Pay the man Mike Brown

THE DUKE · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 14287 Location: Centerville, OH

Bengals.com has a good article up on what Michael Johnson's uo to thiss offseason in working to get his degree and preparing for the season. Any character question marks look like they are all in the past now and at just age 26 he should be an effective DE the next 4-5 years. I'd rather they not have to mess around with the franchise tag and just herbal good 5 year extension signed. Plus we can tag Andre Smith if we can resign Johnson.
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-I am bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one else i'd rather be, than me.
-"Our life is what our thoughts make it" - Marcus Aurelius

TheVillain112 · Joined: 19 Feb 2010 Posts: 12487

Agree 1000%. What he brings in the locker room with his work ethic should be rewarded. Keep him and Geno and the rest of the defense will follow their lead...

theJ · Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Posts: 15893

THE DUKE · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 14287 Location: Centerville, OH

sparky151 · Joined: 07 Feb 2012 Posts: 1283 Location: Columbus, OH

MJ falls into the range between where you want to keep him and having to use the franchise tag on him. He's not a top 5 DE and not worth 11 mil per year. On the other hand we don't want to let him walk for just a comp pick in 2014. He and Andre have earned the right to shop themselves but staying with the Bengals makes sense for both players. They are productive here and the team has the money to pay them. I'd guess market value for Andre is 6-7 mil per year. He hasn't shown the ability to play the left side so he won't get LT money, especially with several on the market. He's probably better than Phil Loadholt, the other top RT available.

For MJ, he benefits from playing next to Geno and split time with Rucker his first 3 years. So I doubt he gets top DE money like Cliff Avril will get. I'd guess he gets 7-9 mil per year. If he goes elsewhere I think the Bengals could get about the same production by re-signing Gilberry and bringing Rucker back. They'd probably cost less combined than MJ will get.

sparky151 · Joined: 07 Feb 2012 Posts: 1283 Location: Columbus, OH

More Andre related but Reedy had a piece today where he said Andre would get a 9-9.5 mil contract on the open market, ie almost the amount of the franchise tag. I very much doubt that since most LTs make a lot less than that.

THE DUKE · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 14287 Location: Centerville, OH

It wouldn't shock me if MJ gets $10 mil per.

Andre I was thinking $8 mil, but I wouldn't be shocked if he gets $9 mil.
_________________

-I am bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one else i'd rather be, than me.
-"Our life is what our thoughts make it" - Marcus Aurelius

sparky151 · Joined: 07 Feb 2012 Posts: 1283 Location: Columbus, OH

Whitworth makes about 6 mil so it's hard to see Andre getting a lot more than that from the Bengals. Of course this is the team that franchised Stacey Andrews for 7.5 mil a few years ago.

MJ might get 10 mil from someone but it probably won't be the Bengals. He had 11.5 sacks but 5 of them were vs backup tackles for the Redskins and Ravens. He also benefits from playing next to Geno and wasn't a full time starter til Rucker left. I'd guess Avril will get the most money of this year's passrushers, then either MJ or Kruger.

THE DUKE · Joined: 28 Feb 2005 Posts: 14287 Location: Centerville, OH

ochocinco4pres · Posted: Sat Feb 16, 2013 12:20 pm Post subject:

sparky151 · Joined: 07 Feb 2012 Posts: 1283 Location: Columbus, OH

LondonBengal · Posted: Sun Feb 17, 2013 5:16 am Post subject:

sparky151 · Joined: 07 Feb 2012 Posts: 1283 Location: Columbus, OH

Who would pay Andre 10 mil per year? Jake Long might not get that much. The current highest paid RT in the league is David Stewart at 7 mil. That's not counting Jason Smith and Doug Free who won't be paid their scheduled amounts.

Pass rushers tend to get paid but I doubt MJ gets 10 mil either. Half his sacks came in 2 games vs backup tackles. If you take those out Gilberry was about as productive. Whoever plays RDE for the Bengals benefits from playing next to Geno so there aren't many doubleteams. If MJ goes to another team he would be less productive. If we lost MJ, I think we could re-sign Wallace and Rucker and be ok.

Since the Bengals have lots of cap space I think they might use it by letting players test the free agency waters with an offer to match. There's no evidence the players want out so a match from the Bengals should be enough to keep them while establishing market value. It also saves the player the hassle of moving, selling the house, etc.

INbengalfan · Joined: 21 Jan 2006 Posts: 4681 Location: Richmond, IN

Agreed Sparky. Plus, there aren't many teams that have the cap space to throw that kind of cash at players. MJ will end up around 6-7 mill average overa four to five year deal. ASmith will end up in the 5-6 mill range when all is said and done.

Most of the big spenders are OVER the cap as it is. Others, like Baltimore, have space, but are about to burn it up on a plyer or two of their own. Cleveland has the cap space, but MJ doesn't fit their 3-4 switch.
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Carson4MVP · Joined: 30 Mar 2007 Posts: 1289 Location: Hilliard