01-27-2017, 02:33 AM
(01-27-2017, 01:46 AM)jowczarski Wrote: James Harrison, pass rush phenom who Bengals didn't use to rush the passer, looked like his playing days were over only to have a resurgence back in Pittsburgh where they utilize his strengths.
Antonio Bryant, Bengals sign a FA WR in a very weak FA WR year with a known knee problem, then they made the stupid mistake of allowing him to practice the first day of training camp instead of starting him on the reserve PUP list
From what I understand, Harrison told the Bengals he was going to retire, which is why they didn’t bring him back. I wasn’t here for that decision and it was a different coordinator, so I’m not sure.
My point was the front office signed a player whose strength is rushing the passer, but the coaches to utilized him according to his strengths.
Why?
Is the front office signing players that don't fit the coaches scheme or are the coaches not utilizing the players strengths? That's what I meant by disconnect.
Quote:As for Bryant – again I wasn’t here but clearly there was some kind of medical review breakdown there (at least to me).
It was a medical review break down, but there was more to it than just the medical breakdown.
The team didn't want to bring back T.J. Houshmandzadeh for his asking price, but what they spent on Laveranues Coles, Antonio Bryant, and Terrell Owens as T.J.'s replacement was damn near the same amount of money due to poor evaluation of free agents, an apparent medical review breakdown, and mismanagement of Bryant by the front office and the coaches. (I think part of that played into Carson Palmer's decision to leave, but that is just speculation on my part.)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but by allowing Bryant to practice on the first day of training camp they fully guaranteed his salary for the season. At least that was the situation to the best of my recollection. Had they put him on the reserve PUP list to start training camp rather than practice with the team, they could have determined the knee was still a problem and then the team wouldn't be on the hook for his salary. Either the front office should have communicated that to the coaches or the coaches should have known. Unless, I'm wrong about practicing Day 1 of training camp guaranteeing his salary in which case I don't have a valid argument about the salary portion. But, they still should have erred on the side of caution and at least put him on the reserve PUP list just to have him run routes or conduct conditioning drills off to the side just to test the knee the team already knew was a problem. If you put a player on the reserve PUP to start training camp without practicing they can rejoin the team as soon as they are off the list. If they practice one time and are put on the PUP list, they can't rejoin the team until Week 6.
