If Kenny Golladay is Looking For a One-Year Deal, Then the Bengals Are His Best Option

The Bengals made Golladay an offer for one-year this week

Author:
James Rapien
Updated:
Mar 19, 2021 7:02 AM EDT
Original:
Mar 18, 2021

CINCINNATI — Kenny Golladay is taking his time and vetting his options in free agency. The 27-year-old is the best wide receiver on the market.

The Bengals made him a strong one-year offer this week, but the Bears and Giants are also in the running.

Golladay visited Chicago on Wednesday and has a meeting scheduled with New York on Thursday evening.

The wide receiver market is down this year, partially due to the decrease in salary cap.

Instead of settling for a multi-year deal at less than market value, Golladay may prefer signing a big money, one-year contract so he can test free agency again next offseason.

"Most of the receivers that I talk to that are on the street right now, they all want one-year deals," ESPN's Dianna Russini said on the Ryen Russilo podcast. "So they're asking for double-digits on one-year, which to me that's tough. I understand what they're doing. I'm interested to see when this comes to fruition and how these deals get done and I'm not obsessed with contracts, but I want to see these contracts."

Russini was the first to report the Bengals' offer to Golladay. Her comments also align with the one-year, $10 million contract that the Dolphins and Will Fuller agreed to on Thursday.

If Golladay wants a one-year deal, then Cincinnati is the best landing spot. The Bengals still have over $13 million in cap space after signing defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi on Wednesday night.

Cincinnati also has two obvious cap cuts they can make in Geno Atkins and Bobby Hart. Moving on from both veterans would free up another $16 million in cap space.

The Bengals could realistically offer Golladay a one-year, $15 million contract with performance incentives that could increase his salary to $18 million in 2021.

The Bears and Giants could struggle to offer Golladay a similar one-year deal. Chicago was still over the cap (-10.5 million) until they released Pro Bowl cornerback Kyle Fuller on Thursday. They still can't offer Golladay a one-year deal nearly as lucrative as the one the Bengals can make.

New York has just $5.8 million in room according to Over the Cap. The Giants also signed veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph on Thursday, which is another reason why a one-year deal appears to be unrealistic.

Chicago and New York don't have the luxury of cap space. Cincinnati has the edge in that department. They also have a young star quarterback in Joe Burrow and a pass heavy offense.

Both the Bears and Giants will likely try to sign Golladay to a multi-year contract. If he decides to push for a one-year deal, then landing in the Queen City with Burrow is probably his best option

For the latest free agency news, bookmark AllBengals and check out some of our other articles below.

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