Genuinely happy

[SunsetBengal]

(04-26-2020, 12:25 PM)SHRacerX Wrote: This.  I have referred to Free Agency as "owning up to when you whiff in the draft".  The Bengals never did this.  They would ride that horse (or mule) in to the ground despite horrible performance.  This led to a laziness on the entire roster.  No one felt the accountability in the organization.  Once you had a decent contract, you could relax.

Well, tell that to Dre Kirkpatrick.   They released him with zero compensation.  That was a HUGE paradigm shift in their M.O.

They filled holes from poor drafts and FA losses with FA this year, and then followed that up with nailing the draft.  

The focus will now fall almost entirely on one group:  The coaches.  They have the talent now and have had the staff in place for an entire year now.  It is time to show why you were hired.  

Agree strongly with bolded.  That action by the team spoke just about as loudly as all the big moves in free agency, that we're not accustomed to seeing.  As for Dre, the player?  I expected much more from a 1st round CB, especially one that went by the nickname "swag".  I think that part of his problem was that he was drafted to a really good team, at that time, and he was just able to be "one of the guys" out there.  Then, after the 2015 crescendo and subsequent downfall, he just wasn't willing to "carry the water" and live up to his billing.

It seems pretty apparent to me that Lou and Zac must have had to go to the front office and say, "Look, we just can't get this guy to produce like he's capable of", and request permission to replace him.  The same philosophy sort of goes in reference to Dennard.  For a guy that Marvin once called "one of the best he's ever seen", he never fully lived up to his potential, either.  I mean I have nothing personal against either of them, they seem like decent character guys, but football is a business.  You can't keep a heavy investment in premium position players that just aren't delivering the required results.  Poor tackling and repetitive missed interception opportunities is just unacceptable from 1st round CBs.