derekshank Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 No... by all means. Let's imitate what the Browns do. After all, it was their willingness to sign Bentley, Jurevicius, McGinist, Shaffer, Washington and Zastudil that led to their playoff run last year. Wait... they were worse last year than before all the signings. I'm not saying that I would hate it if the Bengals got some decent free agents... but the fact is that the teams that pursue top-tier free agents year after year are perrenial losers. That should communicate something.I love this reasoning - nothing to back it up but bad examples in Washington and (for now) Cleveland. What about New Orleans? The Patriots? The Colts? The Bears? All of them have gone after a healthy amount of FA's. I seem to remember them all being in the playoffs too. Same with the Chargers (McCardell, Goff, others).Hmm... sounds like a pretty convincing argument. Let's go through you're list. The amount these teams were involved in free agency last year.The Saints: Spent a ton on Brees. Brees worked out very well for them... but no one else they got made a significant impact.The Patriots: Reche Caldwell, and Eric Warfield. We routinely do more than that.The Colts: Adam Vinatieri - That is it!The Bears: Brian Greise, Tony Hollings. Neither got any playing time at all.The Chargers: Marlon McCree.So... of these teams on your list, they all manage fewer impactful FA's than the Bengals had last year with the exception of the Saints. Really... the only teams that improved greatly because of free agency were teams that got big names QB's. (N.O. and Baltimore) I don't think that's an area of need for the Bengals.Yea, that's the most frustrating thing. People who are against people talking about bringing in a free agent or two are under the misguided assumption that we want the Bengals to pull a Reskins move and sign four or five free agents. That is simply not true. I'd be happy with one or two role players to fill out the roster (someone like a Rod Hood or an Ian Scott) who could be signed for a reasonable price...as long as we brought in one player who could have an impact by himself.I don't disagree with anything you just wrote. But I also don't see a reason to complain about it if that is your concern. The Bengals always manage to fill the roster out with role players. Thornton, B. Robinson, Sam Adams, Dexter Jackson... we do it every year, and it is never in the first week of free agency. We wait for the market to slow down. But, still we manage to have a few dozen Bengal fans wringing their hands in worry because the Bengals didn't go sign Adalius THomas, (or last year's LaVar Arrington, or Corey Simon they year before).Frankly, if we would sign a big name free agent, that guy had better be a damn good fit. I don't want to spend big money on someone who wouldn't fit well. Adalius Thomas is a great fit in N.E., but would have been a terrible fit here. I think the same about Joey Porter. In other words, I don't see a ton of guys out there I'm willing to spend big money on. I want a few role players before the draft roles around. We'll get that, and then build through the draft. To some people this is frustrating... but it is how virtually every other successful team builds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whur CHad At? Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 No... by all means. Let's imitate what the Browns do. After all, it was their willingness to sign Bentley, Jurevicius, McGinist, Shaffer, Washington and Zastudil that led to their playoff run last year. Wait... they were worse last year than before all the signings. I'm not saying that I would hate it if the Bengals got some decent free agents... but the fact is that the teams that pursue top-tier free agents year after year are perrenial losers. That should communicate something.I love this reasoning - nothing to back it up but bad examples in Washington and (for now) Cleveland. What about New Orleans? The Patriots? The Colts? The Bears? All of them have gone after a healthy amount of FA's. I seem to remember them all being in the playoffs too. Same with the Chargers (McCardell, Goff, others).Hmm... sounds like a pretty convincing argument. Let's go through you're list. The amount these teams were involved in free agency last year.The Saints: Spent a ton on Brees. Brees worked out very well for them... but no one else they got made a significant impact.The Patriots: Reche Caldwell, and Eric Warfield. We routinely do more than that.The Colts: Adam Vinatieri - That is it!The Bears: Brian Greise, Tony Hollings. Neither got any playing time at all.The Chargers: Marlon McCree.So... of these teams on your list, they all manage fewer impactful FA's than the Bengals had last year with the exception of the Saints. Really... the only teams that improved greatly because of free agency were teams that got big names QB's. (N.O. and Baltimore) I don't think that's an area of need for the Bengals.The Ravens got Trevor Pryce who had double digit sacks last year....And the Saints got Hollis Thomas, who made a huge impact.Patriots this years are about to spend over $90 million this off season if they can end up pulling of a trade for Moss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stripes Posted March 5, 2007 Report Share Posted March 5, 2007 Interesting note on a former Bengals free agent acquisition (not intended to fuel either side of the argument)...Ifeanyi Ohalete has been signed to the practice squad of the New York Dragons -- an Arena League team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirkendall Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 TDB, you have to be the best forum moderator I've ever encountered. You don't get all pissy when people disagree with you, and 99% of the time, you actually have something to say that's worth reading.He's strong with the force. Ifeanyi Ohalete has been signed to the practice squad of the New York Dragons -- an Arena League team. Ohalete is NOT strong with the force. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whur CHad At? Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 Ohalete is a good example of how Bengals view free agency. Go after the worthless ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HairOnFire Posted March 6, 2007 Report Share Posted March 6, 2007 The Saints: Spent a ton on Brees. Brees worked out very well for them... but no one else they got made a significant impact.The Patriots: Reche Caldwell, and Eric Warfield. We routinely do more than that.The Colts: Adam Vinatieri - That is it!The Bears: Brian Greise, Tony Hollings. Neither got any playing time at all.The Chargers: Marlon McCree.So... of these teams on your list, they all manage fewer impactful FA's than the Bengals had last year with the exception of the Saints. Shouldn't the above list include the important free agents that those teams lost? For example, the Colts lost Edgerrin James. The Chargers lost Drew Brees. The Saints lost LeCharles Bentley. On and on it goes. In comparison, certain Bengal fans were reduced to whining endlessly about the free agent losses of Kevin Walter, Matt Schobel, and Jon Kitna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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