Have the Bengals recently prioritized free agency TOO much?

[WeezyBengal]

So, I know it's not that simple and its WILD to think the Bengals are doing TOO much in free agency, but hear me out...

The Brown family is notorious for seeking "value" when it comes to things (I won't say cheap, because I really don't think they are cheap). They want to stretch their dollar as far as possible, not waste money, and want a return on their investment. This is clear.

So, why do they not focus more on re-signing more of their proven quality players rather than rolling the dice with expensive free agents at times? Bates, Reader, Higgins, etc.

I am not against bringing in free agents in the least (you need them to build a quality roster), but you think they'd PRIORITIZE keeping guys that have produced for them rather than spend big on "wild cards".

You'd think that the misses on guys like Trae Waynes, Rankins, Stone, Preston Brown, even going way back to Antonio Bryant would incentivize this team to prioritize the KNOWN commodity. I mean, this team could have literally kept Bates for only a few more million dollars than they gave Sheldon Rankins. You'd think an organization like the Bengals who value comfortability and a "safe" investment would have went down that path.

Again, I know it's not that simple and these are different "positional" signings, but I just found it interesting. In my mind, they should prioritize paying out big to keep their own stars (no matter position), THEN supplimenting through free agency. But they haven't worked that way recently.

[QueenCity]

Free Agency got us to the Super Bowl.... so the answer is no.

Bringing in the wrong players is what is screwing them over.

[SunsetBengal]

(02-28-2025, 11:41 AM)QueenCity Wrote: Free Agency got us to the Super Bowl.... so the answer is no.

Bringing in the wrong players is what is screwing them over.

What's screwing the team is their inability to draft quality players throughout the draft, and to develop them to take over when those free agent contracts are expiring.

[WeezyBengal]

(02-28-2025, 11:44 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: What's screwing the team is their inability to draft quality players throughout the draft, and to develop them to take over when those free agent contracts are expiring.

I think we are all correct in some ways. 

We aren't keeping our own good players, which is putting a priority on the draft. We aren't drafting well which is leading us to fill holes via free agency. We are then not hitting on free agents. 

[WeezyBengal]

(02-28-2025, 11:41 AM)QueenCity Wrote: Free Agency got us to the Super Bowl.... so the answer is no.

Bringing in the wrong players is what is screwing them over.

You don't bring in the wrong players if you sign your own good players. You don't bring in Geno Stone if you keep Jessie Bates. That's the point I'm trying to make. 

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(02-28-2025, 11:51 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: You don't bring in the wrong players if you sign your own good players.

[WeezyBengal]

(02-28-2025, 12:05 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote:

lol Im missing the context around this...but I feel like it's not good. 

[lone bengal]

Personally I think the organization thought by the time Higgins contract was up they would have some young draft picks develop in other positions. Instead of putting all that money into one position like WR for example they would want to spread it around to create a more balanced team. If Cam Britt -Taylor played like a CB1 last season , or if Volson developed into a good starting guard and Murphy was trending in the right direction they would rather pay Chase and then spread the money around. I don’t think they anticipated all these picks playing so poorly. Also I don’t think they value safety that much and would rather spend on extending a DE like Murphy or Cam-Britt, positions they deem more important. Far as the 1st wave of free agency they could spend more with a QB on a rookie deal. If a Zac Carter panned out they wouldn’t have to be signing guys like Rankins. Reader was a different situation because tearing the same Quad in a 3 year span was worrisome.

[Clark W Griswold]

(02-28-2025, 11:41 AM)QueenCity Wrote: Free Agency got us to the Super Bowl.... so the answer is no.

Bringing in the wrong players is what is screwing them over.

Your second statement is correct but the FAs only helped push them over the hump to the SB

What really “got” them to the SB was the OT loss to the Dolphins (Burrow) and Burrow getting his knee blown out his rookie year (Chase). Also, credit to a few other teams for reaching for QBs and taking a TE over Chase in the ‘21 draft.

[J24]

Yes and now with the higher cap teams are starting to keep thier own players even more than they used to. The truth is if you want elite players you have to draft them or trade for them.

[*jason*]

(02-28-2025, 11:44 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: What's screwing the team is their inability to draft quality players throughout the draft, and to develop them to take over when those free agent contracts are expiring.

Yep... Minus 2020, we've had meh to shit drafts dating all the way back to 2015. The pipeline is pretty dry, and we're to the point we have guys up for extensions or FA, and our hand is basically forced.

[Millhouse]

(02-28-2025, 11:50 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I think we are all correct in some ways. 

We aren't keeping our own good players, which is putting a priority on the draft. We aren't drafting well which is leading us to fill holes via free agency. We are then not hitting on free agents. 

