Allergic to Spending for Stars?

[Fan_in_Kettering]

Yes, I know the Bengals desperately need stronger personnel in the trenches but I happened to notice running backs LeGarrette Blount and DeAngelo Williams are still unrestricted free agents as of St. Patrick's Day morning. Wouldn't it be great, just once, if the Front Office would just call one of their agents just to chit-chat? Are they upgrades from Jeremy Hill or not? To me, free agency and the draft aren't just about filling holes and mitigating gaps and such, but actually making bold moves which move the team closer to winning the Super Bowl.

Left tackle Ryan Clady is still unsigned by any team. Sebastian Vollmer can play either tackle position with equal facility yet there he is, sitting by the phone with all that sweet Patriot stank on him. Nick Mangold is pacing the floor wondering why the Bengals consider Russell Bodine a better center when Nick could upgrade the offensive line simply by walking into the Cincinnati locker room. Jahri Evans is a guard who Drew Brees calls the best pass protector he's ever seen but he's still unsigned. My sleeper picks for the Bengals would be former Seahawk tackle Breno Giacomini or former Lion Gosder Cherilus. There are upgrades to be had -- and for cheap at this point.

[THE PISTONS]

It would be nice...but they're near their self imposed budget.

DeAngelo Williams is really old for a RB and he gets hurt a lot.

[*Nately120*]

Mike Brown wants to win, he just doesn't want to deviate from his protocol that has led to no winning. What is so hard to understand about this?

[*TheLeonardLeap*]

I agree with your overall message about FA, but LeGarrette Blount is a barely better older version of Hill, and DeAngelo Williams took to being a shitty Steelers D Bag like a fire to Cleveland rivers, and is also turning 34 really soon.

RB is really a position that unless you can get an All-Pro, is best off ignoring in FA and finding it through the draft. There's a LOT of productive RBs who come out of the draft every year in all the rounds.

[*ochocincos*]

(03-17-2017, 07:49 AM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: Yes, I know the Bengals desperately need stronger personnel in the trenches but I happened to notice running backs LeGarrette Blount and DeAngelo Williams are still unrestricted free agents as of St. Patrick's Day morning.  Wouldn't it be great, just once, if the Front Office would just call one of their agents just to chit-chat?  Are they upgrades from Jeremy Hill or not?  To me, free agency and the draft aren't just about filling holes and mitigating gaps and such, but actually making bold moves which move the team closer to winning the Super Bowl.  

Left tackle Ryan Clady is still unsigned by any team.  Sebastian Vollmer can play either tackle position with equal facility yet there he is, sitting by the phone with all that sweet Patriot stank on him.  Nick Mangold is pacing the floor wondering why the Bengals consider Russell Bodine a better center when Nick could upgrade the offensive line simply by walking into the Cincinnati locker room.  Jahri Evans is a guard who Drew Brees calls the best pass protector he's ever seen but he's still unsigned.  My sleeper picks for the Bengals would be former Seahawk tackle Breno Giacomini or former Lion Gosder Cherilus.  There are upgrades to be had -- and for cheap at this point.

Mike Brown wants to avoid losing comp picks at all costs. Because, you know, the Bengals have gained so much production from comp picks...

[*ochocincos*]

(03-17-2017, 11:07 PM)TheLeonardLeap Wrote: I agree with your overall message about FA, but LeGarrette Blount is a barely better older version of Hill, and DeAngelo Williams took to being a shitty Steelers D Bag like a fire to Cleveland rivers, and is also turning 34 really soon.

RB is really a position that unless you can get an All-Pro, is best off ignoring in FA and finding it through the draft. There's a LOT of productive RBs who come out of the draft every year in all the rounds.

Tell that to Pittsburgh who, despite having Le'Veon Bell as their star RB, still went out and signed DeAngelo Williams to be a backup.

The biggest problem for the Bengals is there seems to never be a competition for starting spots. It's always "Player X" is the starter until he gets hurt. There's never any pressure on these precious snowflakes. As long as they have dead money on their contract, they don't have to fear losing their jobs.

[Luvnit2]

(03-17-2017, 07:49 AM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: Yes, I know the Bengals desperately need stronger personnel in the trenches but I happened to notice running backs LeGarrette Blount and DeAngelo Williams are still unrestricted free agents as of St. Patrick's Day morning.  Wouldn't it be great, just once, if the Front Office would just call one of their agents just to chit-chat?  Are they upgrades from Jeremy Hill or not?  To me, free agency and the draft aren't just about filling holes and mitigating gaps and such, but actually making bold moves which move the team closer to winning the Super Bowl.  

