09-06-2019, 08:38 PM
My 2019 offseason timeline actually begins in 2018.
New Years eve....Announcement that Marvin Lewis will not return as Bengals head coach.
I was so numbed by the fact that we gave Marvin another 2 year contract after the 2017 debacle that I had resigned myself to the fact that no matter what he did he would be back for 2019. But when they let him go, er, I mean, when he decided not to come back 
it was like a gift from heaven. Earlier in 2018 I had been shocked when they signed a significant free agent (league's leading tackler) and traded for a very expensive LT. It seemed as if finally something big had changed with the team.
It was the most excited I had felt in years. I felt that the defense had grossly underperformed, but the talent was there. It just needed better coaching. The offense had some issues but I felt they could be fixed. I didn't expect any real big free agent signings, but since we were in transition I thought we would sign some guys like in 2011 when we got 3 solid productive starters in free agency..
2-4-19....Bengals hire Zac Taylor as head coach. It seemed like it took forever but we got a guy who was well regarded. I am not as impressed with youth in coaches as some people here, but I was glad we didn't go with some old retread HC who had been fired from a couple of other NFL teams. Zac lacked experience but everyone has to start somewhere. Plus I was still on an endorphin high from the 2018 offseason and the release of Lewis.
"There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .
And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . ."
2-21-19....Bengals hire Lou Anarumo as Defensive Coordinator.
"With the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.” *
This hiring was the final piece of a coaching search that had brought me back to earth. Most of the hires didn't seem to have any real credentials other than working with Zac or his family before. I understand coaches want to be comfortable with their staff, but it is more important to be surrounded by coaching talent than coaches you know. However I was still enthusiastic about the steps this "New Day regime" would take to shore up our roster.
3-11-19....NFL free agency begins. Although feeling positive about what we might do in free agency I still didn't expect there to be any big first day signings. That is when the big deals for the top dogs are announced. In a perfect example of Bengal fandom I was actually excited about the prospects of signing a couple of good solid second tier free agents.
3-11-19....Bengals sign Bobby Hart for 3 years $21 million.
Okay, I know the contract is not really for a full $21 million unless Hart plays enough to earn it, but it is still not what I was expecting. I did not think we would sign big stars, but I thought we would sign guys that were clear upgrades over player like. . . . Bobby Hart.
Even after that signing I held out hope that we would sign a starting LB, or TE, or DT. We still had the draft but we couldn't expect to get all we needed from one rookie draft class. Instead we sign a CB who had played for 5 teams in 5 years and had not even made an NFL roster in 2017, and re-signed Mr. Glass at TE. You all should know how highly I thought of Eifert. When he was healthy he was a complete game changer. But we simply can not depend on him to play this year.
Free agency took a lot of the wind out of my sails, but we still had the draft.
4-25-19....Bengals select Jonah Williams with #11 pick.
Absolutely loved this pick. The talk about his football knowledge and attention to detail sound exactly like what they said when we drafted Whitworth. No red flags and fills a huge need. Suddenly the O-line did not look that bad. We had a couple of decent player in Boling and Glenn and I expected Price to be one of the most improved players on the team. If Hart turned out to be what the team thinks he is then we had the makings of a good line.
6-25-19....Jonah Williams possibly out for entire season.
7-15-19....Clint Boling retires.
7-29-19....A J Green out 6 to 8 weeks.
8-6-18......Billy Price benched.
9-6-19......Cordy Glenn in 3rd week of concussion protocol will miss opener. :whiteflag:
So it has been a wild rollercoaster ride. It seems to have hit a low spot right now, but there is still an excitement to the games just because ewe have an all new staff. Hopefully if we have to struggle through another losing season there will be signs of good things for the future. Nothing else to say except
* Hunter Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
New Years eve....Announcement that Marvin Lewis will not return as Bengals head coach.
