The 2025 Free Agency Thread

NickyJ said:
Mayfield seems like he's had an inconsistent career. Maybe half of it is his own fault, but it's hard for me to tell. He started good in Cleveland, was on fire when Greggg was head coach, then poor with Kitchens, then great in 2020, then injured but without anyone at the time seeming to realize just how much. Cleveland was stupid to ditch him for Watson, but he looked so bad in Carolina that Darnold at his lowest point was still competing for starts. Then he looked good as a backup on a team that should have been good enough for the playoffs but got derailed by injuries, and went to Tampa because they didn't really have anyone else to replace Brady.

All in all, I'd grade Mayfield as a "pretty okay" QB with flashes of "really good" now and then. But he got drafted as a 1st overall, and it's been a long time since he scared me like a 1st overall should. I think he's got a less flashy Kirk career arc. Doubted, discarded, earns his respect, but will never carry a team the last few steps into a Super Bowl.
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Fair enough, that does answer my question about why the league slept on Baker, he did play poorly for the Panthers after being injured the year before, and he can be inconsistent, but I still think you’re selling him short.

Look at Baker’s stat line from last year: He completed 71% of his passes for 4500 yards and 41 touchdowns, which put him in the top three in the NFL in all three categories.

Or consider this, Baker has a 105.9 career passer rating in the playoffs, which is currently the best in league history among players with more than 150 attempts. He won a playoff game in 2023 and you will recall he gave us all we could handle in 2024. And that playoff win in Cleveland is a big deal, it’s the only playoff win they’ve had in 30 years, and he had to beat their nemesis Pittsburgh in back-to-back weeks to do it.

If you’re keeping track, Baker’s two playoff wins are twice as many as Kirk Cousins in 6 fewer seasons, and the league has been considerably more generous to Kirk, so maybe the comparison is a little unfair. I don’t know if Baker will ever play in a Super Bowl, but I wouldn’t say never.
 
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My fear with Hendrickson is we'd be buying at the top of the market.
With deebo we bought low, a 5th rounder with only one year left on his contract at a reasonable price is a small gamble.

With tunsil the price was pretty fair for a franchise tackle and they don't come available often so we did what we had to to protect jayden.

Hendrickson is gonna cost us decent draft capital which we're already very limited on but he's also going to get a monster contract that could be crippling if he declines or gets hurt.

He's the type of player and at the age where an acl tear and he'll likely never be the same or close to it and even if he stays healthy is just old enough where it's more likely than not he won't live up to the contract he wants.

He wants to get paid for past services rendered (i don't blame him) but we need to be real careful we don't foot that bill.
 
Chris 44 said:
On the other hand I could see Cincinnati not budging out of stupidity and spite, and forcing Hendrickson to play this year or not get paid, sit out and be in the same position next year. Though I would love have him on our team.
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Ironically enough, they did this with Chad Ochocinco, refusing to trade him, even when that buffoon Cerrato came offering two first round draft picks—the picks used on Brian Orakpo and Trent Williams
 
There is a new fear with Hendrickson. There's an old saying in the NFL. "Once a player starts thinking about retirement, it's over."

Does Hendrickson still have the fire? Is his only motivation money? There's no guarantee he will be the player he was the last few years. I'm probably wrong, but for whatever reason I've been leery of him from the start. Now, I wanted us to break the bank for Miles Garrett, but for some reason Hendrickson never felt like the guy. I mean I know he accumulates stats, but is he a great player on an awful defense or is he a stat collector who doesn't elevate his side of the ball? The Bengal's defense the last two years has been awful. Is he collecting sacks by letting the running back have free reign? Is he a rich man's Lavar Arrington or Brian Orakpo? I mean his side of the ball is exactly why the Bengals keep losing. So, is he really the player you want to give away the farm for and then after the farm is gone go to the bank and mortgage ourselves to the hilt to give him a record setting offer?
 
