The 2025 Free Agency Thread

[method man]

You'd want Hendrickson and Cincy's 3rd and 4th? If so, that's not going to happen.

A 1st for a 3rd and 4th is the equivalent of a 2nd in trade value

 

[SkinsFTW]

Of all Ron's failed draft picks, not getting CB Gonzales (NE) in his last draft is the worst. That would have solved are DB issue and allowed us to focus on other areas. For some reason I am still upset about it.

Probably the dumbest drafting dude in league history. But without his incompetence there is zero chance that we end up with Daniels.

 

[SkinsFTW]

A 1st for a 3rd and 4th is the equivalent of a 2nd in trade value

Cincinnati would just trade for a second then because they need all the picks they can get after those WR deals.

 

[RWJ]

A 1st for a 3rd and 4th is the equivalent of a 2nd in trade value.

I agree with the value aspect but are you saying in a trade for Hendrickson, Cincy gets our 1st and we get Hendrickson and Cincy's 3rd and 4th round picks?

 

[mistertim]

I really don't see why it would be a bad idea to give up a 2nd round pick for a first team All-Pro stud edge rusher. I get the ideology of building through the draft. But we have a 2 season window to win a SB before we have to make JD the highest paid player in NFL history and will then have to deal with him taking up an outsized portion of our cap. Do we really think it's likely that our 2nd round pick will not only end up being an absolute stud elite player, but that he'll also develop into that fast enough to be a major piece in a SB run over this season and next?

 

[SkinsFTW]

Peters should be able to find someone worthy in the draft who will then be paid under 5M a year instead of the 35+M that Hendrickson is going to expect. That's why he was brought here. Snyderatto is long gone.

I'd think a home grown 2nd contract elite player is likely worth paying the big bucks but not a 30yo player coming from another team who is also going to cost us one of the sub 5M a year dudes.

 

[Bulldog]

I for one am not freaking out about having to pay Jayden in 3 years and feeling the urge to sign or trade for every 29/30/31 year old player with creds in the NFL in order to shoe in a quick Super Bowl.

The last thing I want to see is for Jayden to hit the season for his extension and see a team where the Trey Hendricksons of the world are 33 years old and less productive or working on overbloated contracts where they are under producing.

You build the team the right way, we traded for Tunsil, Samuel and Lattimore at our most pressing areas of need and I think that IS ENOUGH of dealing the picks.

Go into the draft and let's get a pass rusher and stop chasing our shadows concerned that failure is ahead otherwise.

If he stays healthy Daniels will be here 13 or 14 years, let's not make believe we win in 2025 or we turn into pumpkins.

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[mistertim]

Peters should be able to find someone worthy in the draft who will then be paid under 5M a year instead of the 35+M that Hendrickson is going to expect. That's why he was brought here. Snyderatto is long gone.

I'd think a home grown 2nd contract elite player is likely worth paying the big bucks but not a 30yo player coming from another team who is also going to cost us one of the sub 5M a year dudes.

You get what you pay for. Hendrickson is the #2 edge rusher in the entire NFL, just behind Garrett, and is someone that offenses will immediately have to game plan for. With that 2nd rounder we could probably draft at least a serviceable player, if not a solid starter. The chances of that 2nd round guy becoming an elite All-Pro edge rusher are statistically extremely unlikely.

 

[mistertim]

I for one am not freaking out about having to pay Jayden in 3 years and feeling the urge to sign or trade for every 29/30/31 year old player with creds in the NFL in order to shoe in a quick Super Bowl.

The last thing I want to see is for Jayden to hit the season for his extension and see a team where the Trey Hendricksons of the world are 33 years old and less productive or working on overbloated contracts where they are under producing.

You build the team the right way, we traded for Tunsil, Samuel and Lattimore at our most pressing areas of need and I think that IS ENOUGH of dealing the picks.

Go into the draft and let's get a pass rusher and stop chasing our shadows concerned that failure is ahead otherwise.

If he stays healthy Daniels will be here 13 or 14 years, let's not make believe we win in 2025 or we turn into pumpkins.

It's not about "freaking out" it's about realizing that after 2026 we'll likely have to hand JD the biggest contract in NFL history. That will probably be close to $500 million, which will become a decent portion of our cap. After that, we'll have to rely a lot on the draft vs bringing in impact free agents, etc. So while we have an elite QB on a rookie deal, it makes sense to try to load up on talent that can help us win a SB now, while we can still afford them.

 

[Bulldog]

Trey Hendrickson was a third round draft choice.

I have confidence Peters can go into a draft and find a guy with 2 picks in the top 60 to rush the passer.

