From the Bengals' own website! They're only planning to transition tag him!
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The Bengals are expected to make Spikes a transition free agent any day in the next 10. When asked if the Bengals can afford to put nearly $9 million into what is essentially two inside linebacker spots (middle linebacker Brian Simmons’ $3.8 million per year added to the $4.8 million transition tag), Lewis said, “Possibly. It’s a good thing to have two good players at the position. We want our guys to develop and we like our player. We think he has a good future. He has an option, we have options.”
Spikes has been lukewarm publicly about coming back to the Bengals despite the changes Lewis has brought in his first four weeks as coach. Lewis is looking for a sign that if the Bengals tender him the $4.8 million offer for this year, Spikes will realize there’s a 99.9 percent chance he’s going to be here because the Bengals can match any offer, and that he’ll buy into the offseason workouts instead of sitting out.
Lewis understands that the negative comments of players have been spewed in desperation, but his administration is clearly going to have a low threshold for such outbursts.
“They have been frustrated. We’ve got to change the frustration. It’s time to mature and move on,” Lewis said. “We want to have guys that want to be here. If they’re not happy with that, then there are 31 other teams. There are a lot of good players to go around.”
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The Bengals are expected to make Spikes a transition free agent any day in the next 10. When asked if the Bengals can afford to put nearly $9 million into what is essentially two inside linebacker spots (middle linebacker Brian Simmons’ $3.8 million per year added to the $4.8 million transition tag), Lewis said, “Possibly. It’s a good thing to have two good players at the position. We want our guys to develop and we like our player. We think he has a good future. He has an option, we have options.”
Spikes has been lukewarm publicly about coming back to the Bengals despite the changes Lewis has brought in his first four weeks as coach. Lewis is looking for a sign that if the Bengals tender him the $4.8 million offer for this year, Spikes will realize there’s a 99.9 percent chance he’s going to be here because the Bengals can match any offer, and that he’ll buy into the offseason workouts instead of sitting out.
Lewis understands that the negative comments of players have been spewed in desperation, but his administration is clearly going to have a low threshold for such outbursts.
“They have been frustrated. We’ve got to change the frustration. It’s time to mature and move on,” Lewis said. “We want to have guys that want to be here. If they’re not happy with that, then there are 31 other teams. There are a lot of good players to go around.”
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