Yeah pretty much this is the nutshell of it all. And even though they had two great runs there in the  21 and 22 seasons, they haven't had that continued success year in and year out since Burrow has been here. Which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that knows anything about how they operate.

[J24]

(02-28-2025, 12:27 PM)Clark W Griswold Wrote: Your second statement is correct but the FAs only helped push them over the hump to the SB

What really “got” them to the SB was the OT loss to the Dolphins (Burrow) and Burrow getting his knee blown out his rookie year (Chase).  Also, credit  to a few other teams for reaching for QBs and taking a TE over Chase in the ‘21 draft.

We also drafted well outside of Burrow and Chase. Bates(18), Hubbard(18), Jonah(19), Pratt(19), Tee(20), Wilson(20), and McPherson(21) 

[SunsetBengal]

(02-28-2025, 12:54 PM)jason Wrote: Yep... Minus 2020, we've had meh to shit drafts dating all the way back to 2015. The pipeline is pretty dry, and we're to the point we have guys up for extensions or FA, and our hand is basically forced.

Sure would be nice to see them hit a few good ones in a row, like 2010, 2011, 2012. Hell, everyone thought Duke was a genius back then.

[SunsetBengal]

(02-28-2025, 11:50 AM)WeezyBengal Wrote: I think we are all correct in some ways. 

We aren't keeping our own good players, which is putting a priority on the draft. We aren't drafting well which is leading us to fill holes via free agency. We are then not hitting on free agents. 

It's definitely a vicious cycle of ineptitude when it comes to roster management. 

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(02-28-2025, 12:19 PM)WeezyBengal Wrote: lol Im missing the context around this...but I feel like it's not good. 

Chris Ballard, GM of the Colts

Well known for saying "we really like our guys", re-signing pretty much all their own good guys is all they do. They have been stagnant as hell.

Keep your truly elite guys (and don't lie to yourself that good guys are elite because they wear your uniform), but you need to embrace some roster churn, because you will be like the Colts with a bunch of good expensive aging players comprising a bad team that seems to do the exact same thing every year. Lateral moves aren't improving.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(02-28-2025, 11:44 AM)SunsetBengal Wrote: What's screwing the team is their inability to draft quality players throughout the draft, and to develop them to take over when those free agent contracts are expiring.

I agree with Sunset and Weezy here. Have to draft quality players and develop them so when a player like Bates leaves you have a 
replacement in place. I thought Dax Hill was going to be this player but he evidently is not a free ranging Safety like Bates was and 
he also got banged up and moved all over the place. Letting Reader leave was stupid and trying to replace him with a 3-tech was 
even stupider. Rookies are hardly ever the answer either, no offense to McKinnley Jackson, it just takes time.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

(02-28-2025, 03:34 PM)Nate (formerly eliminate08) Wrote: I agree with Sunset and Weezy here. Have to draft quality players and develop them so when a player like Bates leaves you have a 
replacement in place. I thought Dax Hill was going to be this player but he evidently is not a free ranging Safety like Bates was and 
he also got banged up and moved all over the place. Letting Reader leave was stupid and trying to replace him with a 3-tech was 
even stupider. Rookies are hardly ever the answer either, no offense to McKinnley Jackson, it just takes time.

Reader was ranked 57th among IDL against the run, and 62nd against the pass. His solo tackles (and total tackles) were by far the lowest since he played just 4.5 games in 2020, and before that you'd have to go back to his rookie season in 2016. He also wasn't terrific in 2023, had a torn quad, and was heading into his age 30 season.

I think letting Reader leave was the right call. That said I wholeheartedly agree that trying to replace him with a 3-tech was stupid, though.

[*Nate (formerly eliminate08)*]

(02-28-2025, 04:39 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: Reader was ranked 57th among IDL against the run, and 62nd against the pass. His solo tackles (and total tackles) were by far the lowest since he played just 4.5 games in 2020, and before that you'd have to go back to his rookie season in 2016. He also wasn't terrific in 2023, had a torn quad, and was heading into his age 30 season.

I think letting Reader leave was the right call. That said I wholeheartedly agree that trying to replace him with a 3-tech was stupid, though.

Honestly, I was torn on letting him leave at the time because I didn't know how he would of healed up from the quad injury.

Reader made crucial stops when we needed it most on our SB run which meant more than just rankings to me. But yeah, he wasn't great
but would of been better to keep him rather than having 3-techs and rookies trying to fill in for him IMO.

[Luvnit2]

(02-28-2025, 01:42 PM)SunsetBengal Wrote: Sure would be nice to see them hit a few good ones in a row, like 2010, 2011, 2012. Hell, everyone thought Duke was a genius back then.

Duke won executive of the year in 2021, so not long ago, he was ranked #1 by the league.