03-07-2020, 09:19 AM
(03-06-2020, 10:59 PM)ochocincos Wrote: It's (should be) easier to find a good player in FA than in the draft.
But I don't trust them to actually spend money wisely in FA either.
They'll give one of their mediocre guys like Vigil way too much to stay then say they can't afford a good FA.
It's not about finding but signing. They may be able to identify good players but that doesn't mean they can get good players to sign for them. If they are good they are going to have other options and those other options are invariably more attractive for a variety of reasons - some within their control (teams more likely to win, the Bengals' reputation as an organization) and some outside their control (climate, location, market size, tax).
The beauty of the draft from the Bengals' perspective is that it allows them to sign players who would otherwise opt to sign elsewhere and if that isn't enough it allows them to sign them for far cheaper than they would get on the open market. The Bengals are right to prioritize building through the draft. Where they are wrong is in not being more aggressive in plugging gaps through free agency.
