10-21-2020, 02:50 PM
(10-21-2020, 10:54 AM)fredtoast Wrote: There are no more 3 or 4 year "rebuilding plans" in the NFL anymore. Teams expect to turn around in one or two seasons. That means you don't get rid of every single quality player ion your roster. You rebuild around your current top players.
It is n ot as easy to replace talent as some people seem to think. Many free agents are flops. Outside of the first round many draft picks flop. If you have a dozen new holes in your roster you can't afford to fill them all with expensive free agents, and you can't count on getting good players with every mid round draft pick. So you have to hold on to some of the good players you already have even when rebuilding.
That may be true of most teams in the NFL, however, we know the Bengals aren't most teams in terms of the way they operate. Yes, they went out and spent money in free agency this year for a change, but I doubt that was even a thought last season when they had an opportunity to trade aging veterans while they had some trade value in the middle of a 2-14 season. When you're a team that largely builds through the draft, you can bet your ass it's a 3 or 4 year rebuilding plan. It was apparent last year that by the time this team has a chance to be good again, AJ, Geno, and Dunlap will not be significant contributors. That's a hard thing to get through the homer's heads on here that predict them to make the playoffs every year.