Let's not make believe that one outside guy is the SOLE answer to moving forward.

If I am not mistaken Hendrickson played last year and lead the league in sacks? Did the Bengals make the playoffs?

Where was Cincinnati's defense ranked overall?

There is no defensive player outside of the Lawrence Taylor, Reggie White, Aaron Donald type Hall of Famers that can tilt the play on that side of the ball like you can on offense at the quarterback position.

I hope folks aren't saying that either we trade for Hendrickson or this team misses the boat and might as well close up shop and forget about competing in 2025.

Have some faith the guy that just got your team to 12-5 and 14-6 overall including playoffs can find help on the DL to rush the passer.

 

[skinsinparadise]

I understand the sentiment that it feels like AP is microwaving the roster. I think we all envisioned deep, all-star draft classes to rebuild this roster.

But two things happened that didn’t jive with one another. Ron left the pantry with nothing in it. AP drafted wagyu filet mignon in Jayden. They simply cannot go about building the menu the old fashioned way as a result.

Exactly.

We've graduated from walking into a Burger King, dressed down, wearing flip flops to we got invited to a 4 Michelin star restaurant, where all the other customers are wealthy and wearing tuxes. Somehow with all of that we were not only accepted in the high end restaurant, we were almost the belle of the ball in spite of walking in with rags. This all came out of nowhere.

And it was weird but in a cool way. Some national observors said its the biggest rags to riches NFL climb in one season that they've witnessed in eons -- and if Washington won the SB, it would be Hollywood movie worthy.

It was wild and weird. And I can't really think of a recent precedent that's apples to apples. Some say the Texans. Maybe. But I don't think that was apples to apples. The Texans didn't get to the championship game and as good as Stroud was -- he wasn't IMO Daniels. Also, Daniels isn't just a great QB but he's so clutch. Some I think were too harsh with Kirk when he was here as to lacking the clutch gene. Kirk IMO had moments, he was up and down on that front. But Kirk was good, not special. Herbert for example has elite talent but he's accused of not being big in the big games.

Daniels on the other hand is clutch and is a big game QB. For that reason, I don't think last season was a fluke. And I do think the SB window is open now. He is a high stakes clutch QB which is perfect for any playoff run.

What was so weird about the climb last season was it was Daniels carrying this team on his back probably more so than any other QB in the playoffs including Mahomes. Yet with Daniels doing just about everything they almost made the SB. Imagine Daniels with some help?

I don't think Peters is microwaving this at all. If he was microwaving. I think he'd..

A. Overpay for younger FAs who are good but not great and we'd likely be stuck with some likely bad contracts but who cares we will deal with cap issues later

B. Overpay for a medicore LT like Moore and pay him elite level money. It may work, it may not but what the hell, give it go, we got the cap room, lets burn through it and see what happens

C. Shop in the aisle of WRs who are just OK and overpay them. OK Amari Cooper was once great. give him what he wants. We will deal with the consequences later.

Instead...

A. Peters decided to trade a 5th round pick for the best YAC WR in the league. If I recall the success rate for 5th round picks is about 15% at best. so we don't get the next Roy Helu (I think he was a 4th), or Tim Settle (he was ironically one of the best 5th rounders) or Keith Ismael, or whomever.

B. Decide to protect the team's most important asset, Jayden Daniels with an elite LT.

C. I want to see them do more on the D line and I think they will. But so many screamed for them to build a defense that can stop the run. And they've done exactly that.

D. I actually think Jonathan Jones and Will Harris are better against the pass versus St. Juste and Forbes and Chinn. So I think in a sneaky way their seconday is better, too.

Yeah they got more work to do. I want an edge who can bring fear to the opponents. But if you told me before the off season Jayden at this point will have an elite LT, finally have a dangerous 2nd receiving weapon, would bring back almost every player that helped last season, I'd be jazzed.

And as for microwaving the team, he's protecting an asset that is just as valuable as draft picks, the cap. If its microwaving the team, Cerrato style, Peters wouldn't be signing mostly cheap veterans on short term contracts. He'd be paying the 33 year D Lawrence, 16 milliona year for three years or paying name that dude 20 million for three-four years, etc. Or loading up on a bunch of 10-15 million dollar players and be damned about the cap consequences.

The team that's closer to microwaving their roster is the Vikings. They have less draft picks now than we do and signed a whole bunch of FAs to fat contracts.

 

[mistertim]

Trey Hendrickson was a third round draft choice.

I have confidence Peters can go into a draft and find a guy with 2 picks in the top 60 to rush the passer.

