7 hours ago
(8 hours ago)rfaulk34 Wrote: I would think an issue like that wouldn't be any different from team to team, depending on when a contract was signed or when it was ending.
The reality is, completely taking any kind of vitriol or malice out, the Bengals have a long, long, long history of being difficult when it comes to paying out money, whether it's simply getting a contract signed, or whether it's the specifics of a contract; from Paul Brown to now, they've always come to the table ready to fight for every penny. It's been documented by many players and free agents of the past. Then there's the issues of Spinney Field, small towels, community jock straps, gatorade gate, etc.
They're simply not competetive when it comes to changing landscape and that goes for things like player amenities and facilities too, until long after other teams have been doing them. I've given credit and will again, when they "get with the times" and do things like gettng Burrow under contract relatively easily and for signing Ja'marr and Tee, getting a RoH, upgrading the stadium and facilities (practice bubble). The problem is, the way they drag their feet and always end up doing the current status quo, way later than everyone else and they still, constantly, have issues with getting players signed and using the cap to their advantage--like how they could have done Ja'marr and Tee differently.
They still, desperately, hold on to the way things were done in the 'good ole days' of Paul Brown and that just doesn't work today. It frustrates me to no end how they could have done things differently, in a way that would allow them to retain lost players, sign current players easier and not cut corners like they do with the Oline and could have ended up with a couple teams that might have just won a SB already.
I feel like Tee could've been re-signed in after the 22 season (for much less) AND there's no reason they couldn't have kept Bates on top of it. Yeah Tee and Ja'Marr are done, but it cost more than it should've.
Poo Dey
