There is no question that the Cincinnati Bengals are going to be facing some dire cap decisions over the next few years. While the 2024 offseason appears to force some tough decisions, the road is just going to get harder year after year from now on. Part of what makes salary cap conversations difficult is that the entire market is constantly growing so what may have been overpriced one day may seem like a huge bargain the next.
Cincinnati Bengals Negotiations Derailed by Baltimore Ravens
There is no secret that Bengals nose tackle D.J. Reader has been one of the most underrated 1-technique defenders in the entire NFL over the past few seasons. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, his contract will officially end at the beginning of the league year next week and the team has been desperately trying to sign him to a new contract.
While the team may seem flush with cash now, the inevitable hit from superstar quarterback Joe Burrow‘s record-setting $55 million per year contract is going to come next offseason and the team is trying to make some tough decisions now to alleviate that pain. Reader has been a force on the inside but he will be turning 30 this offseason and is also coming off of a season-ending hamstring injury that has been known to knock aging players down a few tiers in terms of talent.
For Cincinnati to lock him up, they will need to push a team friendly contract on him. Spotrac (an online contract database) lists fair market value for Reader at just under $15 million per year. That alone may be too steep for Cincinnati now with Burrow’s contract coming under question and the onslaught of money that is going to be spent on wide receiver over the next few seasons with both Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase expecting sizable contract extensions.
Now we skip ahead to Friday afternoon: the Baltimore Ravens just gave their talented young defensive tackle Justin Madubuike a market altering contract. While it isn’t a record setting deal by any stretch of the imagination, the four-year contract averaging $24 million per season will lift the market for defensive tackle up approximately 20%.
Based on calculations and data gathered by Spotrac, fair market value for Madubuike was approximately $20 million per year. That indicates that Baltimore gave Madubuike $4 million more per year than expected at defensive tackle. After other contracts have followed that trend this offseason, a 20% offset over the original fair market value should be expected.
That means that while we were expecting to be able to negotiate Reader down to $15 million per year, it is likely that the expected contract value would be closer to $18 to $19 million per season to bring an aging tackle with an injury problem back to the defense. While I will hate to see Reader leave, Cincinnati simply won’t be able to afford paying their entire talented roster what they are worth on the open market.
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