Bengals wide receivers A.J. Green and Tyler Boyd are both entering contract years, and Cincinnati has expressed an interest in the pair of pass-catchers. Boyd, for his part, doesn’t plan to hold out in an attempt to get a new deal, as he explained to Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic.
“I’m just trying to do what’s right,” Boyd said. “I’m going to be a team player and go out there and work my tail off. I’m not going to try to skip out on reps or miss a day. That’s the best approach to it. Typically, a guy trying to come out to a season saying, ‘you have to pay me,’ it shows where the care is going.”
Boyd, the Bengals’ second-round pick in 2016, posted a breakout season in 2018 with career-highs in receptions (76), yards (1,028), and touchdowns (seven). He did all that while playing in only 14 games, as a late-season MCL sprain knocked him out for the year’s final two contests. Under new head coach Zac Taylor, Boyd will start in two-wide sets and move to the slot in three-wide receiver looks. He played 552 of his 773 offensive snaps in the slot in 2018.
“I definitely look at the market and see where guys is at,” said Boyd. “A great example is Sterling Shepard. I feel like our game is kind of similar, kind of close. He got four for $40MM. I kind of feel like I’m in that area. Hopefully, they come like that or a little bit more or around that way.”
If Boyd is willing to accept Shepard’s contract — which was actually for $41MM and contained $16.2MM in guarantees — the Bengals should probably work to close the deal. Boyd topped Shepard in every offensive category and finished higher than the Giants wideout in both Pro Football Focus‘ positional grades and Football Outsiders’ receiving metrics.
Agreed. If Boyd is willing to take $10mil/, the Bengals should do that TODAY.