From last night: My reaction to the Ja'Marr and Tee deals.
It would seem disingenuous to not acknowledge BOTH of the earned responses to yesterday's news.
1. Appreciation for the Bengals franchise altering approach to getting these deals done. They made Chase the highest paid non-QB in NFL history! They made Higgins the highest paid No. 2 WR in NFL history! Who are these Bengals? Duke Tobin did what he said they'd do. They have now locked up their three foundation players for over a half billion dollars: Burrow $275M, Chase $161M and Higgins $115M = $551M. That's certainly not being cheap. And, according to reports, they broke with their long standing model of refusing to guarantee money beyond year one of deals. And let's not forget, they gave Joe what he wanted and had repeatedly publicly called for. All of that's pretty damn impressive. And to be applauded.
2. There remains a lot of work to do. They were 9-8 and have missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons with Burrow-Chase-Higgins. And now comes the fallout from the timing of this process. As Paul Dehner Jr. pointed out on Sports Talk last night, the delay in getting deals done/cost increase basically cost them a $10M a year player. The Bengals still have multiple holes to fill and positions to upgrade to make. The first wave of free agency took quality options at various positions off the board. To this point, they have added a defensive lineman in TJ Slaton, back-up linebacker/special teamer in Oren Burks, and Samaje Perine. They still need two guards, a pass rusher and a linebacker, at least...Heavy lifting remains. Their margin of error has been reduced. It's more than a little scary to consider the upcoming draft might very well be the most important in franchise history. And they are down a pick, holding just six selections, after dealing their 7th rounder of Kahlil Herbert.
All of the above should be part of a fair and reasonable response to what the Bengals accomplished with these deals.
It would seem odd to leave out the 1st reaction when commenting on the signings. Agree?