I was so numbed by the fact that we gave Marvin another 2 year contract after the 2017 debacle that I had resigned myself to the fact that no matter what he did he would be back for 2019. But when they let him go, er, I mean, when he decided not to come back it was like a gift from heaven. Earlier in 2018 I had been shocked when they signed a significant free agent (league's leading tackler) and traded for a very expensive LT. It seemed as if finally something big had changed with the team. It was the most excited I had felt in years. I felt that the defense had grossly underperformed, but the talent was there. It just needed better coaching. The offense had some issues but I felt they could be fixed. I didn't expect any real big free agent signings, but since we were in transition I thought we would sign some guys like in 2011 when we got 3 solid productive starters in free agency..
2-4-19....Bengals hire Zac Taylor as head coach. It seemed like it took forever but we got a guy who was well regarded. I am not as impressed with youth in coaches as some people here, but I was glad we didn't go with some old retread HC who had been fired from a couple of other NFL teams. Zac lacked experience but everyone has to start somewhere. Plus I was still on an endorphin high from the 2018 offseason and the release of Lewis.
"There was a fantastic universal sense that whatever we were doing was right, that we were winning. . . .
And that, I think, was the handle—that sense of inevitable victory over the forces of Old and Evil. Not in any mean or military sense; we didn’t need that. Our energy would simply prevail. There was no point in fighting—on our side or theirs. We had all the momentum; we were riding the crest of a high and beautiful wave. . . ."
2-21-19....Bengals hire Lou Anarumo as Defensive Coordinator.
"With the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark—that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.” *
This hiring was the final piece of a coaching search that had brought me back to earth. Most of the hires didn't seem to have any real credentials other than working with Zac or his family before. I understand coaches want to be comfortable with their staff, but it is more important to be surrounded by coaching talent than coaches you know. However I was still enthusiastic about the steps this "New Day regime" would take to shore up our roster.
3-11-19....NFL free agency begins. Although feeling positive about what we might do in free agency I still didn't expect there to be any big first day signings. That is when the big deals for the top dogs are announced. In a perfect example of Bengal fandom I was actually excited about the prospects of signing a couple of good solid second tier free agents.
3-11-19....Bengals sign Bobby Hart for 3 years $21 million.
Okay, I know the contract is not really for a full $21 million unless Hart plays enough to earn it, but it is still not what I was expecting. I did not think we would sign big stars, but I thought we would sign guys that were clear upgrades over player like. . . . Bobby Hart.
Even after that signing I held out hope that we would sign a starting LB, or TE, or DT. We still had the draft but we couldn't expect to get all we needed from one rookie draft class. Instead we sign a CB who had played for 5 teams in 5 years and had not even made an NFL roster in 2017, and re-signed Mr. Glass at TE. You all should know how highly I thought of Eifert. When he was healthy he was a complete game changer. But we simply can not depend on him to play this year.
Free agency took a lot of the wind out of my sails, but we still had the draft.
4-25-19....Bengals select Jonah Williams with #11 pick.
Absolutely loved this pick. The talk about his football knowledge and attention to detail sound exactly like what they said when we drafted Whitworth. No red flags and fills a huge need. Suddenly the O-line did not look that bad. We had a couple of decent player in Boling and Glenn and I expected Price to be one of the most improved players on the team. If Hart turned out to be what the team thinks he is then we had the makings of a good line.6-25-19....Jonah Williams possibly out for entire season.
7-15-19....Clint Boling retires.
7-29-19....A J Green out 6 to 8 weeks.
8-6-18......Billy Price benched.
9-6-19......Cordy Glenn in 3rd week of concussion protocol will miss opener. :whiteflag:
So it has been a wild rollercoaster ride. It seems to have hit a low spot right now, but there is still an excitement to the games just because ewe have an all new staff. Hopefully if we have to struggle through another losing season there will be signs of good things for the future. Nothing else to say except
* Hunter Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
![[Image: 4CV0TeR.png]](https://i.imgur.com/4CV0TeR.png)
