10-28-2017, 03:24 PM
(10-27-2017, 09:13 PM)kevin Wrote: Parts of article by James Marcum 3-14-2017. ANDREW WHITWORTH OPENS UP ABOUT LEAVING BENGALS, WHY HE CHOOSE RAMS. The Bengals let Whitworth leave with very little resistance. ....It starts by saying The Bengals tend to be cheap in free agency, even when it comes to their own players. Unfortunately this proved to be true with Whitworth, one of the best offensive linemen to ever wear a Bengals uniform. The Bengals were willing to offer him a 10 million contract but only a one year deal. To Bengals Fans that may sound a lot, but it wasn't close to what the Rams and other NFL teams were offering Whitworth. Whitworth liked that the Rams offered him a 3 year deal , not a one year deal, at 11 million. Whitworth said it felt good to be wanted by a team, and once he saw that a team wanted him, he looked forward to a fresh start away from the Cincinnati Bengals situation. He liked that the Rams don't even play Cincinnati until 2019.
Marcum writes that it's a terrible thing to lose a great player to another team. Whitworth had done enough for this franchise to warrent more than a one year contract, not to mention how much the Bengals still needed him on the offensive line. It's great to see Whitworth getting the fresh start and the 3 year contract he deserves. It's sad the Bengals didn't really try to keep him and didn't offer more than a one year contract. Looking at Bengals history it's not surprising considering how CHEAP this franchise operates.
This article can be Googled or found on internet...Here's another on internet. Eric Winston cut by the Bengals after preseason could still be added back. He knows the Bengals system, has been a Bengals O Lineman for years, often as a starter, and was in training camp and preseason. The Bengals O Line as bad as it is, you would think they could use the veteran depth Winston could provide. Here again a lack of respect by Bengals ownership for their own veteran players. I will add that Eric Winston is an NFL Players Union Rep and has been talking that when the NFL contract is up, that the NFL lockout in 2021 is probably going to be far worse than the 2011 Lockout Strike between Owners and Players Union. Now I have seen Mike Brown get rid of Players Union Reps on his team before and it might be the very reason the veteran Winston isn't on this team for depth even though the Bengals have no blocking.
So Bengals didn't try to sign Zietler to what other teams offered. Bengals could have kept Whitworth but refused to offer him more than a one year contract, which made Whitworth feel like Bengals Owners didn't want him. That other teams like the Rams did want him made Whitworth want out of Cincinnati and a fresh start. Then we add losing a third veteran in Eric Winston who Bengals just cut and could get back in here for much needed experience and blocking, but I'm guessing Mike Brown is once again trying to get rid of a Union Players Rep that Winston is. That's the only reason I can see considering our needs at O Line and Winston was better than what we now have.
I post this due to our awful O line that we could have kept Whitworth but the Bengals went real cheap on one of best Bengals ever. Don't look for Whit to be part of Bengs 50 year History because he is trying to stay as far from Cincy as possible...I also mention Eric Winston is another veteran we could resign right now, with a message to Bengals ownership : Your O Line STINKS and your draft picks aren't working. Your O Line experiment blew up in your face. Might at least want to resign Winston who is better than most of the awful O Line Depth on this team. The Bengals might even want to try to trade some of this glut of WR's and RB's or McCarron for a much needed blocker, but as Mike Brown always says, " Why should I pay a blocker ? " His dad Paul Brown of the great 1980's O Line and winning at Ohio State and Cleveland Browns knew that when the ball is snapped, if you don't have blocking, all the X's and O's of the playbook fail to happen if you don't have blocking when the center snaps the ball. Mike Brown never has and never will learn that.
I am responding to points made by color:
1. The Rams offered Whitworth $11 M...the Bengals offered him $10 M...but it wasn't even close? Seems like a $1 M difference to me. As far as the length of contract, what he has done in the past should NOT warrant more in terms of length of contract offered due to Whit's age. One of the biggest gripes we hear around these forums was that ML and MB are too loyal and often hold onto players too long. Or that they play the vets at the expense of the young guys not getting experience. Sorry, but Whitworth is at the age where a season by season contract is perfectly acceptable and reasonable.
2. Zeitler is simply NOT worth the $12M per year that the browns offered. He was part of this O line last year and was partially responsible for that unit being poor also. The browns had stupid money to throw at people...and they did. Evidence is for the money they paid Zeitler, and the whole $16 M for Osweiler and a 2nd round pick fiasco.
3. Eric Winston s no better than either of the rookie OTs we are currently playing. Go back and look at some of his terrible line play last year. That fact is backed up by the fact that with all the bad O line play in the NFL, no other team has signed him either.
Your assertions that the Bengals are cheap is an old narrative that has been proven false over and over again repeatedly. And your idea that Winston is not being re-signed because he is a player rep is nonsensical.
