Whitworth-Bengals lowballed

[Whatever]

(12-05-2018, 08:41 PM)bengalfan74 Wrote: So what you're saying is Mike Brown and Marvin Lewis are doing a fine job and they should continue operating as they have been ? It's only dumb luck that they haven't produced a single playoff win in 28 and 16 years respectively. As long as they keep doing what they're doing sooner or later all the stars will lineup, the football gods will smile on us, hell will freeze over and we're bound to stumble into a competitive team somehow, somewhere.

Got it  :andy:

That's not what I'm saying at all.  There are a ton of things I'd change if for some stupid and miraculous reason I inherited the Bengals tomorrow.  Like....

1.Build an indoor practice facility.
2.Renovate/rebuild PBS and bring it up to modern standards
3.Hire a GM
4.Fire Marvin(probably wait til after the season at this point)
5.Hire more scouts
6.Obtain compromising photos of Roger Goodell
7.Encourage the new GM to bring in top FA's once in awhile.
8.Encourage the new GM to cut bait with aging/underperforming talent
9.Give the new HC full control over his staff

I just don't see directing my GM to give 34 year old T's huge multiyear contracts as one of those changes.

The value of every player in the league is relative to the team.  There are teams like the Broncos and Jags that would be all over Phillip Rivers for $12 mil a year and there are teams like the Pats and Packers that would be like "Maybe for $5 mil."  In Whit's situation, we had an owner that made an incorrect valuation based on the review of two young players behind him(Og and Fisher) by a pair of coaches he should have fired years ago(Marvin and Alexander).  We should have used the FT in retrospect, but Mikey also misjudged the market for Whit and/or Whit's loyalty to the team.

However, inferring that we should have just paid Whit whatever he asked for so he could retire a Bengal on the basis of loyalty is silly.  Winning teams don't do that.  Loyalty is also a two way street.  Paying a guy whatever he asks so he doesn't leave isn't loyalty, either.  The Bengals could have offered more and Whit could have taken less.  I'm sure there were very few 34 year old non-QB's that year that made $10 million.