What would you do to fix this team this off season. Here’s the catch, it has to be somewhat realistic. As in something MB may actually do.

My list will be pretty short considering the rules.

1. Don’t draft a QB! At least not this year. I would trade Dalton (if the Saints are willing) for Teddy Bridgewater. He would be an upgrade over anyone we have now unless Dolegala comes in and balls out. May have to throw in an extra late pick to the trade, who knows.

2. Build the lines in the draft as much as possible. LBers too.

3. FA’s has to be a priority. Unlikely though.

3. Fire the D Coordinator.

4. Let Zac know it’s either calling plays as a OC or he needs to give it up.

This may be too much for a MB wish list. But it’s not out of the realm of possibility with him.

Honestly, EVERY offseason we post elaborate strategies...that they don't do. So it's probably pointless.

But - yes...you make some nice points.

Have the owner sell the team

Saints aren't going to pay a backup 17 million. He is a free agent in March 2020 anyway

Only one way to fix this, Mike Brown, gone

Bridgewater is a pipe dream.

Bridgewater will get close to 30 million per like Cousins

How To Fix This Mess

Step 1:


Step 2:

The genuine fix for the Bengals is for Mike Brown to step down, hire a real GM, Get your franchise QB, fix backers and OL. But it starts with Mike Brown removing himself from the role of GM and hiring someone like Tony Romo, Peyton Manning or even Marvin Lewis.

Andy Dalton needs to walk into Mike Brown's office and do this:

(11-20-2019, 09:57 AM)psychdoctor Wrote: The genuine fix for the Bengals is for Mike Brown to step down, hire a real GM, Get your franchise QB, fix backers and OL.  But it starts with Mike Brown removing himself from the role of GM and hiring someone like Tony Romo, Peyton Manning or even Marvin Lewis.

Indeed. And I think a GM would gut the coaching staff and bring in qualified guys.

If we draft at #1 there's no way we don't draft a QB. But by far the most important thing this offseason is the OL for me. It has been absolutely abysmal for years now. With an OL as bad as ours, we'd need Tom Brady and Adrian Peterson in their primes for anything to work. We have nothing close to either, so every QB/RB we field will simply suck until we fix the OL.

Should we draft a QB, I really hope they sit the first year as I can't see them having any tools for success as early as next season. Fix the OL, that will at least give a QB some time to develop while we build the rest of the team.

Obviously coaching is an issue. If we're being realistic we aren't fixing that in the offseason. I don't rate ZT whatsoever but I would give him the beginning of next season to see if he can make any progress.

Realistic? That means MB retains control and we do next to nothing ...

But I think the following are within the realm of possibility:
- Let AJ and Andy walk. Eifert too. Will free up cap space to ...
- Re-sign Hopkins and Billings.
- Sign FA OL, DL, and LB. I would target young and talented guys (like George Fant, Brandon Scherff, Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, Shaq Thompson, Myles Jack) but since those guys would never come here, I'll settle for helpful warm bodies like Andrus Peat, Vaitai, Darron Lee, Schoebert, etc.
- Draft BPA with each pick. No QB unless one falls hard. Sign Mariota as stop-gap.
- Axe Sweet Lou. Somebody's got to take the fall for this train wreck, and he's the lowest-hanging fruit. Hire someone with experience.

Of course, reading back this list, even this seems too much for MB ... In reality, we'll probably overpay to keep AJ (if he's injured again, INSURANCE MONEY! YAY!), as well as Wilson, Wynn, Vigil, and our other scrubs. Have to keep our own, ya know! Sign a few washed-up scrubs in FA, preferably former NY Giants or Miami Dolphins, you know, guys from horrible teams. Draft a QB -- New New Dey, we mean it this time! -- only to see him IR'd in week 5 (of course, he'll be "day-to-day" for two months before being shelved for the season). Lather, rinse, repeat.

(11-20-2019, 09:57 AM)psychdoctor Wrote: The genuine fix for the Bengals is for Mike Brown to step down, hire a real GM, Get your franchise QB, fix backers and OL.  But it starts with Mike Brown removing himself from the role of GM and hiring someone like Tony Romo, Peyton Manning or even Marvin Lewis.

Tony Romo has way too good a gig to drop it to work for a maligned franchise like the Bengals, and I'm not sure if Peyton Manning would even make a good GM, though again he's getting all that commercial money to convince people insurance companies just love writing people checks.

