***Official Bengals Free Agency Thread***

[3wt]

(03-28-2021, 07:46 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Bengals still have $24m in cap space and yet they only signed 1 meaningful player on the OL.

Been trying to stay balanced in my thinking, but I'll go ahead and vent.

I still believe that Lawson was the better DE and we should have just signed him.

We blew the opportunity to sign a solid guard with no injury/ performance issues when we let Zeitler sign with someone else.   While I'm sensitive to the fact that he may just not have wanted to come here, and wanted to play for a more competitive team.   But he and Reiff were the sweet spot we needed to insure a solid improvement to the OL

I'm also sensitive that there are some really good interior O linemen in the upcoming draft.   But I have no confidence we will draft them, preferring to sign the best tackle available in the 2nd round.  While that IS a priority, I believe there is more tackle depth in the 3rd/ 4th round and the biggest concern on the O line is the interior at this point.

I think it is too late to find a really reliable upgrade at guard in free agency at this point.  They keep dicking around signing mediocre players.   In my opinion either sign a really good end (Kerrigan - whose ship has sailed) or resign one of your upcoming challenging players (I'm thinking Bates).

We'll see.   But my gut tells me two things:

1. We missed the boat in getting our O-line and D-line upgraded.  And
2. We should have moved on from Anarumo.  The smell out there says that the players don't like the guy and are all wishing he was gone.
   

I realize I am spouting from a pretty ignorant position.

But I had the same gut about weapons of mass destruction in the Bush administration.