There are a few big names entering into the 2020 off-season that are currently not under contract. The biggest of them all is AJ Green. As we know, Green sat out the entire regular season and his playmaking abilities are not in question….his availability to take the field is. There are other notable names worth exploring: Darqueze Dennard, Tyler Eifert, John Jerry, Nick Vigil, Andrew Billings, Clayton Fejedelem and Josh Tupou.
The case to keep AJ Green: AJ is a baller and he takes two defenders with him all over the field. He has developed in a very similar fashion as Larry Fitzgerald has as he has aged and become a master in the slot as well as a perimeter receiver. He carried a cap hit of $15M in 2019 and he is expected to get at least $18M/year based on what Julio Jones received even though this superstar is 32 years young. Assuming that we draft Joe Burrow having a legitimate #1 receiver to pair with Tyler Boyd is a must to ensure success coming out of the gate for the young signal caller. Also, AJ is a leader and a fan favorite. The Brown family does not get a lot right (see: Andrew Whitworth) but there is no denying that AJ seems like he wants to be a Bengal for life, is a borderline HOFer if he continues with a few more healthy seasons, and will get a lot of balls thrown his way with a rookie QB headed into camp. Will he take a bit of a hometown discount? Probably not. Pay this man his money!
The case to move on from AJ Green: AJ has not been healthy the last two seasons and we have a lot of wasted cap space in a bench warmer. The offense has sputtered but it has given more opportunity to young receivers to get playing time. It is clear that Tyler Boyd has grown as a result of this and had 1,000 yards receiving in 2019. Do you pay a 32 year old $18M/year who now has an injury history and is on the downslide of his career is the real question. Conventional wisdom would say no and invest in youth, take that cap money and plug holes (ex: LB, OL, CB) but the Bengals are anything but conventional and never seem to win the FA off-season. What else can you get for $18M is the real question….we can’t buy draft picks so do we just take that money and re-sign Mixon early and extend young talent like Hubbard and Lawson with that coin? VERDICT: RE-SIGN
Darqueze Dennard: Let’s face it, Dennard has ups and downs and he has been relegated to a slot guy out of necessity because Kirkpatrick can’t cover consistently and Jackson III is supposed to be our shut-down man-to-man guy and rarely does a #1 lineup in the slot. Where does this leave Dennard? I think he is an average slot corner but flexible enough to play a consistent perimeter when injury and matchups dictate. He doesn’t get burned like other corners as much and can actually make tackles (I am looking at you Dre). He made $4.5M last year on a one-year deal so maybe yes we do sign him for 2-3 years at $5M per with some guarantees. VERDICT: RE-SIGN
Tyler Eifert: In 2019 Eifert was used sparingly to keep his brittle body from breaking one more time. This seemed to pay off, as Eifert was able to finish the season not on IR or walk away with any injuries for the season. What did we sacrifice for this? Tyler Eifert is what we sacrificed. If you go back and watch games, he was no longer that big playmaker up the middle or that guaranteed red zone threat. Towards the end of the season it looked like the staff was getting Uzomah more playing time and catches to see if they still even needed the former Pro Bowler. In 2019 Eifert was on a one-year $4M deal that said “prove to me that you won’t break again” but the stats don’t lie and they said 43 catches for 436 yards and 3 TDs. That is three more games and 10 less touchdowns than his breakout season in 2015. It I were the GM I would take a pass and watch him tear it up for the Patriots next season since they can’t seem to replace Gronk. VERDICT: LET GO
John Jerry: Bottom line, Jerry was terrible as the starting LT but if anyone actually watched the pre-season it was obvious that this was a setup for failure. He is a true Guard and in my mind expendable in 2020. As the line settled out in 2019, with Price and Jordan stepping into Guard, Jerry seems lost in the mix. He could be a cheap backup but I would personally rather use a late rounder in the draft to build depth or even explore FA. Jerry was just okay, we need guys that can step up as a starter and Guard feels like a position to me that should be plug and play. VERDICT: LET GO
Nick Vigil: One of the few invested-in bright spots of the linebackers was Nick Vigil. We have been patient and it has paid off. I saw Vigil get beat to spots in coverage often but I think it was largely based on our terrible zone defensive scheme. Vigil has been a great tackler and has stepped up as a leader. Going into the season we knew that LB was going to be a crutch for us, especially without Burfict but at least Vigil added stability. We just neeed two other guys to pair with him. Hopefully one of those can be Germaine Pratt who ended the season on fire and grew into the position. LB will still be a need in 2020 but hopefully we can build upon Vigil and Pratt to help stop the run and cover those TE’s which seemed to scorch us. VERDICT: RE-SIGN
Andrew Billings: When Billings was originally drafted I put my arms up in the air and cried victory. I thought he was the steal of that draft but he has certainly not lived up to that. As a rotational player this season with Tupou and Atkins, Billings still has not turned into that run-stopper that we pretended that Peko was for years. Now Peko could be on the cusp of winning a Super Bowl with the red hot Ravens but I digress. Billings would be a depth and continuity signing and that’s all. If we can get him on a three-year $2M per season deal then I would say pull the trigger. I can’t imagine teams are lined up to sign him, but I can be sold either way on him at this point. VERDICT: LET GO
Clayton Fejedelem: Fejedelem seems to be a quiet fan favorite. His is excellent on Special Teams and fills in as the third Safety nicely. He is not a full-time starter but certainly has a role on this team and plays it well. He is the consummate basketball 6th man and is one of those core guys that aren’t going to win you the Super Bowl but are going to make plays throughout the year to get you closer to it. At 27 he still has tread on the tires and is a good hedge in case of injury to the underperforming Williams and Bates of 2019. Our hope is that the safeties return to form in 2020 and Fejedelem can contribute to that rotation. VERDICT: RE-SIGN
Josh Tupou: Everything that Billings was not this year, Josh Tupou was last year and this. He made good plays, was consistent in the middle and paired with Atkins nicely. He didn’t wreck defenses but he did enough to open it up for the edge rushers to start wreaking havoc in the second half of the season. He is only 26 and point blank, I would like to have him back as would probably Dunlap, Hubbard and Lawson. VERDICT: RE-SIGN