Although the league does not impose a deadline for non-franchised-tagged players to sign a multiyear extension with their club, the Bengals impose a “soft” deadline to get such extensions done. That deadline is the day before the regular season opens, and as Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer writes, it has come and gone without a new deal for the Bengals and tight end Tyler Eifert, who is eligible for unrestricted free agency next year.
We heard back in July that the extension cases for Eifert and LB Vontaze Burfict were difficult to analyze, for a number of reasons. However, the club was able to reach a three-year deal with Burfict several days ago, despite that fact that he will be suspended for the first three games of the 2017 season.
Eifert, when healthy, is one of the best tight ends in the game, and he just turned 27 two days ago. Under the fifth-year player option, Eifert will earn $4.782MM in 2017, and per Owczarski, Cincinnati is not opposed to using the franchise tag on him next season if he produces the way he did in 2015, when he hauled in 52 catches for 615 yards and a whopping 13 touchdowns en route to his first Pro Bowl selection. The tag number for tight ends next season is projected to be right around $10MM, which sounds fairly reasonable for a player of Eifert’s caliber.
That would make Eifert close to the highest-paid tight end in the game in terms of average annual value. Seattle’s Jimmy Graham currently leads all tight ends in AAV, as he earns $10MM per season, though two of Eifert’s 2011 draft classmates, Kansas City’s Travis Kelce and Washington’s Jordan Reed, are not far behind, and both of them top Graham in terms of total contract value. Considering Reed’s injury history, Eifert could certainly point to Reed’s deal (five years, $46.75MM with $14MM guaranteed) as a reasonable benchmark for his own contract.
Eifert’s injury history could complicate matters, although both sides want to get a deal done. If Eifert can stay on the field for all of 2017, there is a good chance that the two sides can agree to a long-term deal next offseason.