08-20-2017, 10:30 AM
(08-20-2017, 10:27 AM)muskiesfan Wrote: I think the Bengals have done a decent job of keeping their own. I would have liked to have kept Marvin Jones, but Detroit was a chance for him to be THE guy. Sanu got seriously overpaid by the Falcons. I like the guy, but that was ridiculous money.
Whitworth hurt because they did try to keep him, but he mentioned a change of scenery. To me, that speaks volumes about our team. When one of your legends and leaders finally decides he needs to skip town for a change of scenery, something's not right.
Zeitler also got stupid money, but the team never made an attempt to keep him, ever. If you don't value the position, why spend a 1st round pick to let them walk in a few years? No matter how you slice it, that 1st round pick is worth a helluva lot more than the compensatory pick Brown covets when they leave.
Brown's free agency approach is a joke. We obviously had the money this year that we could have kept Whitworth or signed a free agent upgrade. Instead, we stayed par for the course and signed former players and cheap players. Don't get me wrong, I like the Minter signing, but we could have added real help on the OLine.
Everyone talks about the Pats, Steelers, Packers, and whoever else, but those teams have shown at times they're willing to go all in. For all the talk of the Steelers staying in house, they sure as hell made a serious play for DreK this year. How many times do the Pats trade for marquee players to bolster their team? People like to defend the Bengals approach, but Mike Brown half asses it. We are nowhere near the level of the elite teams in the NFL in terms of how their teams are run.
Are these guys being overpaid? The cap was $120 million in 2012. It's $167 million now.
I think that we're not adjusting our thinking accordingly. The 'no Guard is worth $10 million talk.' Well in 2012 dollars that equates to $7.5 million.
