Maybe Going Cheap Is Better This Free Agency

[kevin]

I'm going to throw out some factors, just give it a thought. First I'm going to mention covid very non political or non medical, but Football. It did effect 2020 season. I think it forced a salary cap change. Now players may still want Free Agency money to be higher than last year, but that may be a double edged sword.

I think Bengals could go cheap at the start of free agency and with Dalton gone last year and AJ Green gone this year and Dunlap gone, ect. ect...I could see Bengals cutting payroll over 30 Million from 2019 season or more at start of 2021 Free Agency.

Now before you BOO, think about this. Bengals don't need the biggest name O Linemen, they need linemen who can block. Defenders who can fly to the ball and tackle. AFTER the early rush on big name free agents, there will be many good players needing a team. Then comes the draft, which forces teams to decide to cut a vet or cut a young pick. Then Salary Cap forces teams to cut good players. Preseason brings teams cutting players who had great preseasons, but odd man out. Instead of dumping all the money into a couple players now, sit back and wait, and spread the over 30 million around on more players to fill more needs.

The last place Bengals will not move into first by signing 1 or 2 players. They need help at many positions. In baseball terms, I will play Money Ball as the Oakland A's movie. Take the big money players off the board at start of free agency. Sit on the over 30 million extra in payroll for doing this. Be like a spider in a web. Then as other teams have maxed out on salary cap space and forced to let good players go, Bengals are there to collect.

I would HOPE the Bengals coaches and scouts know players out there who are not big names, but can flat out play some football. Blockers and Defensive Players do not always have to be big names that fans know. I have seen Bengals bring in players nobody knew, and do great for Bengals. Paul Brown was great at this.

Looking at Bengals in last place, I do not see 1 or 2 players that will change that. However if I was running the Bengals, I would love to hit the draft with over 30 Mil above the Cap, and free agents from NFL, Canadian Football, College looking for a team. Take the excess money and spread it around to players these coaches want to bring in. With enough Millions we can get Blocking and Tackling in the Draft and after the Free Agent Rush.

Well, that's how I see it. Bengals have many needs, and they can free up Mega Bucks to get help at many positions in 2021. I'm thinking TEAM and not 1 or 2 superstar signings. I'm thinking TEAM. Big money Free Agents are as much a gamble as Draft Picks, they may not fit in here. I like the idea of mean, hungry Blockers who are good and just want a chance to play. I still want that Top Pick Tackle, but we need much more Blocking help for our Top Pick QB than that.

Zimmer was good at bringing in good top pick D Players other teams gave up on, but Zim saw how to use their talents. There are not enough running back jobs for all the RB's. Same with QB's. Same with Blockers, Defense, Receivers, Tight Ends. To me, having a big bag of surplus money of 30 to 40 Mil over the cap would just give Bengals that spider in a spider web waiting position to fill out a good roster with players maybe fans question, but the coaches feel improve the TEAM across the board. Not this player or that player, but TEAM, TEAM, TEAM. BUILD THE TEAM. The LAST PLACE Bengals have many needs. Save the Money, then spread the money out filling all the holes a Last Place team has. I hate to say the Bengals can improve from covid in football, but they can. They are in a position to grab up players, IF they have the over the cap money to do so before start of season. Let teams spend like drunken sailors in March, then Bengals move in on many good players teams have to let go. I think we would be surprised at The Blockers we could add at Guard and Center, for example. I would love to be an owner over 30 or 40 Mil in cap space as all other teams have to start making tough choices and cutting good players. You then get a stable of runners, a stable of good blockers, much needed Depth that winning teams have.

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

Moneyball only works if you have good scouts, good coaches, AND know something good that other teams don't. The Bengals don't even have 1 of those 3, let alone all 3.

The lesson of Moneyball wasn't that you should go as cheaply as possible, it was identifying what is truly valuable (OBP in their case) that is being undervalued by the market and finding guys who can give you the most bang for the buck. There's no equivalent to that in the NFL. It is also worth noting that it quickly fell apart because other teams instantly caught on to what was going on and thus the advantage stopped working. (They won 7 less games the next year, 5 less more the year after that, 3 less more the year after that.)

That's even considering they had young talent under control and had both the MVP and the Cy Young winner that year (from drafting and developing). The Bengals don't have an equivalent to that, either.

What is overlooked in Moneyball is that the Athletics didn't even win a postseason series that year. Or the next year. Or even go to the postseason either of the 2 years after that. It was really only a "success" story for the owner, because he managed to get some good regular seasons out of being a cheapskate.

You take a bunch of castoff players, plug them into a crappy team, and give that team to crappy coaches, and you're going to have a crappy team.

[kevin]

Again, I am not suggesting Bengals play the 2021 season 30 mil under the salary cap. I'm saying the Bengals should let teams spend the start of Free Agency while Bengals wait. Take the money from Dalton, Dunlap, Green and spread it out on more of a TEAM concept.

Take Guards and Centers. Waiting could find some good Blockers that Mike Brown willing to pay, but are good blockers. Not the highest paid blockers, but better than what we got.

There are many positions on Bengals you could find not the highest paid at that position, but better than what we got. The goal being to spend the money, but have greater team depth and a better team across the board by not just filling a couple positions, but trying to improve many positions. Blocking and Tackling needs a lot of help and a lot more depth, with many current Bengals getting fired because they just don't cut it.

[Bernards watch]

They need to be smart and get maximum bang for your buck. Simple as.