I don’t see how we can be in the Hendrickson market. With all the draft capital we’ve surrendered for Tunsil, Lattimore, and Deebo, I think it would put us in a real bind. We need to bring in younger talent that isn’t going to cost $30m on top of multiple picks.

But FKM if the Eagles get him.
 
Riggo44 said:
But FKM if the Eagles get him
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It would be kind of fun watching them tee off on Prescott week one, he'd look like a looney tunes character out there with birdies swirling around his head.

But yeah we dont need the eagles getting better on the defensive line.
 
burgold said:
Does Hendrickson still have the fire? Is his only motivation money? There's no guarantee he will be the player he was the last few years.
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Things are different now--as we are all well aware. The last 5 months have proven that without a shadow of a doubt. However, we should all pause at this thought--we know it all too well.
 
Worth the watch for anyone questioning his motivation. Retirement? Where did that come from?

 
Chris, apparently he threatened Cinci with retirement if they don't renegotiate his contract.
 
burgold said:
Chris, apparently he threatened Cinci with retirement if they don't renegotiate his contract.
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I haven’t heard any such thing from him yesterday or elsewhere. He did say he would not play this season under the current contract but that is not ‘retirement’.

Pretty classy of Zack Taylor to text him that he will be fined if he doesn’t attend mandatory minicamp in 30 days.
 
Chris said:
I haven’t heard any such thing from him yesterday or elsewhere. He did say he would not play this season under the current contract but that is not ‘retirement’.

Pretty classy of Zack Taylor to text him that he will be fined if he doesn’t attend mandatory minicamp in 30 days.
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Trash organization. I think they are too petty to trade him. And they certainly aren’t going to pay him.
 
Anselmheifer said:
Trash organization. I think they are too petty to trade him. And they certainly aren’t going to pay him.
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Part of me feels he should just play out the year and then hit free agency next year where he can go where he wants and negotiate on his terms. Obvious down side is that he needs to play well to earn any future contract which benefits the Bengals this year, which doesn't seem right, and also of course the risk of injury, he gets hurt bad enough at his age this years paycheck could be his last. Tough spot for him to be in.
 
I get the concerns about his age and cost, and I tend to think holding out like this is a red flag, but I’m still surprised to see so much negativity around Hendrickson. Have you watched him play? He is consistently an impact player, and has been for years.
 
its funny how up in arms the whole NFL community over the Hedrickson situation.
First of all ... This is all posturing... he wasn't getting the deal he wanted so now he is negotiating through the media as the next step... similar to Tyrek Hill, Aiyuk, etc.. just a negotiating tactic. Bungals will resign him .... or give him additional money this year to keep quiet and playing. I highly doubt he is going anywhere.
 
Faithful Fan said:
I get the concerns about his age and cost, and I tend to think holding out like this is a red flag, but I’m still surprised to see so much negativity around Hendrickson. Have you watched him play? He is consistently an impact player, and has been for years.
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I usually consider it a bit of a red flag as well, but from what I've read, it sounds like Cincy's brass have not been negotiating in good faith and have all around been acting like jackwagons.

Also, D’Pablo - I don't know where you're getting the "drama queen" stuff, but I've never heard anything like that about Hendrickson. From what I've read it's mostly the opposite: super hard worker, dedicated to what he does, extremely intense on the field and humble and unassuming off of it.

And sure, we could go for Clowney for much less, but there's a reason he costs must less. He's basically a JAG at this point. Mediocre pass rusher, good against the run. I'd be fine with him for cheap, but he's not even in the same conversation as Hendrickson from an impact viewpoint IMO.
 
Riggo44 said:
"Lead the 27th best defense in the country..." Yeah, hard pass. :ROFLMAO:
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I don’t get this complaint. For one thing, prolific offenses often look bad in the team defense category because they get involved in shootouts. For another, total defense is not a measure of a defensive end the way total offense is the measure of a quarterback, and even if it was Hendrickson also played on top 5 defenses in 2020 and 2022.
 
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