So we need an offensive line. We likely don't have enough picks to address our weaknesses.

Dunlap, Atkins, and Dennard are free agents after next year. We likely lose 1 of Dunlap/Atkins.

AJ Green is pushing 30 and a free agent in 2 years.

Can we rebuild the line in 1 or 2 years?

We have a solid piece to build around in Mixon if we can fix the line.

Would you consider trading Dalton, Green, Atkins, and/or Dunlap for a bounty of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Round picks?

The Redskins may need a QB and may give up a 1st and 2nd for Dalton.

Do you do it? Or do you roll with these guys and risk losing some of them in free agency for Comp Picks?

I think all these scenarios hinge on what does MB do with Lewis. If he and Lewis agree to an extension, then trading somebody like Dalton is probably off the table. If MB hires a new HC and lets him decide, I can see a complete rebuild happening. I’d do my best to hold on to Green and Atkins.

Absolutely.
Atkins and Dunlap are quickly approaching the cliff for pass rushers. Geno will likely shift to NT soon like Sapp did (their careers are eerily similar) and Dunlap is just not productive right now.
The right offer comes in, I jump on it for either of them.

The only issue in trading Dalton is finding a partner to pay for him. Based on recent QB trades and the current market, he's a steal money wise but would be super costly draft wise.
Maybe Washington loses Cousins and Jay is willing to pony up picks for Andy. Or maybe Arians in Arizona wants another chance to whisper a QB to a Super Bowl.

As for Green, he'd cost a ton. And I'd only trade him to an NFC team.

The key for all of this isn't just picks but to also look at players you could get in the deals to help offset money.

Best case is a 2 to 3 year complete re-building job under a new coach, new staff, more scouts and a practice facility.

Not going to happen.

Get ready for the return of the lost decade.

If Cousins continues to play like he did yesterday against the Seahawks he may get an offer he can't refuse to stay in DC. He was slated to go to SanFran and they just got Garoppolo so that's out. Also I don't think the Redskins would want to give up draft picks for a player that is about the same skill level as Cousins.

The Bengals can't afford to let Green go in a trade given what they have now for receivers. If they let him go via trade they would have to look at drafting another receiver fairly high when they have other needs. So that would sort of defeat the purpose of those extra picks.

Dunlap might be worthy trade bait but I don't see the Bengals getting a bounty for him. Atkins we need to keep. It won't do any good if our d-line suddenly becomes the current o-line.

My feeling is you can't blow things up and rebuild that way. You have to invest in quality free agents and not retreads like the Bengals usually sign.

What is with the love affair some on here have with Mixon? I'd love to see him do well, but other than being able to catch the ball what has he done to earn it? Yesterday I saw several times he had openings at the second level and all he had to do was take off. Instead he got caught from behind by much larger and slower D-lineman.

Without a complete change in the coaching trading for more picks is pointless as we lack the proper teachers to develop the prospects taken with those picks.

(11-06-2017, 05:57 PM)Mer Wrote: What is with the love affair some on here have with Mixon? I'd love to see him do well, but other than being able to catch the ball what has he done to earn it? Yesterday I saw several times he had openings at the second level and all he had to do was take off. Instead he got caught from behind by much larger and slower D-lineman.

Mixon was and never will be a blazer. His best attributes are his patience and hands.

(11-06-2017, 06:02 PM)Joelist Wrote: Without a complete change in the coaching trading for more picks is pointless as we lack the proper teachers to develop the prospects taken with those picks.

(11-06-2017, 06:05 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Mixon was and never will be a blazer. His best attributes are his patience and hands.

Mixon was a bad pick behind this line....no two ways about it.

Minnesota replaced their entire offensive line last year, it can be done, and it can be done relatively cheaply. You don't need super stars just a couple of pieces and your good to go. You only really need to replace 4 guys as Boling is decent. I'd say draft a LT (most expensive in FA), then sign a veteran C,RG,RT. If we don't want to go that far keep Hopkins and go vet C and RT along with a LT in the draft.

(11-06-2017, 06:09 PM)Wyche Wrote: Mixon was a bad pick behind this line....no two ways about it.

Some people are probably tired of hearing this from me, but I'd love to see Jeremy McNichols brought in to be a complementary piece to Mixon. McNichols was cut by TB before the start of the season because of their crowded backfield, but he was a great pass catching RB at BSU and also had experience carrying the load. TBH, I think he could fill Bernard's shoes quite well if the team ever wanted to move on from him and invest that $$ elsewhere. He's also a bit bigger than Bernard (same height, 10 lbs heavier) so he might be more durable. He's also slightly faster of a runner but not quite as quick laterally as Bernard. It also helps that there's a potential out with Bernard after this season, freeing up $2.75 mill for 2018 and $3.8 mill for 2019.

Best Case Scenario a new HC that can bring a GM with him....

I suspect a new HC either way.. but without a GM or VP of football operations to run the franchise... Not much will change except who is putting boots in asses...(so to speak)

(11-06-2017, 06:42 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Some people are probably tired of hearing this from me, but I'd love to see Jeremy McNichols brought in to be a complementary piece to Mixon. McNichols was cut by TB before the start of the season because of their crowded backfield, but he was a great pass catching RB at BSU and also had experience carrying the load. TBH, I think he could fill Bernard's shoes quite well if the team ever wanted to move on from him and invest that $$ elsewhere. He's also a bit bigger than Bernard (same height, 10 lbs heavier) so he might be more durable. He's also slightly faster of a runner but not quite as quick laterally as Bernard. It also helps that there's a potential out with Bernard after this season, freeing up $2.75 mill for 2018 and $3.8 mill for 2019.

