Steelers and Titans are reportedly very interested in acquiring Dre.

Please Dre, anywhere but Shitsburgh.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000789845/article/steelers-titans-could-be-in-mix-for-dre-kirkpatrick

Dre is a good corner, I don't want to see him in Pittsburgh where they never get called for anything.

Trust me, you won't like seeing Dre line up against us two times a year.

Thankfully I don't think Pitt has the money to pay Dre what he will be asking for.

Steelers have about $23 mil to work with in salary cap space. You can bet they will use all of it and still find ways to extend their stars, pay their draft picks, and pay for any players signed in season due to injury.

Bengals have $41 mil but apparently need a ~$26 mil dollar cushion to pay draft picks, injury replacements, and extend stars next year. If the bengals front office ran the Steelers they would be hearing how they can't sign anyone and need to cut players to make up for the $3-4 mil dollar deficit they are looking at.

I like the video of Tobin fielding questions. I enjoy listening to him, as he is so calm and composed when he speaks. I appreciate that he gives detailed responses, but not to the point of giving up any intel.

(03-04-2017, 11:28 AM)JumboTron Wrote: Steelers and Titans are reportedly very interested in acquiring Dre.  

Please Dre, anywhere but Shitsburgh.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000789845/article/steelers-titans-could-be-in-mix-for-dre-kirkpatrick

They can afford to franchise Bell, give DeCastro a huge contract, make Brown the highest paid WR and still go after one of ours and we can't even sign two of our own?   Are we living in Bizarro World?

A possible bidding war over dre? Can we say third round comp pick next year? I just hope the rumors of us going after Logan Ryan are true.

Might I suggest an offensive game plan that involves lots of double moves and talking crap to Kirkpatrick every play? He will snap and give us some easy first downs.

So, no one here thinks possibly that Rappaport's team "sources" just threw some names out there, like a list of potential targets, and Rappaport saw an opportunity to grab some clicks by creating some potential FA drama once he discovered two teams listing the same player?

When did teams start making public announcements about who they will pursue? Hell, NFL teams have always guarded information like the CIA. When did this change?

(03-04-2017, 11:52 AM)McC Wrote: They can afford to franchise Bell, give DeCastro a huge contract, make Brown the highest paid WR and still go after one of ours and we can't even sign two of our own?   Are we living in Bizarro World?

The world of Mikey Brown.

(03-04-2017, 12:24 PM)BengalChris Wrote: The world of Mikey Brown.

I guess we've been in Bizarro World since the late 80's.

(03-04-2017, 12:26 PM)McC Wrote: I guess we've been in Bizarro World since the late 80's.

Passing up the Saints entire draft, plus a other 1st round pick so that we could draft Akili Smith with the second overall pick is one of those moments you will only find the Mikey Brown world.

That would be ironic if the Steelers with much less cap room than us...in the same offseason where they signed BOTH Bell and Brown to huge contracts...signed Kirkpatrick.

That said...Kirkpatrick is above average but not great.

These rumors of us wanting Logan Ryan are interesting. I had him on my fantasy football team. He's probably a better tackler in run support than Kirkpatrick. He had 1 game where he racked up a huge amount of tackles. Kirkpatrick is probably better covering deep routes.

Anybody think this is a ploy by the Steelers and Titans (Dick Lebeau) to get the Bengals to overpay for Kirkpatrick? Hype up the desire for Kirkpatrick so the Bengals are forced to

A) let him go because we never overpay for anything
B) pay more than we originally intended

I've said this before, but worth repeating...

It is funny how free agency works. A player's value is often determined by who else is a free agent the same year. Dre is a very good CB but this years free agent market is loaded with good young CBs. I just did a quick un-scientific google poll of 5 different sites that rated free agent CBs. Here is the general consensus. A.j. Bouye (26) is the clear #1 target. After that there is a group that includes Trumain Johnson (27), Malcolm Butler (27), Stephon Gilmore (26), Logan Ryan (26) and Mo Claiborne (27). Kirkpatrick (27) seems to be in a third tier that also includes Prince Amukamura (28), Deshawn Shead (29), and Captain Munnerlyn (29).

I think when it is all done Dre will be paid more like the guys in the second tier than the third. But I seriously doubt he comes close to the top 5 contracts for CBs this year. Teams looking to sign CBs are in good shape this year because there are a lot of good young guys that could hit the market, but it also drives down the contracts for all of the CBs. I am guessing Dre gets a deal that averages $10+million a year. And I think the Bengals need to pay him. But if just 2 or 3 of those other rop guys had re-signed and were not on the market Dre could be looking at close to $15 million a year. Teams overpay when talent is thin.

(03-04-2017, 12:16 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Might I suggest an offensive game plan that involves lots of double moves and talking crap to Kirkpatrick every play? He will snap and give us some easy first downs.

(03-05-2017, 12:17 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: That said...Kirkpatrick is above average but not great.

Dre finished '17 ranked 6th in the league among CBs in yards per target (4.9).

Not saying he is an elite shut down corner, but he is among the better CBs in the league.  Check out his numbers compared to First Team All Pro Aqib Talib

Dre - 4.9 yards per pass, 1.4 YAC, 68 targets, 10 passes defended, 3 INT, 35 tackles, 11 tackle assists, 46 total tackles
Talib - 4.3 yards per pass, 1.4 YAC, 58 targets, 12 passes defended, 3 INT, 32 tackles, 11 tackle assists, 43 total tackles

Kirkpatrick is one of those players who has usually been grossly underrated by many Bengal fans.

(03-04-2017, 11:52 AM)McC Wrote: They can afford to franchise Bell, give DeCastro a huge contract, make Brown the highest paid WR and still go after one of ours and we can't even sign two of our own?   Are we living in Bizarro World?

Its just the Mike Brown way. Its kind of like when you knew your Dad was wrong about something when you were younger but it was "his " house so you just had to deal with it.

(03-04-2017, 11:52 AM)McC Wrote: They can afford to franchise Bell, give DeCastro a huge contract, make Brown the highest paid WR and still go after one of ours and we can't even sign two of our own?   Are we living in Bizarro World?

Geez, when you put it like that it really exemplifies and blatantly exposes our incompetence and lack of desire to win.

(03-05-2017, 02:57 PM)bengalhoel Wrote: Its just the Mike Brown way. Its kind of like when you knew your Dad was wrong about something when you were younger but it was "his " house so you just had to deal with it.

Great example of what Bengals fans feel daily.

(03-05-2017, 01:55 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Dre finished '17 ranked 6th in the league among CBs in yards per target (4.9).

Not saying he is an elite shut down corner, but he is among the better CBs in the league.  Check out his numbers compared to First Team All Pro Aqib Talib

Dre - 4.9 yards per pass, 1.4 YAC, 68 targets, 10 passes defended, 3 INT, 35 tackles, 11 tackle assists, 46 total tackles
Talib - 4.3 yards per pass, 1.4 YAC, 58 targets, 12 passes defended, 3 INT, 32 tackles, 11 tackle assists, 43 total tackles

Kirkpatrick is one of those players who has usually been grossly underrated by many Bengal fans.

Where did he rank on penalties? I thought he did better last year reducing his PI's, contact and holding, than in seasons past.