Also, the general rule of the working world is that performers of average talent/results make better trainers, coaches and so on because the experts in the field tend to follow their own template for success while average performers adhere to and best understand the templates that apply to everyone.  John Elway is the latest flubb of a GM in the sense that people seem to think a guy who was a HOF-caliber QB himself should be able to pick a talented QB out of a group, but that's not usually how it works.

Anyways, I think the Bengals will be like the Raiders in the sense that Al Davis was way too involved and way too stuck in the past but as soon as he died his kid hired a GM and things started to look more like a normal franchise.  I wouldn't be surprised if an owner being the GM because he's a control freak and/or cheap is a concept that almost entirely dies off with Mike Brown.  

I almost feel like the NFL is just sort of letting him pretend to be a GM because they figure he's grandfathered into it and if Katie and Troy were like...um, we are the GMs the NFL would find a way to compel them to actually appoint the title to someone who didn't inherit the team...maybe?  No no, we let your old man pretend to be a GM for 35 years and that was a mistake so we aren't letting this happen again...hire someone...make Duke the GM....just make sure someone who isn't of the Brown bloodline has the title of GM for the first time in 60 years.

(11-20-2019, 11:21 AM)Nately120 Wrote: Tony Romo has way too good a gig to drop it to work for a maligned franchise like the Bengals, and I'm not sure if Peyton Manning would even make a good GM, though again he's getting all that commercial money to convince people insurance companies just love writing people checks.

Also, the general rule of the working world is that performers of average talent/results make better trainers, coaches and so on because the experts in the field tend to follow their own template for success while average performers adhere to and best understand the templates that apply to everyone.  John Elway is the latest flubb of a GM in the sense that people seem to think a guy who was a HOF-caliber QB himself should be able to pick a talented QB out of a group, but that's not usually how it works.

Anyways, I think the Bengals will be like the Raiders in the sense that Al Davis was way too involved and way too stuck in the past but as soon as he died his kid hired a GM and things started to look more like a normal franchise.  I wouldn't be surprised if an owner being the GM because he's a control freak and/or cheap is a concept that almost entirely dies off with Mike Brown.  

I almost feel like the NFL is just sort of letting him pretend to be a GM because they figure he's grandfathered into it and if Katie and Troy were like...um, we are the GMs the NFL would find a way to compel them to actually appoint the title to someone who didn't inherit the team...maybe?  No no, we let your old man pretend to be a GM for 35 years and that was a mistake so we aren't letting this happen again...hire someone...make Duke the GM....just make sure someone who isn't of the Brown bloodline has the title of GM for the first time in 60 years.

It's a race between Jerry Jones and Brown.
At least Jerry was on a National Championship team once.

My plan would be to draft Burrow at 1, but invest in free agency to protect him. We see that draft picks are variable and could turn out bad.

We should have some insane amount of cap space:
Sign: Cory Littleton at LB - Even if you have to pay him 15 million a year or some amount that is extremely high. He's 26 years old and fast and a pretty complete LB.

Protect Burrow:
Sign: Brandon Scherff at Guard. Pay him $12-13 million a year if you have to. He'd be a really solid Guard and he'll only be 28. He's solid in pass pro and run blocking.
Sign: Jack Conklin at RT. He's 25. Overpay him if you have to.
Trade or Waive Glenn and use the money towards signing Scherff and Conklin.
Retain Hopkins at C.

I'd use Hart as a backup T. And Miller as the backup G.

The Line would start to take shape with Conklin/Scherff/Hopkins/Lemieux/Williams <---- THAT is a SOLID NFL Offensive Line.

I'd retain Dennard IF Healthy. IF Green wants out...tag and trade him. Retain Jerry as a backup. Brandon Wilson, Billings, and Fej.
Tag and trade Green for a 2nd and 4th. (Time to get younger.)
Trade Dalton for a 2nd Round pick.

Draft:
1st: Burrow
2nd: Justin Jefferson - WR LSU (Burrows top target at LSU!)
2nd from Dalton trade - Shane Lemieux - G (Oregon)
2nd from Green trade - Shaq Quarterman - LB (Miami)
3rd - JR Reed - S Georgia

How to fix this mess?