Let's not make believe that one outside guy is the SOLE answer to moving forward.

If I am not mistaken Hendrickson played last year and lead the league in sacks? Did the Bengals make the playoffs?

Where was Cincinnati's defense ranked overall?

There is no defensive player outside of the Lawrence Taylor, Reggie White, Aaron Donald type Hall of Famers that can tilt the play on that side of the ball like you can on offense at the quarterback position.

Who cares if he was a 3rd round pick? How many 3rd round picks end up being elite All-Pros? That argument is so stale. It reminds me of when people would say things like "Well, Tom Brady was a 6th round pick!" when debating about taking a QB high in the draft or trying to trade or sign one for a lot. Statistically, a 2nd or 3rd rounder is extremely unlikely to become an elite top 3 player at his position.

And one huge impact dominant pass rusher can certainly make a big difference. Yes, Cincy's defense was ranked pretty poorly overall, but that doesn't mean that having a dominant edge rusher wouldn't be a big boost to us. Cincy's season could also have gone either way. They lost 6 games by a TD or less.

People are giddy about giving up a 3rd and change for a franchise pro bowl LT (which they should be) but then some completely balk at giving up a 2nd for an All-Pro pass rusher which, along with LT, is one of the premiere non-QB positions.

 

[Bulldog]

Jonathan Jones is a much better man cover corner than St. Juste, that isn't really an argument.

Washington isn't really tied into Tunsil, Samuel or Lattimore beyond 2025 although for the picks given up if these guys max out on the field it will be difficult to just let them go elsewhere.

But in the case of Hendrickson and Myles Garrett before him, this is not a deal that is going to come at reasonable cost. We are going to not only have to give up a high pick but then pay him and lock into a guy that will be in a wheel chair retired by the time we get through paying him his $125 or $140M.

I would rather not do that at this point.

I don't remember the Chiefs trading that many picks away when Mahomes was ready to start in the thought they were looking at a short window.

In fact Kansas City has been competitive for the Super Bowl since 2019 consistently each season and that is because Brett Veach has been very successful at finding the Chris Jones and Trent McDuffie type players in the draft.

I think winning is so new for some folks they just don't have any patience at all in building a team.

 

[skinsinparadise]

 

[Bulldog]

He was effective last year for the Giants. He's best suited as situational pass rusher though because of his size.

But Roseman didn't overpay for him which is why he is one of the best GM's in the game.

 

[clskinsfan]

I'd trade for Hendrickson in a heartbeat for our 2nd round pick. After that I would do what I've suggested a bunch and that's trade down as many times as I could slowly from 29 down to between 45-60.
Accumulate as many picks between 45-125 as possible bobbing and weaving between selecting players and additional trade downs for both this year and next years picks. I think we can pull it off even factoring in the slight discount of teams knowing we need to trade down. I think the key is to not go too far down too fast.. Peters is a G, I feel great he will set us up for success no matter what.
Fortune Favors the Bold.

Not really a great draft to trade up from the second to the first though. And it takes two to tango. Player evals are pretty much the same 20-60 in this draft.

 

[Bulldog]

Again, I don't remember Belichick or Reid making panic deals to try and contend when they didn't necessarily have to do it.

Belichick brought in some big names but guys like Randy Moss and Ted Washington came in at a time they were on the outs with their former teams and acquired for middle round draft picks.

Reid as well rarely gives away top picks. The Chiefs have spent money but Veatch and Reid don't trade their picks because with the right selections it's money in the bank.

And somehow the Chiefs were able to go to 5 Super Bowls and win 3 of them.

 

[clskinsfan]

Jonathan Jones is a much better man cover corner than St. Juste, that isn't really an argument.

Washington isn't really tied into Tunsil, Samuel or Lattimore beyond 2025 although for the picks given up if these guys max out on the field it will be difficult to just let them go elsewhere.

But in the case of Hendrickson and Myles Garrett before him, this is not a deal that is going to come at reasonable cost. We are going to not only have to give up a high pick but then pay him and lock into a guy that will be in a wheel chair retired by the time we get through paying him his $125 or $140M.

I would rather not do that at this point.

I don't remember the Chiefs trading that many picks away when Mahomes was ready to start in the thought they were looking at a short window.

In fact Kansas City has been competitive for the Super Bowl since 2019 consistently each season and that is because Brett Veach has been very successful at finding the Chris Jones and Trent McDuffie type players in the draft.

I think winning is so new for some folks they just don't have any patience at all in building a team.

KC actually traded up for Mahomes too.

 

[Bulldog]

Yep, tip of the cap to the truly most important position on the field.

It's not DE.