(01-04-2017, 12:27 PM)CincyWestside Wrote: Now that the season is over and Marvin Lewis is pretty much assuredly going to return for 2017, we can only look to next season (and root against the Steelers in the playoffs). What moves should the Bengals be making either via the draft, free agency, or internal moves that can make 2017 a rebound year back into playoff relevance?

Our upcoming 2017 Free Agents:
Andrew Whitworth, 35 Re-sign for 2 years 10 million per year.

Domata Peko, 32 Not this time. His time in Cincinnati is likely over.

Brandon LaFell, 30 Re-sign, assuming he is willing to come back at a good price tag. 2 years 2.5 million per year should do it.

Dre Kirkpatrick, 27 Franchise Tag. We have young'uns coming up the ranks, we just need Dre 1 more year, especially since we don't know what's going to happen with Pacman. Give Jackson a year to acclimate before becoming full time starter in 2018.

Kevin Zeitler, 26 I wish we could, but we probably won't shell out money for both Whit and Zeitler. And we need Whit more, since both Fisher and Ogbuehi look like trash. Guard is easier to fill in the middle rounds of the draft anyway (or via Westerman). Hope he gets a good deal with his new team.

Eric Winston, 33 Re-sign. He's a reliable back up. 2 years ~1 million per year.

Cedric Peerman, 30 Re-sign. He's a reliable special teamer. 2 years 1.5 million per year. 

Margus Hunt, 29 Bye. Even in a contract year, he makes minimal impact.

Wallace Gilberry, 32 Re-sign. 2 years 1 million per year

Brandon Thompson, 27 Bye. Too often injured and there are better players on the team now.

Chykie Brown, 30 Bye. Never did anything for us.

Bradon Boykin, 26 Is he even on the team? There's no indication that I can find that tells me he is on this team...

Randy Bullock, 27 Re-sign for now, but be ready to draft or sign his replacement if the opportunity arises.

Rex Burkhead, 26 Re-sign. 3 years 3 million per year. Primary back up to Giovani Bernard (assuming he is healthy by training camp).

Also, we are picking 9th in the 2017 draft. I would LOVE if we drafted a guy like Derek Barnett. Pass Rush from the outside is what we desperately need right now. Dunlap and Atkins can't do it all themselves. Failing that, I'd love to see a WR like Williams or  Corey Davis, possibly in the 2nd round. Finally, if we are unable to re-sign Whitworth, I would be open to Cam Robinson. Not a slam dunk at OT, but a reliable player who is good in both run and pass blocking. 

Reuben Foster is also a dark horse, but you need to be a truly elite ILB to get drafted in the top 10 and I don't know if Foster is. Besides, we have Vigil, who looks to be the heir apparent of Maualuga, which I think is an excellent thing.

I hope we don't draft Fournette or Cook. I understand that they're elite, but we don't have the Cowboys Oline. A rookie RB will not set the world on fire behind out line. I'd much rather solidify the Oline and then have an average RB overperform then try to draft a RB to try and cover up our Oline deficiencies. RBs have a very very short shelf life, whereas Oline lasts 10-15 years.

I also hope we stay away from Jabrill Peppers. Our coaches are not creative enough to get very much out of him. Those athlete types with no true position are trouble. We couldn't even get Dontay Moch to play well and he was an insanely productive college player (30 sacks, 62.5 TFL in 4 years) with ***** 4.4 speed at the LB/DE position.

What could we possibly do with Peppers, who wasn't even all that productive in college, from a traditional stand point?

(01-05-2017, 04:53 PM)Hammerstripes Wrote: I don't get the logic in letting Zeitler walk.  If he can be signed for market value - around $10 million, you have to bring him back.  Saying that we can replace him with Westerman is a joke.  Our line was bad enough this year, it would be much worse rolling out:

Whitworth, Boling, Bodine, Westerman, Fisher

That leaves no confidence at all.  We still have $6 million in cap space for THIS year, there's no reason we can't use that to sign one of our guys before end of the league year.