That's great and all Benard can catch passes too and you see how much we use him.


This is a new OC that doesn't know how to gameplan for all his pieces. so he just picks a few and game plans for them and leaves the rest on the bench.

If this team is truly committed to a rebuild (which they should be as they ain't touching Pittsburgh next 2-3 years), then yeah, they gotta' think of trading AJ Green and Dalton. Dunlap/Atkins wouldn't fetch much with only one year remaining on their contracts, so would likely just let them walk and take the comp picks. As far as drafts, rebuild it from the inside out by focusing on the offensive and defensive lines. Tank the next 2 years and hopefully they back to competing in 2020 as the Steelers should be on downswing by then and AFC North wide open at that time. A couple of strong drafts and a real QB (either draft one high or McCarron) would position Bengals well again.

It starting to look like the Bengals waited 2 years too long to start the rebuild ala the Reds in 2014-15 when they were undecided on competing vs. rebuilding and missed out on trading their veterans for top dollar (Chapman and Cueto come to mind) while subpar seasons happened anyways. Bengals should've blown it all up after the Pittsburgh playoff debacle. My worry is that the Bengals will continue to semi-rebuild/semi-compete and we see a string of 6-10 to 8-8 seasons next 3-4 years with no real hope for the future.

Mike Brown needs to hire a GM that is not already part of the Bengals and definitely not family.

Mike Brown needs to retire or just sign the checks but stay at home and do absolutely nothing at all except breath, eat, shower, sleep and live out his days in comfort. In other words, just go away never to be seen or heard from again.

The GM hires a Head Coach that's not part of the Bengals.

The GM and Head Coach then hire a coaching staff.

The GM, Head Coach and entire coaching staff evaluate the players. Keep the players that fit the new coaches system and get rid of the players that don't fit the system or won't buy in to the new system.

If the Bengals did this, I would bet that the Bengals would be close to being Super Bowl by year five at least and with some luck, be Super Bowl winners within that time. Multiple Super Bowls in ten years.

(11-06-2017, 07:18 PM)Nebuchadnezzar Wrote: Mike Brown needs to hire a GM that is not already part of the Bengals and definitely not family.

Mike Brown needs to retire or just sign the checks but stay at home and do absolutely nothing at all except breath, eat, shower, sleep and live out his days in comfort. In other words, just go away never to be seen or heard from again.

The GM hires a Head Coach that's not part of the Bengals.

The GM and Head Coach then hire a coaching staff.

The GM, Head Coach and entire coaching staff evaluate the players. Keep the players that fit the new coaches system and get rid of the players that don't fit the system or won't buy in to the new system.

If the Bengals did this, I would bet that the Bengals would be close to being Super Bowl by year five at least and with some luck, be Super Bowl winners within that time. Multiple Super Bowls in ten years.

Nice list of things that will never happen as long as the Brown family remains in control of the Bengals. :) As fans our best bet is the Brown family gets tired of it and sells. But that won't happen as long as the cash is rolling in. Stay mediocre, rake in NFL revenue sharing and enjoy the ride. Until the Bengals get an owner that cares about having a winning franchise as fans we are cursed to live with a team that is sometimes just good enough to bring in more ticket buyers.

Maybe they need to start taking a significant cut out of the revenue share for a team that doesn't sell at least 80% of their home game day tickets not including season ticket sales. That might wake up some of the NFL owners that are on cruise control.

After this year, assuming Marvin is not resigned and we start fresh, We should completely move on from the Lewis era and bring in a fresh HC and let him pick his coaching staff. I don't think any of this will happen, but we can dream, right?

We aren't getting a bunch of 2nd round picks out of Dunlap and Atkins. We may get a 2nd+ for both players AJ and Andy, but I don't believe the Bengals can get firsts out of both these players given there age.

I think it's more reasonable to think that we can get maybe 2 2nds, a 3rd/4th and like a 5th or 2, if we can find teams that are desperate for these positions.

And I don't think we should load up with picks for just this year, get extra picks for the following year too. Try to take 3 years or so to completely rebuild the team, maybe longer. I'm not sure how long it takes to flip a roster and build it back up with talent.

After that, hope for the best? Start with the offensive line and go from there.

(11-06-2017, 07:49 PM)BMK Wrote: Pittsburgh is going to be looking for a new QB very soon, and I doubt they'll  turn the keys over to a rookie or worse, Landry Jones. I could just see the Dalton-haters head's explode with Dalton coming back to PBS as the new Steelers' QB.

That sobering thought brought to you by the 'be-careful-what-you-wish-for' dept....

Why in the world would the Steelers ever want Dalton? They've been watching him shit the bed for 7 years. 

Pittsburgh is going to be looking for a new QB very soon. I can't see them turning the keys over to some rookie or Landry Jones. Can't you just see the Dalton-haters head's explode when Dalton returns to PBS as the new Steelers' QB??

That sobering thought brought to you by the "be-careful-what-you-wish-for" dept....


(We already know that MB is more than willing to deal QBs to division rivals.)