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The Cincinnati Bengals didn’t pull any punches in free agency when paying up to land cornerback Trae Waynes.
According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Bengals inked Waynes to a three-year deal worth $42 million.
But it gets more interesting.
Per those details, the Bengals will pay Waynes $20 million over the first year. He’ll get $31 million over two years and it averages out at about $14 million.
That’s a massive amount of money for Waynes. But looking closer, it’s clear the Bengals frontloaded it so they have an out just in case. The initial buy-in is huge but the front office has given itself some wiggle room after the first year.
This puts a big spotlight on Dre Kirkpatrick’s contract, which could end up cut in order to salvage some of the costs here.
The real evaluation of this will come down to how much is guaranteed — but nobody can come close to suggesting the Bengals don’t spend now.
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