want to go somewhere else where he can be "the guy". Chris Pressley and Alex Smith are related in my mind. If we keep Pressley, I highly doubt we keep Smith, and vice versa. It depends on what the coaching staff thinks of our so far disappointing no-fullback strategy. Personal preference, use a fullback. Pressley is a fine football player.

So the way I look at it, we can say goodbye to Collins, Crocker, Johnson, Boley, Rey, Sanzenbacher, and Smith. That means we keep Ghee, Hawkins, Mays, Pollak, Pressley, and Tate. What do you guys think?

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan, which is as important as the views of Cincy Jungle's writers or editors.