12-04-2018, 02:03 PM
(12-04-2018, 01:52 PM)mon4078 Wrote: I think they probably did offer him a lower amount because the thought the already had his replacement.
"The Bengals wanted to keep Whitworth, and he wanted to return to Cincinnati. So why didn’t it happen?"
"It wasn't that the Bengals didn't try. A source close to the negotiations said they were competitive in their offers, but the gap between the money offered in the first year and the amount of fully guaranteed money the second year was just too great."
"The Bengals tried to plan for this day, looking to the future by drafting tackles Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher in the first and second rounds of the 2015 draft. But Whitworth was just too good to lose his spot, and Ogbuehi and Fisher weren't good enough to even challenge him for it.
To understand what happened, it would be necessary to go back to 2015, when Whitworth and the Bengals were trying to negotiate a contract extension. The talks dragged on through September of that year before the Bengals gave in and gave Whitworth a one-year, $9 million extension.
The Bengals' reluctance to move forward with the negotiations did not sit well with Whitworth's camp. It was a bitter taste that lingered.
It appeared that both sides were moving forward when the Bengals made offers to Whitworth's representatives in the weeks leading up to free agency, but they did not take the necessary steps to ensure he would not leave for another team.
A source close to Whitworth wondered why the team did not place the franchise tag ($14.8 million for one year), or transition tag ($12.6 million) on him. The transition tag would have allowed them to assess Whitworth's value while having the opportunity to match, while the franchise tag, though expensive if Whitworth actually played on it, could have protected their investment while they continued to negotiate.
The Bengals did neither."
http://www.espn.com/blog/cincinnati-bengals/post/_/id/26272/bengals-make-huge-mistake-in-losing-andrew-whitworth-to-rams