Left tackle Ryan Clady is still unsigned by any team.  Sebastian Vollmer can play either tackle position with equal facility yet there he is, sitting by the phone with all that sweet Patriot stank on him.  Nick Mangold is pacing the floor wondering why the Bengals consider Russell Bodine a better center when Nick could upgrade the offensive line simply by walking into the Cincinnati locker room.  Jahri Evans is a guard who Drew Brees calls the best pass protector he's ever seen but he's still unsigned.  My sleeper picks for the Bengals would be former Seahawk tackle Breno Giacomini or former Lion Gosder Cherilus.  There are upgrades to be had -- and for cheap at this point.

I get your point, but some of your examples fall flat for me, especially the running backs where the draft is loaded with quality and they are much younger. I like Mangold to start over Bodine and also groom him. Bodine has had no veteran center to learn his craft, maybe a vet could help him get better also while showing daily in practice.

As far as the tackles go, I think you wait until after the draft as each day their value decreases. None you mentioned have played to their contract other than Vollmer in my opinion. I see the FO shoring up the defense and my guess in the draft they shore up both sides of the ball with 1st 2 picks.

[spazz70]

(03-17-2017, 07:49 AM)Fan_in_Kettering Wrote: Yes, I know the Bengals desperately need stronger personnel in the trenches but I happened to notice running backs LeGarrette Blount and DeAngelo Williams are still unrestricted free agents as of St. Patrick's Day morning.  Wouldn't it be great, just once, if the Front Office would just call one of their agents just to chit-chat?  Are they upgrades from Jeremy Hill or not?  To me, free agency and the draft aren't just about filling holes and mitigating gaps and such, but actually making bold moves which move the team closer to winning the Super Bowl.  

Left tackle Ryan Clady is still unsigned by any team.  Sebastian Vollmer can play either tackle position with equal facility yet there he is, sitting by the phone with all that sweet Patriot stank on him.  Nick Mangold is pacing the floor wondering why the Bengals consider Russell Bodine a better center when Nick could upgrade the offensive line simply by walking into the Cincinnati locker room.  Jahri Evans is a guard who Drew Brees calls the best pass protector he's ever seen but he's still unsigned.  My sleeper picks for the Bengals would be former Seahawk tackle Breno Giacomini or former Lion Gosder Cherilus.  There are upgrades to be had -- and for cheap at this point.

At this point the are rolling with the 2 young guys at tackle.  They spent 1st and 2nd round draft picks on these guys.  They are not going to sign FAs for competition.  These 2 guys need to take a step forward.


I do not disagree with your ideas, just not going to happen.

An OL of Clady, Boling, Mangold, Smith, Vollmer does sound intriguing though for a short period and a run.

[*Go Cards*]

Remember when DeAngelo Williams Memphis team was playing my Louisville Cardinals and knowing the kid was going to be really good and maybe great in NFL.

But that was 12 years ago which is an eternity for a RB at this level. Even if he split time many years.

Fan, but think we can get a good one in draft too.

But agree that would absolutely love for the Bengals to pursue some really good players now and again.

[Essex Johnson]

(03-17-2017, 11:19 PM)ochocincos Wrote: Tell that to Pittsburgh who, despite having Le'Veon Bell as their star RB, still went out and signed DeAngelo Williams to be a backup.

The biggest problem for the Bengals is there seems to never be a competition for starting spots. It's always "Player X" is the starter until he gets hurt. There's never any pressure on these precious snowflakes. As long as they have dead money on their contract, they don't have to fear losing their jobs.

Williams was not competition for Bell... it was a good signing as a backup.. but our RB depth has been good for the last three years... now with Hill and Gio only.. and a deep draft.. i would not be surprised if we go RB in 2nd to 4th round.

[THE PISTONS]

(03-20-2017, 12:50 AM)Essex Johnson Wrote: Williams was not competition for Bell... it was a good signing as a backup.. but our RB depth has been good for the last three years... now with Hill and Gio only.. and a deep draft.. i would not be surprised if we go RB in 2nd to 4th round.

With Gio coming off of a major injury too...and Hill as a free agent next year. We'll definitely snag a RB in the 1st 3 Rounds.

I'm a bit surprised they didn't bring Burkhead back and let Peerman go for the reason of Gio coming off of a major injury.

[ItsOdellThurman]

Pretty sure we spent for AJ Green, Burfict, Dunlap, Dalton and Atkins. I'd say all are "stars" at their positions given the definition and players you cited above.

Where the Bengals go cheap is for the lower level players who think they should get paid like stars. Often times, they can, because teams who don't develop their own players have money to spend.

The downfall of the Bengals hasn't been not signing FA's. It's been the lack of development of players to replace many of these good/mid-level guys who are likely to walk in FA.

When executed properly, the Bengals system is the ideal one in the NFL. It's just a lot of pressure to not miss on evaluation and draft picks.