NFL teams are allowed to start negotiating with players up for free agency starting tomorrow Tuesday March 7th. Then on Thursday March 9th at 4 PM Free Agency is on and teams can start signing players. If the Bengals lose all their players to other teams they are in deep shot. I still think it was a mistake not to use the Franchise Tag March 1st on somebody. I hope they resign key players to show the tag wasn't needed. If we resign some key players I will be more hopeful about 2017. If we see all our key players go to other teams, I will just figure no Super Bowl, no Play-Offs, no winning season, no 8-8 season and a losing season. As others talk about the draft in late April, my eyes are glued to what happens now in March, because it will make or break this teams chances and hopes of winning.

(03-06-2017, 06:35 PM)kevin Wrote: NFL teams are allowed to start negotiating with players up for free agency starting tomorrow Tuesday March 7th.  Then on Thursday March 9th at 4 PM Free Agency is on and teams can start signing players.  If the Bengals lose all their players to other teams they are in deep shot.  I still think it was a mistake not to use the Franchise Tag March 1st on somebody.  I hope they resign key players to show the tag wasn't needed.  If we resign some key players I will be more hopeful about 2017.  If we see all our key players go to other teams, I will just figure no Super Bowl, no Play-Offs, no winning season, no 8-8 season and a losing season.  As others talk about the draft in late April, my eyes are glued to what happens now in March, because it will make or break this teams chances and hopes of winning.

Said it before but if we let Whitworth go this team will implode. Our franchise QB's blindside will be unprotected
and our RG is as good as gone. So we lose 2 of our stronger points of our biggest weakness. To me his would be
inexcusable and unbelievable.

(03-06-2017, 06:52 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: Said it before but if we let Whitworth go this team will implode. Our franchise QB's blindside will be unprotected
and our RG is as good as gone. So we lose 2 of our stronger points of our biggest weakness. To me his would be
inexcusable and unbelievable.

Our top players if not resigned as Bengals will be signed by other teams before weekend is over. Kirkpatrick, Whitworth, Zeitler will go fast.  I also look for LaFell to be signed fast. Burkhead may even be grabbed by another team fast.  Don't think Zimmer isn't looking to grab some of his former defensive players to help in Minnesota. We could lose a lot of the D Line.  Our best 3 or 4 will be gone by this weekend if Bengals act too slow. 

(03-06-2017, 07:06 PM)kevin Wrote: Our top players if not resigned as Bengals will be signed by other teams before weekend is over. Kirkpatrick, Whitworth, Zeitler will go fast.  I also look for LaFell to be signed fast. Burkhead may even be grabbed by another team fast.  Don't think Zimmer isn't looking to grab some of his former defensive players to help in Minnesota. We could lose a lot of the D Line.  Our best 3 or 4 will be gone by this weekend if Bengals act too slow. 

You sure are making me feel better Kev. :andy:

(03-06-2017, 07:18 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: You sure are making me feel better Kev. :andy:

No, we should NOT feel good.  The Brown Family, how they let this many be up for Free Agency is just boneheaded.  Let's hope by this weekend some of the top 4 or 5 Bengals are resigned and we can both feel better then, when rumors end and they are resigned.  They will not resign all of the top 4 or 5.  I'm just hoping they don't come away empty handed with Whitworth, Zeitler, Kirkpatrick, LaFell, Burkhead all on other teams. 

(03-06-2017, 07:25 PM)kevin Wrote: No, we should NOT feel good.  The Brown Family, how they let this many be up for Free Agency is just boneheaded.  Let's hope by this weekend some of the top 4 or 5 Bengals are resigned and we can both feel better then, when rumors end and they are resigned.  They will not resign all of the top 4 or 5.  I'm just hoping they don't come away empty handed with Whitworth, Zeitler, Kirkpatrick, LaFell, Burkhead all on other teams. 

That was sarcasm BTW. :andy:

At the very least they have to bring back Whitworth and Burkhead. There are no replacements on this team for these 2 right now.

Whit protects our franchise QB's blindside and with the Gio injury and the poor play of both him and Hill, Rex is our best RB.

We have 11 draft picks out of a loaded draft class.

We never win free agency. So don't get too bent out of shape when we don't this year.

The draft is what will make or break us.

(03-06-2017, 07:34 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: We have 11 draft picks out of a loaded draft class.

We never win free agency. So don't get too bent out of shape when we don't this year.

The draft is what will make or break us.

Yes, but the FA period, depending on how many of ours we lose, could leave us too broken to fix with a draft.  We are at a crossroads.  Which way ya gonna go, Mike?

(03-06-2017, 07:06 PM)kevin Wrote: Our top players if not resigned as Bengals will be signed by other teams before weekend is over. Kirkpatrick, Whitworth, Zeitler will go fast.  I also look for LaFell to be signed fast. Burkhead may even be grabbed by another team fast.  Don't think Zimmer isn't looking to grab some of his former defensive players to help in Minnesota. We could lose a lot of the D Line.  Our best 3 or 4 will be gone by this weekend if Bengals act too slow. 

