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Free Agency can't come soon enough.
I really want to see if the Bengals actually put their money where their mouth is and upgrade the OL in FA like has been speculated.
Zac Taylor 2019-2020: 6 total wins
Zac Taylor 2021-2022: Double-digit wins each season, plus 5 postseason wins
Zac Taylor 2023: 9 wins despite losing Burrow half the season
Zac Taylor 2024: Started 1-4. If he can turn this into a playoff appearance, it will be impressive.
Sorry for Party Rocking!
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I'm sorry, but the guards we have suck so I don't see it as an advantage that the team re-signs them. Re-signing or even retaining failed prospects makes no sense to me at all.
The fact that the team keeps re-signing scrub Alex Redmond is an indicator of what level of play they're happy with. Sadly, as a fan, the front office's acceptable play level is substantially below what I'd expect from NFL players.
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Under valuing the guard position is outdated. The quickest way to the QB is up the middle and there are a lot of great inside rushers in the league. The guards we currently have on the roster aren't going to cut it. XSF was a backup in Dallas, barely played this season, is older with no upside and is below average on a good day. Michael Jordan was awful this season usually players get better in year two I doubt he will take a big leap in year 3. Spain is average at best and Price can't play guard. Thuney and Scheff are some of the best at there position and young I don't see anything wrong with paying them big money. Burrow is on a rookie contract we have cap space and need to take advantage.
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Mike Brown is still approaching the Bengals organization like his father did 70 years ago. Which means he will go with in undrafted/low round guys at guard who he won’t pay for after their rookie contract expires. Nothing changes.
That’s why I believe grabbing a high end tackle (Trent Williams) plus a Day 1 or Day 2 plug-in-play tackle starter in the draft is the way to go. Putting Jonah at LG, and finding some level of competence amongst the returners of the remaining two spots.
FYI to correct something above, Rich Braham was a 3rd round pick from the Cards (they released him right away saying he was scheme deficient). My second team I follow is as bad as the first.
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Mike Brown will pay Guards. He made Boling the 8th highest paid OG in the league when he signed his last contract. He also paid Bobbie Williams well to keep him here as a starter.
The thing people forget about Zeitler and Steinbach is that they did not just get paid well. I believe they were both paid close to the highest in the league at their position. So while Mike Brown may pay OGs, he may not make them the highest paid at their position in the league.
In the case of Steinbach all 5 of out starting O-linemen were due to become free agents at the same time. We re-signed 4 of the 5 to extensions and let Steinbach walk because the Browns paid too much for him nd we had Whitworth ready to take his place.
I can also understand why they did not want to pay Zeitler more than any other guard in the league, but that is no excuse for not spending more money for a guy to replace him.
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(02-17-2021, 03:08 PM)Wyche Wrote: The main issue with Zeitler was that they should've extended him the year prior and saved money before DeCastro inked his big deal. They gambled and lost. Agree about Steiny.
They could not have signed him much cheaper the prior year.