Legal tampering period

[SunsetBengal]

(03-13-2023, 09:22 PM)samhain Wrote: Well, I still think there's a chance that this can pan out.  There's some logic to the road they're going down.  Jesse's deal was a non-starter here.  He just wasn't a guy they were ever going to sink that kind of coin into.  It's another symptom of having a lot of really good players and not being able to keep all of them forever.  On a shittier Bengal roster, he'd have been a must-sign.  Well, idk.  His agent was kind of a prick.

I'm a huge Bell fan, but if you told me it would take 10 mil per to retain him I'd have passed too.  

I feel like the best path might be for Hill to replace Bell.  Find a free safety to fill in Bates' role, and move forward.  Dax may not be on Bell's level yet, but I think his ceiling is much higher than Vonn's.  

On a less positive note, this sucks for Lou Anarumo.  He's tasked with replacing both safeties while already being saddled with good but not great corners, the best one being a huge question mark due to injury.  He'll have his work cut out for him getting the new-look secondary up to speed vs a loaded AFC.

His stock as a head coaching candidate could take a massive hit if this defense drops off and the magic isn't there anymore.  They don't exactly generate a ton of pressure, so they will need whoever steps in to cover extensively.

That's it right there.  Good Safeties cost less than good CBs, and having good Safeties makes average CBs viable.  Losing both good Safeties puts the defense in a very precarious position.  A position not typically solved by plugging in even the best of rookies, it's going to take signing a vet that develops instant chemistry with the house as it stands, a tall order.