I  don;t see it the same terrible gloom that you have written.  To me 1 of those FA is vital that is Whitworth. I like Zeitler but he will command too much on the market for our budget.. a tough loss but at least we drafted Westerman, so he has a year under his belt.

As for Dre.. funny how things change from a year ago.. he was one injury away (Jackson) as possible not starting at all.  He is a average Corner.. but with a thin market he will be overpriced at CB to bring back... Shaw showed nice signs of corner play and with Jackson and the kid from KC who I think will play, I would not overpay Dre.  Now on to LaFell.. great cheap pickup for Bengals last year.. sign him cheap or let him go.. we drafted two WRs that showed nice improvement as the year went on  in Boyd and Core plus we could just do the same this year as last.. sign a cheap veteran WR to replace the cheap veteran WR we just lost (LaFell.

Finally Burkhead.. i love him too but understand he is third on the depth chart.. again we are not going to pay him top $$ to be 3rd on the depth chart.. this year's RB draft has been called one of the deepest in a while.. we can find a quality 3rd string RB in 4/5 round possible. 

With that said, I would hate to see us only be able to sign Whitworth.. i would like to see at least one other signed besides Whitworth.. though Zeitler is out of range if we sign Whitworth.. 

(03-06-2017, 07:40 PM)McC Wrote: Yes, but the FA period, depending on how many of ours we lose, could leave us too broken to fix with a draft.  We are at a crossroads.  Which way ya gonna go, Mike?

I doubt he sees it like that. He probably sees a loaded draft class and his 11 draft picks and feels good about himself. Throw in a potentially sought after QB as trade bait...

Hopefully making Marvin coach out a contract year gets these guys to lose a little bit of complacency and they put some pressure on the front office to be aggressive with their giant bag of money and all these draft picks. But Mike Brown probably thinks he is sitting pretty and will just let the draft come to him then root around the garbage pile of free agents. 

(03-06-2017, 07:34 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: We have 11 draft picks out of a loaded draft class.

We never win free agency. So don't get too bent out of shape when we don't this year.

The draft is what will make or break us.

I know we never win FA but we usually don't lose our asses in it either.

This would be abnormally bad.

The Draft is a crapshoot and FA's are proven players in the NFL.

Thought we would atleast bring back Whitworth, Burkhead and Kirkpatrick.

(03-06-2017, 07:40 PM)McC Wrote: Yes, but the FA period, depending on how many of ours we lose, could leave us too broken to fix with a draft.  We are at a crossroads.  Which way ya gonna go, Mike?

True.

(03-06-2017, 07:53 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: I  don;t see it the same terrible gloom that you have written.  To me 1 of those FA is vital that is Whitworth. I like Zeitler but he will command too much on the market for our budget.. a tough loss but at least we drafted Westerman, so he has a year under his belt.

As for Dre.. funny how things change from a year ago.. he was one injury away (Jackson) as possible not starting at all.  He is a average Corner.. but with a thin market he will be overpriced at CB to bring back... Shaw showed nice signs of corner play and with Jackson and the kid from KC who I think will play, I would not overpay Dre.  Now on to LaFell.. great cheap pickup for Bengals last year.. sign him cheap or let him go.. we drafted two WRs that showed nice improvement as the year went on  in Boyd and Core plus we could just do the same this year as last.. sign a cheap veteran WR to replace the cheap veteran WR we just lost (LaFell.

Finally Burkhead.. i love him too but understand he is third on the depth chart.. again we are not going to pay him top $$ to be 3rd on the depth chart.. this year's RB draft has been called one of the deepest in a while.. we can find a quality 3rd string RB in 4/5 round possible. 

With that said, I would hate to see us only be able to sign Whitworth.. i would like to see at least one other signed besides Whitworth.. though Zeitler is out of range if we sign Whitworth.. 

Westerman has one year under his belt not dressing.

Kirkpatrick i can't trust. Don't pay the guy too much, just one year of decent play.

Burkhead is our best RB right now, we should tell him that and pay him accordingly. He ran way better than the
other guys behind the same O-line. He runs extremely hard, has great hands, good vision and is very quick.

True about Whitworth, he is the vital signing.

(03-06-2017, 08:03 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: I doubt he sees it like that. He probably sees a loaded draft class and his 11 draft picks and feels good about himself. Throw in a potentially sought after QB as trade bait...

Hopefully making Marvin coach out a contract year gets these guys to lose a little bit of complacency and they put some pressure on the front office to be aggressive with their giant bag of money and all these draft picks. But Mike Brown probably thinks he is sitting pretty and will just let the draft come to him then root around the garbage pile of free agents. 

Stupid way to think while your weakness just gets weaker.

He would rather build the team off of unknowns like draft picks then proven players tells you all you need to know.

The draft is great and all but you have to have a decent team to build off of and decent coaches to coach the picks up.

(03-06-2017, 07:34 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: We have 11 draft picks out of a loaded draft class.

We never win free agency. So don't get too bent out of shape when we don't this year.

The draft is what will make or break us.

For what year? Certainly not next? Players drafted this year will play in 2020.

