A positive thread...

[BengalChris]

(03-09-2017, 11:23 PM)Shake n Blake Wrote: I gotta admit that the negativity is a bit overwhelming right now. I fully understand where people are coming from, and I've participated in the venting some myself. That said, I think it'd be nice to get some actual discussion going that isn't just venting or complaining. So...even though our already bad o-line got substantially worse today, I do like that (a) we retained LaFell and Kirkpatrick and (b) the o-line is still the only massive problem with this team, player-wise.

Having those two on board not only opens up the draft some, but should also enable the team to part with Pacman. So since we know what our main problem is, name 3 things you think the Bengals could do to get this team back in the playoff hunt. It could be free agents or maybe you have your eye on some particular guys in the draft.

So what can we do to fix this team for 2017?

Shake, I'll give it my best shot at being a little optimistic after today's free agency beat down the Bengals took.

First of all the Bengals will not sign any free agents from another team unless they were cut. Mikey wants comp picks and he's hoping for two 3rd round picks, but given the size of contracts this year I'm starting to think that we'll be looking at maybe only one 3rd rounder next year.

I view this year's free agent activity by Mikey Brown as confirmation that the team is simply purging it's top $ guys while it collects picks for another rebuild. With $40M in cap space and another $9M that could be had by cutting dead weight and trouble spots, Mikey Brown pleads poverty. Not even offering Zeitler a contract is a classic Mikey Brown insult. So sad.

Of the players currently under contract there are only 19 who have contracts that extend through 2019, so look at this year and next year's drafts as those which will be our future team. We now know that Model model was another Mikey Brown empty promise and we blow chunks in free agency. So I look at this year's draft as the key to this year and the next few years.

As for what we can do for this year:

1. Sign Mangold for depth and to push/help Bodine and Westerman.

2. In the draft, take best player available all the way down regardless of position and not pet project picks. I know this is easy to say and harder to execute when you have needs, but I'd be drafting with the idea that I want each pick to become a starter within the next 2 years. I know that's unreal, but if we draft the guys who are most ready to start we'll be better off in 2018 and 2019.

That's all I have. I could list a bunch of good ideas that Mikey Brown will never do but why give it the effort when Mikey sure ain't.