“I don’t want to pay more money for the same team”

[*ochocincos*]

(07-25-2025, 09:24 PM)Ell Prez Wrote: Duke said this early in the offseason. Can anyone explain to me how this isn’t exactly what has happened? Especially with reports of the Hendrickson deal getting closer to happening with a significant bump in salary. Tee got more expensive, Chase got more expensive, Hendrickson most likely.


What did we really do this offseason? Who did we add that’s going to take us from missing playoffs to playing in the AFC championship game?

Tobin needs to learn that's how Free Agency works...
You pay good money for good veterans, and you have to supplement that with value veterans and draft picks to build the best team.

Does it suck that Burrow, Chase, and Higgins are no longer on their rookie deals?
Absolutely.
But now it's on Tobin and the rest of the FO and coaches to identify good players to fill the gaps now that so much of the cap is being eaten up by Burrow, Chase, and Higgins.

All 3 of these core guys impacted the success of the team their first or second year, resulting in good bang for the buck.
They need these (especially early) draft picks of the past couple years to start producing and being significant contributors to not decline.

If the Bengals didn't want to pay more money for the same team, they should probably have let some of the expensive guys walk and found (better) ways to backfill them with cheaper options.