FanPost

Bengals are in Super Bowl with fourth-most projected cap space in NFL



If you want to talk about the dichotomy between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, look no further than how the teams are currently constructed. The Bengals have $56.4 million in cap space available this offseason, while the Rams have the third-fewest cap space at about $137k. In other words, the Bengals are constructed well for the future, while the Rams are capped out for tomorrow in order to have a shot to win for today. When you take into consideration that the Rams also traded future draft picks for the like of Matt Stafford, the team is mortgaged to the hilt in the near future with little room to improve from their current roster. Meanwhile, the Bengals can free up an additional $10 million in cap space by cutting Trae Waynes, resulting in $66.4 million in available cap space. Talk about a tale of two cities!

The other theme to consider is which direction does the NFL really want to go? Does it want to promote a blueprint for team success by hyping a team that was constructed via top-of the-line transactional activities in high priced free agents, mortgaged draft capital, and hence, a ceiling for long-term sustained winning; OR does the NFL want to incentivize other franchises to follow the blueprint the Bengals are currently on? Organic growth through the draft, mixed with some key free agents on the defensive of the ball, resulting in over $56 million in cap space. Not bad for a small market team, who is trying to compete against a big metro-market team like Los Angeles. MLB had this soul-searching of differing philosophies many years ago, and MLB chose to reward their big market teams by allowing them certain advantages to procure services of certain players. The NFL, however, has had its roots on the longer vision, as evidenced by their practice of revenue-sharing and attempts of levelling the playing field through the draft. Nevertheless, the NFL will soon be faced with the same question -- what is the NFL's philosophy on what a successful team should be?

Hypothetically, if you were one of the 32 NFL franchise owners in the room and Roger Goodell asked you -- "In your humble opinion, which direction would you pursue to make your team better and for the league to be made stronger for sustainment in the future??

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.