Well, I think it's pretty obvious there's a disconnect between the players on the field and the schemes being run.
I don't think the Bengals have the right players to operate the schemes.
Either the Bengals need to cater the playcalling to the strengths of the players or find new players that fit the playcalling.

What's probably the faster/easier option? The former.
What's probably better for the long haul to fit the modern NFL (at least for defense) but will take more time since it would mean a lot of turnover with the players? The latter.

(11-20-2019, 12:29 PM)ochocincos Wrote: How to fix this mess?

Well, I think it's pretty obvious there's a disconnect between the players on the field and the schemes being run.
I don't think the Bengals have the right players to operate the schemes.
Either the Bengals need to cater the playcalling to the strengths of the players or find new players that fit the playcalling.

What's probably the faster/easier option? The former.
What's probably better for the long haul to fit the modern NFL (at least for defense) but will take more time since it would mean a lot of turnover with the players? The latter.

I feel like adding a Littleton would be a big start at LB.

best way to fix any mess is hire Mr. Clean

(11-20-2019, 11:19 AM)TheCincinnatiKid Wrote: If we draft at #1 there's no way we don't draft a QB. But by far the most important thing this offseason is the OL for me. It has been absolutely abysmal for years now. With an OL as bad as ours, we'd need Tom Brady and Adrian Peterson in their primes for anything to work. We have nothing close to either, so every QB/RB we field will simply suck until we fix the OL.

Should we draft a QB, I really hope they sit the first year as I can't see them having any tools for success as early as next season. Fix the OL, that will at least give a QB some time to develop while we build the rest of the team.

Obviously coaching is an issue. If we're being realistic we aren't fixing that in the offseason. I don't rate ZT whatsoever but I would give him the beginning of next season to see if he can make any progress.

Great coaches are able to make bad players look great. The PATS have great coaches that make ok players look like super stars and the coaches know they are not super stars so they don't get into the bidding war and allow those players to walk. The players that are super stars are paid and continue to play for the PATS. 

Zac Taylor isn't that type of coach. ML wasn't that type of coach and this is why the FO needs to bring in quality FA that are truly worth their pay. They also need to draft the best available player in the draft. 

I'm not expecting much next year from the Bengals. This year I will be surprised if they win 2 games. At this point it looks like they will go 1-15 or 0-16. 

If ZT cannot get the Bengals to have a winning season next year I would move on from him. Or if the team starts off 0-4 I would let him go right during the press conference, especially if the team goes 0-16 this year. 

(11-20-2019, 12:21 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: My plan would be to draft Burrow at 1, but invest in free agency to protect him. We see that draft picks are variable and could turn out bad.

We should have some insane amount of cap space:
Sign: Cory Littleton at LB - Even if you have to pay him 15 million a year or some amount that is extremely high. He's 26 years old and fast and a pretty complete LB.

Protect Burrow:
Sign: Brandon Scherff at Guard. Pay him $12-13 million a year if you have to. He'd be a really solid Guard and he'll only be 28. He's solid in pass pro and run blocking.
Sign: Jack Conklin at RT. He's 25. Overpay him if you have to.
Trade or Waive Glenn and use the money towards signing Scherff and Conklin.
Retain Hopkins at C.

I'd use Hart as a backup T. And Miller as the backup G.

The Line would start to take shape with Conklin/Scherff/Hopkins/Lemieux/Williams <---- THAT is a SOLID NFL Offensive Line.

I'd retain Dennard IF Healthy. IF Green wants out...tag and trade him. Retain Jerry as a backup. Brandon Wilson, Billings, and Fej.
Tag and trade Green for a 2nd and 4th. (Time to get younger.)
Trade Dalton for a 2nd Round pick.

Draft:
1st: Burrow
2nd: Justin Jefferson - WR LSU (Burrows top target at LSU!)
2nd from Dalton trade - Shane Lemieux - G (Oregon)
2nd from Green trade - Shaq Quarterman - LB (Miami)
3rd -  JR Reed - S Georgia

If the Bengals go Burrow round 1, they can still get Austin Jackson OT out of USC and maybe Kindley.  But it would take some luck.  I just do not believe this Front Office will do anything signficant with FA.  It is and has been a glaring flaw to MB concept of building a team via the draft with the smallest draft war room in the NFL.  It is part of the problem.