Honestly pay z and whit whatever they want and we can manage to do without the others

(03-06-2017, 08:44 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: For what year? Certainly not next? Players drafted this year will play in 2020.

I have a feeling we will be playing a lot more rookies this year out of necessity.

Probably will not be a good thing either. We should be keeping our good players and letting the bad ones go and upgrading.

This is sounding the opposite.

(03-06-2017, 07:34 PM)NATI BENGALS Wrote: We have 11 draft picks out of a loaded draft class.

We never win free agency. So don't get too bent out of shape when we don't this year.

The draft is what will make or break us.

I agree with you about FA. Sadly, very few of these 11 picks will be top-notch, ready-to-go, players.

(03-06-2017, 07:53 PM)Essex Johnson Wrote: As for Dre.. funny how things change from a year ago.. he was one injury away (Jackson) as possible not starting at all.  He is a average Corner.. but with a thin market he will be overpriced at CB to bring back... Shaw showed nice signs of corner play and with Jackson and the kid from KC who I think will play, I would not overpay Dre.
Now on to LaFell.. great cheap pickup for Bengals last year.. sign him cheap or let him go.. we drafted two WRs that showed nice improvement as the year went on  in Boyd and Core plus we could just do the same this year as last.. sign a cheap veteran WR to replace the cheap veteran WR we just lost (LaFell.

Finally Burkhead.. i love him too but understand he is third on the depth chart.. again we are not going to pay him top $$ to be 3rd on the depth chart.. this year's RB draft has been called one of the deepest in a while.. we can find a quality 3rd string RB in 4/5 round possible. 

With that said, I would hate to see us only be able to sign Whitworth.. i would like to see at least one other signed besides Whitworth.. though Zeitler is out of range if we sign Whitworth.. 

DreKirk is swimming in a FA pool with a lot of other CBs. Therefore, it is a buyers market. Personally, I don't trust him to keep improving once he gets paid. He may not be as high priced as he thinks he is.

LaFell should be a backup to a very fast drafted (or FA) WR who can stretch the field (clear out the safety) and make the 10-15 yard passes more successful in addition to long passes occasionally.

Burkhead may be 3rd on the depth chart only (IMO) because he gets paid less than Gio and Hill. Given more snaps he will make all RBs better.

Whitworth is a must resign. Zeitler should be also. The FO can afford both, but won't.

(03-06-2017, 10:07 PM)Derrick Wrote: DreKirk is swimming in a FA pool with a lot of other CBs. Therefore, it is a buyers market. Personally, I don't trust him to keep improving once he gets paid. He may not be as high priced as he thinks he is.

I'm with you. I just don't trust this friggin guy. Pacman is his idol. He's constantly dancing and waving his arms with so much drama you would see when the police show up at the scene. I don't trust him at all. Once he gets paid, he will be a problem.

(03-06-2017, 10:07 PM)Derrick Wrote: DreKirk is swimming in a FA pool with a lot of other CBs. Therefore, it is a buyers market. Personally, I don't trust him to keep improving once he gets paid. He may not be as high priced as he thinks he is.

LaFell should be a backup to a very fast drafted (or FA) WR who can stretch the field (clear out the safety) and make the 10-15 yard passes more successful in addition to long passes occasionally.

Burkhead may be 3rd on the depth chart only (IMO) because he gets paid less than Gio and Hill. Given more snaps he will make all RBs better.

Whitworth is a must resign. Zeitler should be also. The FO can afford both, but won't.

Agree about Dre, don't trust him as i said earlier and only performed well in his contract year.

John Ross would stretch the field like no other, runs good routes and has good hands. Contrary to belief Dalton
does not underthrow receivers, he usually overthrows them. He would have a hard time overthrowing John Ross.

Burkhead should get paid about what Gio got paid, we can afford that and bringing back Whitworth easily and
another FA like Wisnewski at C. Wisnewski was only paid 1.5 mil last year, cheap replacement for Bodine.

(03-06-2017, 10:12 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: I'm with you. I just don't trust this friggin guy. Pacman is his idol. He's constantly dancing and waving his arms with so much drama you would see when the police show up at the scene. I don't trust him at all. Once he gets paid, he will be a problem.

I definately see the same thing. It is not like he played great last year either, he just didn't get beat deep and
that has a lot to do with our 2 deep Safety look we always run. If we bring him back i hope it is after the FA
pool dies down a bit and we get him at a reasonable price.

Do not overpay for Kirkpatrick.

On the other hand pay Whitworth whatever it takes.

This week will answer the biggest question of 2017 for the Bengals: Will the team treat the offseason like a Super Bowl contender or will they continue to become the AAA farm team for the rest of the NFL?

(03-07-2017, 12:44 AM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: This week will answer the biggest question of 2017 for the Bengals:  Will the team treat the offseason like a Super Bowl contender or will they continue to become the AAA farm team for the rest of the NFL?

Is there really any debate?

Coaching changes = 0

Top FA player in Zeitler = not even considering being re-signed. (Before people scream Whit is the top FA, every list from NFL scouts, and NFL experts has Z rated much higher.)

Impact FA's brought in = 0

Pile up that $$$$$ and Comp picks.