03-04-2017, 01:38 PM
Just got back from Indy, will try to hit some of these good points:
@Luvnit2 - but they never deviate at any point for any reason… Simply, the Brown family seems to exercise no flexibility in spite of not one playoff win since 1990 and zero Super Bowl wins in almost 50 years.
This is fair, and something I would agree with. There is a middle ground between being very disciplined (which they have proven they can be) and dropping $65M on a guy with $36M guaranteed (which NFL history shows usually doesn’t work). I have written and said on our BBP they need to stop with the 30-year-old signing. Find the 26/27-year old 4-year vet that still may have upside, and worst case can maintain his athleticism.
You can’t make that “one big splash” every single season – but there is a time to pick and choose and take a risk.
A real-time example: Dont’a Hightower is that risk. He has not played a full season since 2013. He had a meniscus and shoulder issue last year. He’s a middle linebacker. He will command a nice salary. My opinion? This is an instance where you should release an unproductive player w/ no dead cap in Maualuga ($3.6M or so) and make that splash. Now, the risk is how many games will he and Burfict actually play next to one another? But to me, I think this is a more reasonable type of target than Hawk/Dansby which has just killed you the last two years.
@Wyche’sWarrior – retaining the coaching staff
Fair question. The Bengals are ninth in the NFL in spending since 2013. What have they gotten for those dollars?
@samhain - Now we have Adam, making a lot of money just begging to be released and a good starting corner in Dre due for a payday. what is so hard about this for them to figure out? Cut a habitual criminal who likely won't be available to you for a chunk of the season to pay a much younger, capable player that will. Totally insane not to do this IMO.
Totally fair question. I reported in January that they were still struggling with this. I can tell you after the combine that this remains the case.
@McC - If finances come first, where does that leave winning a SB? No better than second, right? Yes, we wanna win a SB, but this way and this way only. How many recent SB champs have operated this way?
I think they’re on the same level. They want to win the Super Bowl their way. And they’ve outspent New England. The Patriots are just as disciplined with how they operate as the Bengals are. They just do things differently and honestly, more cold-heartedly. Perhaps that is the way to go?
It's very possible '15 was THE chance and it got bad lucked away and won't come back again. And the hangover from the playoff loss was just too big. Add all the other factors, last year was doomed.
Honestly, I agree with you that 2015 was their best team since ’88 and they would have gone to the Super Bowl had Dalton not gotten hurt. It was the peak year, the buildup from 2011. Everyone was healthy and playing at top form.
Now, I am on record believing the QB has turned a corner – so as long as he doesn’t totally regress, I think that window (plus Green/Atkins/Dunlap/Eifert/Burfict) carries into this year Next year will be more interesting as they have to consider second contracts for some of these guys.
So, you go from meltdown to breakdown and then leave town and you're looking at being worse than the 6 win team going into the draft. Are you good enough to bounce that far back? Is it time to step outside the comfort zone or do they think they're too far away to do that? Do they ever give you their honest assessment of the team?
In the NFL, yes. They can win 11 games next year. Honest assessments? Yes.
@Housh – thank you!
@TheLeonardLeap - Majority of contracts are back loaded.
That is true. What the Bengals want to avoid are the massive signing bonus numbers, the only guaranteed number an NFL player can get. Other teams toss in other bonuses and a massive base salary late in a contract but those are not guaranteed. Hence the dead money issue from those huge signing bonuses that stretch into years four or five. Some teams don’t mind rolling with millions of dead money. The Bengals do – if they’re paying a player, they want him playing for them. It’s not a unique position to have, and many in the league would prefer to do it that way.
@Luvnit2 - but they never deviate at any point for any reason… Simply, the Brown family seems to exercise no flexibility in spite of not one playoff win since 1990 and zero Super Bowl wins in almost 50 years.
This is fair, and something I would agree with. There is a middle ground between being very disciplined (which they have proven they can be) and dropping $65M on a guy with $36M guaranteed (which NFL history shows usually doesn’t work). I have written and said on our BBP they need to stop with the 30-year-old signing. Find the 26/27-year old 4-year vet that still may have upside, and worst case can maintain his athleticism.
You can’t make that “one big splash” every single season – but there is a time to pick and choose and take a risk.
A real-time example: Dont’a Hightower is that risk. He has not played a full season since 2013. He had a meniscus and shoulder issue last year. He’s a middle linebacker. He will command a nice salary. My opinion? This is an instance where you should release an unproductive player w/ no dead cap in Maualuga ($3.6M or so) and make that splash. Now, the risk is how many games will he and Burfict actually play next to one another? But to me, I think this is a more reasonable type of target than Hawk/Dansby which has just killed you the last two years.
@Wyche’sWarrior – retaining the coaching staff
Fair question. The Bengals are ninth in the NFL in spending since 2013. What have they gotten for those dollars?
@samhain - Now we have Adam, making a lot of money just begging to be released and a good starting corner in Dre due for a payday. what is so hard about this for them to figure out? Cut a habitual criminal who likely won't be available to you for a chunk of the season to pay a much younger, capable player that will. Totally insane not to do this IMO.
Totally fair question. I reported in January that they were still struggling with this. I can tell you after the combine that this remains the case.
@McC - If finances come first, where does that leave winning a SB? No better than second, right? Yes, we wanna win a SB, but this way and this way only. How many recent SB champs have operated this way?
I think they’re on the same level. They want to win the Super Bowl their way. And they’ve outspent New England. The Patriots are just as disciplined with how they operate as the Bengals are. They just do things differently and honestly, more cold-heartedly. Perhaps that is the way to go?
It's very possible '15 was THE chance and it got bad lucked away and won't come back again. And the hangover from the playoff loss was just too big. Add all the other factors, last year was doomed.
Honestly, I agree with you that 2015 was their best team since ’88 and they would have gone to the Super Bowl had Dalton not gotten hurt. It was the peak year, the buildup from 2011. Everyone was healthy and playing at top form.
Now, I am on record believing the QB has turned a corner – so as long as he doesn’t totally regress, I think that window (plus Green/Atkins/Dunlap/Eifert/Burfict) carries into this year Next year will be more interesting as they have to consider second contracts for some of these guys.
So, you go from meltdown to breakdown and then leave town and you're looking at being worse than the 6 win team going into the draft. Are you good enough to bounce that far back? Is it time to step outside the comfort zone or do they think they're too far away to do that? Do they ever give you their honest assessment of the team?
In the NFL, yes. They can win 11 games next year. Honest assessments? Yes.
@Housh – thank you!
@TheLeonardLeap - Majority of contracts are back loaded.
That is true. What the Bengals want to avoid are the massive signing bonus numbers, the only guaranteed number an NFL player can get. Other teams toss in other bonuses and a massive base salary late in a contract but those are not guaranteed. Hence the dead money issue from those huge signing bonuses that stretch into years four or five. Some teams don’t mind rolling with millions of dead money. The Bengals do – if they’re paying a player, they want him playing for them. It’s not a unique position to have, and many in the league would prefer to do it that way.
Beat writer for Cincinnati.com & The Enquirer. Follow along on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Periscope.
