(03-16-2023, 10:00 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I was ready to jump off a cliff and I also shit my pants multiple times the past few days.

Been hitting the Imodium myself.

(03-16-2023, 10:08 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: You say respectfully free agency isn't over, as if that's not what I said as well. It's not over yet, it's not time to pop the corks. They still have work to do, and there's still time and players out there who will fit the bill of what they need. Celebration now is preemptive.

“ The Bengals as of now are still worse than they were last year.”

This is your words. And why I said it’s early in the process. Of course they are still worse and why I thought that comment was a nothing burger. You contradict yourself with your comments. The part about not celebrating is correct. But celebrating getting a solid tackle @ 16m a year is plenty to celebrate.

(03-16-2023, 10:19 AM)Soonerpeace Wrote: “ The Bengals as of now are still worse than they were last year.”

This is your words. Of course they are still worse and why I thought that comment was a nothing burger. You contradict yourself with your comments. The part about not celebrating is correct. But celebrating getting a solid tackle @ 16m a year is plenty to celebrate.

Some people just love to wallow in misery. I don't understand living life that way, but I've accepted the only way some people can be happy is to be miserable. 

(03-16-2023, 10:22 AM)Sled21 Wrote: Some people just love to wallow in misery. I don't understand living life that way, but I've accepted the only way some people can be happy is to be miserable. 

He’s a good poster but never a ray of sunshine. He’s like the good side of FredToast.

(03-16-2023, 09:45 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Woah friend. That may have been a little harsh on Sunset.

I think the guys we lost were above average to good. Still need to address Safety. I'd say another pass rusher will help too as our pass rush was mediocre last year.

But, yes. The Brown signing was amazing!

Need a couple TE's too.

He's right, I do have a tendency to wear my heart on my sleeve, when it comes to the Bengals.  Especially when it was appearing that the management was content with watching players walk out the door.

(03-16-2023, 02:29 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: What will take our entire fan base to recognize we have a great FO, this is not the old Bengals. Katie knows how to play the cap game too, she just proved it in a big way with a 31 million dollar 1st year bonus.

Fans were moaning, experts were trashing us early in FA for not doing a lot as we lost some of our own. Now we know the Bates money went to land Orlando Brown, a key OL to help Joe B. be Joe B. Fans clamored to do something more to protect JB this off season though they signed 3 FA's on the OL last year.

I liked Bates, but Bates nor Bell do their work in the trenches. Dominate the trenches and have a franchise QB with a few very good skilled players = a potentially dominant offense.

But, that is not all. Our DL is intact already for 2023 prior to the draft or any new additions. I have a hunch Katie and Tobin are not done yet.

I asked our fans to chill a couple of days ago, trust the process. Well, I hope everyone now is feeling great versus pissing and crapping their pants.

Enjoy the journey, we may not win a Super Bowl, but sure is fun to be in the conversation again in 2023.

There's also a huge reason they went DB heavy a season ago. Not sure they were expecting to lose both S but if they're going to get another good one, and I believe they are, they'd like one definitely younger and a bit more athletic than Bell. With Osaii coming on nicely last year, along with drafting another DE, all they need to do to take a bit of pressure off the DB's is to rank somewhere in the middle of the league in sacks/pressures. More 3rd and longs will help.

(03-16-2023, 10:19 AM)Soonerpeace Wrote: “ The Bengals as of now are still worse than they were last year.”

This is your words. And why I said it’s early in the process. Of course they are still worse and why I thought that comment was a nothing burger. You contradict yourself with your comments. The part about not celebrating is correct. But celebrating getting a solid tackle @ 16m a year is plenty to celebrate.

How is saying "as of now" a contradiction? As of now, as in, not necessarily so later. I followed that by saying they need to get back to where they were last year through FA, so obviously I am acknowledging that there is still more time in FA. 

I say FA isn't over yet, and you reply to me disagreeing because FA isn't over yet. Talk about nothing burger comments.

I am also happy at getting a good LT at a good price.

(03-16-2023, 10:28 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: He's right, I do have a tendency to wear my heart on my sleeve, when it comes to the Bengals.  Especially when it was appearing that the management was content with watching players walk out the door.

But think about it for a minute..... did you really believe that? Duke stated weeks ago not to be expecting them to make signings in the opening days when desperate teams overpay for positions of need. Nothing that has been done since Zac Taylor got here would cause me to believe they would be content watching players leave and not have replacements. Bell and Hurst, and Perine, God Love them, I loved them all, even Jesse, and I'm glad they got a chance to shine here and make bank. That said, they are not the only quality players at their respective positions. 

(03-16-2023, 07:48 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: It's a good signing, and I am glad they aren't ignoring the OL, but it's not time to pop corks yet. The Bengals as of now are still worse than they were last year. They need to get at least back to where they were last year through FA that way the draft is just about adding guys we hope will be good to take another step forward, rather than it being about adding guys and needing them to be good just so we can reach where we were.

The team in game one was also a train wreck and no where near the team they were in week 9/10.The team was also worse seconds after they lost to KC than they were in game 15, as were all but 2 teams left standing. It's impossible to remain stout monthly/annually at all positions other than QB when you take injuries into account along with young players that show real promise versus that still really good aging veteran that gets released due to cap reasons.

It's why you draft players yearly and sometimes go heavy in position groups as they did a year ago with DB's. They got a real winner in Britt and it didn't take more than a couple games to know he fit in very nicely and was ready for more and more as the season progressed. Got a good young fella' in Hill who showed flashes who just needs real reps the next several months into the fall. They are also not done at TE/S/CB/DE.

