Should Bengals get creative with cap to win now

[Luvnit2]

(01-08-2025, 12:04 AM)jj22 Wrote: We don’t need to do anything but expand the scouting department. You don’t have to worry about breaking the bank on FA or re-signing All of the star players you drafted if you can just draft better. Develop talent. 

I don’t care to be one of those teams in cap hell. And I don’t think it’s about the cap, I think it’s about guaranteed money and cash on hand.

How have Ravens done being in cap hell last 3 or 4 years? All teams miss with draft picks, but great teams overcome it with trades or FA.

Who is to say expanding the scouting department fixes our drafts? There is an element of luck involved also. It is simple to be a Monday morning QB after a draft. Take Mahomes who was drafted in round 1, pick #10. Arguably a lot of teams who passed needed a QB then or shortly after includng:

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/patrick-mahomes-chiefs-2017-nfl-draft/i880cg6p8xumjacoqmb8i0v5

Browns - took Myes Garrett
Bears -Trubisky (talk about a huge miss)
49ers- Soloman Thomas - bust
Bucs - Fournette
Titans - Corey Davis - bust
Jets - Jamal Adams
Chargers - Mike Williams
Panthers - Christian McCaffrey
Bengals John Ross = bust
Chiefs - traded up Mahomes

In essence, the Chiefs were 1 of 32 teams who got it right. Every team's scouting department could have lobbied to either draft him ahead of Chiefs who were in top 9 or traded up as Chiefs did to acquire him.  Of course, that is Monday morning QB analysis.

Every NFL team could have solved their QB issue for the next 15 years back in 2017, but they did not in spite of their scouting department size. It is not just the size of scouting; it is the GM/Director of scouting ability to evaluate talent.

I was at PBS for the draft as a season. ticket holder. The room booed the selection. How could we know the selection sucked, but our FO did not?

This is just one draft. Note how many busts happened in the top ten. It was 4 or 40% of the so called can't meet prospects flamed out. The draft is always a crap shoot and always will be.

In the 2017 draft 17 first round picks never earned their draft status. The 49ers who passed on Mahomes for Thomas (DE) drafted Beathard in the 3rd round, they needed a starting QB. In contrast pick #31 TJ Watt was picked. Great pick by the Steelers, horrible job by the 16 teams who missed their 1st round pick.

Bengals do need to get better drafting, but to think the Bengals are the only ones due to a small scouting department is simply not true.