skinster
03-29-2012, 05:27 PM
The Bengals are by far the most interesting team in football. First of all it's just funny that they sign every first round bust known to man. They are young. They have a young rising star QB, and a WR who looks like he's going to be one of the greats. No position is lacking of young talent. They have the most cap space in the league, and they have the best draft picks in the league for the next two years. They seem to have the most tools to be a dynasty. But despite all the resources to be great for years to come, they don't sign any free agents, young or old; they don't re-sign their own starters or valued backups; they don't pay their best players anything close to what they are worth; and they have a history of never working the draft board.
The biggest question I have about the Bengals is does the cap floor apply to them? Without cap credits, they started out FA with 41 million to spend, yet they have signed 5 players to more than the vet min, and outside of re-signing Reggie Nelson for 18 mil (2.5 guaranteed), they haven't signed one contract over 10 mil. And they let multiple starters walk without replacing them (Rucker-20 mil, Livings-19 mil, Fenane-12 mil, Wilson, Caldwell, Williams, Lee, McGlynn, Roland, and probably Simpson)--Benson and Jennings also were dumped but were replaced.
I find it extremely interesting who they keep signing. Last year they signed Benson, Jennings, Howard, Lawson, Mays, Clements, Nelson, Jones as former highly touted players all abandoned by their teams signed for dirt cheep. This year they let Jennings and Benson walk but signed Derrick Harvey, Jamaal Anderson, and Jason Allen. How many former first round busts can one team have?
I don't want to hear that they don't spend because the owner wants to save money. He's not an idiot, he knows the best way to make money is to win ballgames. Every one of these owners are willing to max out the salary cap if they would make the playoffs.
Now to look at the Bengals draft.
They have 2 firsts/2 fifths this year and 2 seconds next year (will turn into 2 1sts if raiders make playoffs)
Since they have a massive amount of cap space yet still decided to not spend on FA or re-sign their players, I assume they plan to improve almost exclusively through the draft, so I'd think they will use all their picks. IMO this is mentally ill. The only teams I see that are successful yet don't spend on free agents (at the very least as fillers) are the ones that don't have the cap space because it is tied up in their previously paid draft picks. The Bengals currently have nobody on their team that has cashed in after completing their rookie contracts.
Many of us say that if we ran the team, we could do better. I don't think its really even arrogance to say that I could turn this team into a consistent playoff team with the tools they have. If they use their massive cap space they have now to fill the holes they have on their team, they could draft purely based on talent. They could frontload the FA contracts they gave out his year so that when they cam sign their young players to larger deals later. They have holes at G, CB, WR, and SS. The Benglas love to run the ball, so I would make guard my priority. I would have signed Ben Grubbs to a large contract, LaRon Landry to a low-risk high reward deal, 1-2 young non-stud WR for depth (Robert Meachem/Josh Morgan/Eddie Royal/Mario Manningham/Jerome Simpson), and also for depth one young non-stud CB (Terrell Thomas/Tracy Porter/Aaron Ross).
Here's where the real dynasty kicks in. Because I filled holes in FA, there is no need to use my second first round pick immediately. I would be shocked if the Bengals couldn't find a trade partner to trade the 21st overall pick for a future 1st and a present 3rd (keep in mind some years they might be able to get more...the patriots got a 2nd and a future 1st for the 28th). Next year the Bengals would have 2 1sts again, and again I would say do the same trade. I think its pretty undeniable that one first round pick is not as valuable as an eternity of extra 3rd rounders. Hell I'd go so far as to say an eternity of extra 5th rounders is worth one 1st round pick, but that's just me.
The biggest question I have about the Bengals is does the cap floor apply to them? Without cap credits, they started out FA with 41 million to spend, yet they have signed 5 players to more than the vet min, and outside of re-signing Reggie Nelson for 18 mil (2.5 guaranteed), they haven't signed one contract over 10 mil. And they let multiple starters walk without replacing them (Rucker-20 mil, Livings-19 mil, Fenane-12 mil, Wilson, Caldwell, Williams, Lee, McGlynn, Roland, and probably Simpson)--Benson and Jennings also were dumped but were replaced.
I find it extremely interesting who they keep signing. Last year they signed Benson, Jennings, Howard, Lawson, Mays, Clements, Nelson, Jones as former highly touted players all abandoned by their teams signed for dirt cheep. This year they let Jennings and Benson walk but signed Derrick Harvey, Jamaal Anderson, and Jason Allen. How many former first round busts can one team have?
I don't want to hear that they don't spend because the owner wants to save money. He's not an idiot, he knows the best way to make money is to win ballgames. Every one of these owners are willing to max out the salary cap if they would make the playoffs.
Now to look at the Bengals draft.
They have 2 firsts/2 fifths this year and 2 seconds next year (will turn into 2 1sts if raiders make playoffs)
Since they have a massive amount of cap space yet still decided to not spend on FA or re-sign their players, I assume they plan to improve almost exclusively through the draft, so I'd think they will use all their picks. IMO this is mentally ill. The only teams I see that are successful yet don't spend on free agents (at the very least as fillers) are the ones that don't have the cap space because it is tied up in their previously paid draft picks. The Bengals currently have nobody on their team that has cashed in after completing their rookie contracts.
Many of us say that if we ran the team, we could do better. I don't think its really even arrogance to say that I could turn this team into a consistent playoff team with the tools they have. If they use their massive cap space they have now to fill the holes they have on their team, they could draft purely based on talent. They could frontload the FA contracts they gave out his year so that when they cam sign their young players to larger deals later. They have holes at G, CB, WR, and SS. The Benglas love to run the ball, so I would make guard my priority. I would have signed Ben Grubbs to a large contract, LaRon Landry to a low-risk high reward deal, 1-2 young non-stud WR for depth (Robert Meachem/Josh Morgan/Eddie Royal/Mario Manningham/Jerome Simpson), and also for depth one young non-stud CB (Terrell Thomas/Tracy Porter/Aaron Ross).
Here's where the real dynasty kicks in. Because I filled holes in FA, there is no need to use my second first round pick immediately. I would be shocked if the Bengals couldn't find a trade partner to trade the 21st overall pick for a future 1st and a present 3rd (keep in mind some years they might be able to get more...the patriots got a 2nd and a future 1st for the 28th). Next year the Bengals would have 2 1sts again, and again I would say do the same trade. I think its pretty undeniable that one first round pick is not as valuable as an eternity of extra 3rd rounders. Hell I'd go so far as to say an eternity of extra 5th rounders is worth one 1st round pick, but that's just me.