11-02-2019, 11:33 PM
(11-02-2019, 08:04 PM)BengalsRocker Wrote: ^This
I don't think the Front Office of the Bengals even wants to admit that players and especially their agents sway away from them.
So what do we get as fans in return?
"We don't need to go all crazy in FA. Build through the draft." While they fill holes with 3rd tier available FAs.
The real truth is it's probably really damn hard for the Bengals to sign anyone of value even if they wanted too.
They will almost always have to overpay if a FAs agent even listens, unless it's a current player wanting to work with them to stay.
This is the team we (try to) route for, and are doomed by ownership.
Damn, I wish they'd either cash in and sell the team or the NFL forces them to relinquish the franchise.
I don't think the issue is as much about free agents not wanting to be here as it is the organization not wanting to spend on grade A or B outside free agents.
You generally hear about free agent visits in the early stages of free agency. It's covered fairly intensively in the media. When do you hear about this team entertaining even a B tier guy that wasn't drafted by the team? You even get the pre-free agency primer from the team beat writer tempering expectations before the proceedings begin.
It certainly takes 2 to tango, and I don't think the Bengals are even trying in this respect. Bengal money spends just as well as any other team's. If they came out of the gate and offered a guy like Brown or Alexander comparable money to the Raiders or 49ers, then I'd be surprised if they just dismissed the idea of hearing them out automatically. After all, this team tends to honor the duration of the deal.
High level free agent acquisition is an aggressive process. The Bengals are not aggressive. They wait that phase out and go after the leftovers. Hard to say anyone would or wouldn't sign with them when they're basically absent for that part of the process.