With Osaii flashing nicely the last part of a season ago I can guarantee (unless injuries decimate) their ability to to get to the QB with sacks and pressures will have them ranked far higher than a season ago which will make take some pressure off those DB's. It's finally a team and organization that has all minds and heads on the same page. Point being that the rout getting there can be different but also very productive and attain all the goals they need.

It's going to be brutally difficult to get to the AFC CG this season again as that would be 3 in a row in a tough AFC North.

(03-16-2023, 10:31 AM)higgy100 Wrote: There's also a huge reason they went DB heavy a season ago. Not sure they were expecting to lose both S but if they're going to get another good one, and I believe they are, they'd like one definitely younger and a bit more athletic than Bell. With Osaii coming on nicely last year, along with drafting another DE, all they need to do to take a bit of pressure off the DB's is to rank somewhere in the middle of the league in sacks/pressures. More 3rd and longs will help.

I am hoping we can get a vet (or draft) 3rd down sack specialist to pear with our current 3 DE's. I hope we enjoy more and bigger leads in 4th quarter. We need ti improve our pressure/sack total to take pressure off of DB's. Ossai is coming along nicely, but you can't have enough dangerous pass rushers who dictate double teams.

(03-16-2023, 10:46 AM)higgy100 Wrote: The team in game one was also a train wreck and no where near the team they were in week 9/10.

I do wonder if Zac Taylor will drop his defacto preseason ban this year. I still believe that if the Bengals played their OL in the preseason they would have won both Week 1 and 2. 

(03-16-2023, 10:54 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I do wonder if Zac Taylor will drop his defacto preseason ban this year. I still believe that if the Bengals played their OL in the preseason they would have won both Week 1 and 2. 

The flip side of that is Kappa and Collins could have been injured in the pre-season and we win 2 games all year. Pre-season games are a gamble. 

(03-16-2023, 10:57 AM)Sled21 Wrote: The flip side of that is Kappa and Collins could have been injured in the pre-season and we win 2 games all year. Pre-season games are a gamble. 

True, and fair.

I am risking the health of the OL in the preseason over the health of Burrow in the early regular season 10/10 times, though. So long as Burrow is healthy we have a chance.

(03-16-2023, 10:28 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: He's right, I do have a tendency to wear my heart on my sleeve, when it comes to the Bengals.  Especially when it was appearing that the management was content with watching players walk out the door.

Eh...I didn't notice any abnormally negative posts from you.

Really, with all of these moves...we don't know. We thought Glenn was a good get. We thought Collins was. 0-2 so far.

It is slightly interesting that the league viewed Brown as a RT and we brought him in as LT and gave a lot of guaranteed money. There's some amount of risk to that I suppose.

It's the best move we could have made to address the o-line though. There were no better options to add. So we just got to hope it works out.

(03-16-2023, 10:54 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I do wonder if Zac Taylor will drop his defacto preseason ban this year. I still believe that if the Bengals played their OL in the preseason they would have won both Week 1 and 2. 

I agree with you even for just a couple of series. IIRC, I don't think all 5 day 1 starters even played a down in together in preseason.

(03-16-2023, 10:22 AM)Sled21 Wrote: Some people just love to wallow in misery. I don't understand living life that way, but I've accepted the only way some people can be happy is to be miserable. 

In my defense, when I decided to be a Bengals fan they were clearly committed to a plan of long term misery.  Change is always hard to deal with, and I would appreciate some understanding during this period of transition towards not being crap. 

(03-16-2023, 11:12 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Really, with all of these moves...we don't know. We thought Glenn was a good get. We thought Collins was. 0-2 so far.

Moral of the story... if a team is actively getting rid of what seems like should be a good OL they have under contract, that's a red flag?

(03-16-2023, 11:12 AM)THE PISTONS Wrote: Eh...I didn't notice any abnormally negative posts from you.

Really, with all of these moves...we don't know. We thought Glenn was a good get. We thought Collins was. 0-2 so far.

It is slightly interesting that the league viewed Brown as a RT and we brought him in as LT and gave a lot of guaranteed money. There's some amount of risk to that I suppose.

It's the best move we could have made to address the o-line though. There were no better options to add. So we just got to hope it works out.

True, but not premium LT type of top dollar.  If for some reason that Brown doesn't dominate at LT, and has to be sent back to the RT spot, he'll be making upper tier money for RTs.  The amount of guaranteed $$$ was a little surprising, as the team is generally reluctant to that sort of change, even though that is the increasing trend around the league.

(03-16-2023, 10:38 AM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: How is saying "as of now" a contradiction? As of now, as in, not necessarily so later. I followed that by saying they need to get back to where they were last year through FA, so obviously I am acknowledging that there is still more time in FA. 

I say FA isn't over yet, and you reply to me disagreeing because FA isn't over yet. Talk about nothing burger comments.

I am also happy at getting a good LT at a good price.

You don’t realize it. It starts out negative and you say let’s don’t celebrate we are worse. Better would have been we’ve still got work to do with the roster but the good news is that free agency is not over and theres the draft yet. It came off negative and pessimistic

(03-16-2023, 11:14 AM)Nately120 Wrote: In my defense, when I decided to be a Bengals fan they were clearly committed to a plan of long term misery.  Change is always hard to deal with, and I would appreciate some understanding during this period of transition towards not being crap. 

I really was not directing that at you or TLL..... I think we all know who the usual suspects are.