03-13-2019, 03:51 PM
(03-13-2019, 03:12 PM)MentalRage Wrote: Secondly, and once again I can only speak for myself, I believe the Bengals are right on the cusp of being either a bad or good team. I've never been a fan of going out and spending loads of money in free agency. It almost never works out. I am a fan, however, of spending money in a smart way. You say their strategy is to sign a handful of average to good players. I can agree with that, but let's be smart with the money. Bobby Hart isn't even an average tackle, in fact he's one of the worst and by signing him to that deal it just about takes OT off the board in round 1 of the draft. Preston Brown is slightly average. Why do you think the Bills let him walk only to draft an athletically gifted LB as his replacement? Because that's where the NFL is headed. The Bengals need athletes at the position.
FWIW, I was referring more to the moves I hope are coming rather than the moves that have already been made.
People can bag on Preston Brown all day long if they want, but as of now he's still the best linebacker on the team barring a Burfict miracle. If you sign a guy and he's better than everyone else you have, that's a positive in my book. They need bodies to fill spots that were manned by outright bad players last year, and (a healthy) Preston Brown fits that bill. I also think there's something to be said for a guy that actually *wants* to be here.
I also don't believe OT is off the board as far as the draft is concerned, especially now that the actual contract details have come out. I think OT is still a huge possibility, but at least having Hart around gives you the freedom to draft the LSU linebacker if he happens to be sitting there. If the Bengals came away completely empty-handed at OT after free agency they'd have no freedom to look at other positions.
I'll also point out that *everyone* across the league seems to be getting overpaid thus far, so I'm not going to fault them for either contract if that's what the market is dictating.
