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combatbengal

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If the thought is that they are simply going to play Whit at LT, then I think we can anticipate seeing Pollak start at LG.

Boling will be lucky to be ready to go by the start of the season.

Whit, Pollak, Cook, Zeitler, Smith.

Crappy part about that is, I think it ups how many OT's we take in the draft and forces it to be earlier in the process.

Dalton will likely be running for his life again against teams with a decent pass rush.

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They talk about keeping there own guys, but they just let them walk anyways. I guess there own guys they mean Mays, Tate guys like that. Stupid just stupid not to sign Collins, whit is not getting any younger!!

Completely unfair. They can't keep everyone.

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They talk about keeping there own guys, but they just let them walk anyways. I guess there own guys they mean Mays, Tate guys like that. Stupid just stupid not to sign Collins, whit is not getting any younger!!

Completely unfair. They can't keep everyone.

Perhaps not...but as Army pointed out elsewhere, the cap increased by $10 million this year, $7 million more than expected. And it could leap by as much as $23 million over the next two years. So that's $33 million in new cap space coming on line in 2014-16.

Then there are guys who will be cut or redone, starting with Hall. He's $8.7 million vs. the cap this year and $9.7 million in 2015, virtually all of which is due to high base salaries. Peko is in a contract year and it's arguably time to change the guard there. That's another $4 million. Whit could be restructured to reduce his cap hit ($11.4 million over the next two years).

Even with Dalton and Green waiting in the wings, I think they could swing a deal for AC, or at least afford an extra $800k to lock down Vinny Rey.

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Perhaps not...but as Army pointed out elsewhere, the cap increased by $10 million this year

Even with Dalton and Green waiting in the wings, I think they could swing a deal for AC, or at least afford an extra $800k to lock down Vinny Rey.

But how many players (and their agents !) will be clamouring for a piece of this extra cash?? If there's AC, MJ, Vinny Rey, Burfict, Dalton, Green, Pollack (just done) Baby Hawk and god knows who else then there ain't a lot to share around.

What if Vinny's agent is advising him that £800k extra isn't worth shit and he should be asking for multiple millions of $$ extra to re-sign ??

We as fans are led by loyalty to our chosen team ...this isn't true of players or their agents except in a very few exceptional cases.

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Every year Bengals fans pre-fret about free agency, but for the last four years or so, this team has done pretty well at re-signing those it wants to keep, and letting those walk it is okay with letting walk.

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I've mentioned it numerous times and will once again.

Just because a team has the dollars to resign a player and indeed wants said player to return, the player has to want the same thing.

If Anthony Collins wants to play more games in the sunshine of Florida and be assured a starters role, then that's that.

The cloudy miserable winters in Cincinnati in a possible reserve role (should they move Whit back out) can't compete regardless of wants on the team's part.

It's been tossed around that they intend on moving Whit back out to LT due to his salary and if that is in fact the case, why wouldn't AC take more money to start ?? You could certainly make the argument of Tampa Bay sucking balls, but how many times has AC had a chance to cash in ?? How many more times will he get that chance ??

I'm just saying there is a lot to go into it.

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Perhaps not...but as Army pointed out elsewhere, the cap increased by $10 million this year

Even with Dalton and Green waiting in the wings, I think they could swing a deal for AC, or at least afford an extra $800k to lock down Vinny Rey.

But how many players (and their agents !) will be clamouring for a piece of this extra cash?? If there's AC, MJ, Vinny Rey, Burfict, Dalton, Green, Pollack (just done) Baby Hawk and god knows who else then there ain't a lot to share around.

What if Vinny's agent is advising him that £800k extra isn't worth shit and he should be asking for multiple millions of $$ extra to re-sign ??

We as fans are led by loyalty to our chosen team ...this isn't true of players or their agents except in a very few exceptional cases.

And more power to 'em. As Army mentions, they never know when (or if) they will have a shot at big bucks again. But it isn't just about the additional cap space this year, it's upcoming cap growth plus contracts coming off the books.

Here's the thing: cap-wise, the Bengals are in good shape. They have four, count 'em, four guys signed beyond 2016: Atkins, Dunlap, Huber and long snapper Clark Harris. They are set to make a combined $22 million or so in 2017, in a year when the cap will be north of $160 million. So the danger of getting stuck in cap jail is effectively zero. Normally you don't want to push a lot of money into the future. That's how Pittsburgh got in trouble. But as an occasional strategy it makes sense. In fact they did it with Atkins: his cap hit spikes to $10.6 million in 2017. They could redo a couple deals (Hall and Whitworth are ripe) to push some of that hit off as well and shake loose some space for AC. (Or they could just use the space they have for the "injury cushion," which they won't need until September and which they could get in final cuts anyhow...but that's another rant.)

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I've mentioned it numerous times and will once again.

Just because a team has the dollars to resign a player and indeed wants said player to return, the player has to want the same thing.

If Anthony Collins wants to play more games in the sunshine of Florida and be assured a starters role, then that's that.

The cloudy miserable winters in Cincinnati in a possible reserve role (should they move Whit back out) can't compete regardless of wants on the team's part.

It's been tossed around that they intend on moving Whit back out to LT due to his salary and if that is in fact the case, why wouldn't AC take more money to start ?? You could certainly make the argument of Tampa Bay sucking balls, but how many times has AC had a chance to cash in ?? How many more times will he get that chance ??

I'm just saying there is a lot to go into it.

No state income tax in Florida, as well. Nice deal.

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I would really like to punch Hobson in the face.

:boxing:

Oops, I forgot to finish my thought on this...

If the thought was they wanted to go after both AC and MJ, I would like to know what they would have considered a reasonable cost for the both of them. Any ideas on the cost for both ?? I know it would be well north of 10 million way on the cheap end.

Why do I ask that ?? Well, if they were willing to spend that kind of coin on the cheap end, how much would it take to get Alex Mack away from the Browns ?? It would be cheaper than what both AC and MJ would have cost, would be a HUGE bolster to both Dalton and the running game, and would hurt a division rival.

He isn't the only player in the category either. TJ Ward, Darius Byrd, and others.

Yeah, great plan to do nothing.

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I assume one of Hobson's job descriptions is lowering fanbase expectations with regard to free agency. Then, when the Bengals inevitably do make a few moves, we are extra surprised and grateful. I literally think this is one of the things he is told to do by his bosses.

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I would really like to punch Hobson in the face.

:boxing:/>

Oops, I forgot to finish my thought on this...

If the thought was they wanted to go after both AC and MJ, I would like to know what they would have considered a reasonable cost for the both of them. Any ideas on the cost for both ?? I know it would be well north of 10 million way on the cheap end.

Why do I ask that ?? Well, if they were willing to spend that kind of coin on the cheap end, how much would it take to get Alex Mack away from the Browns ?? It would be cheaper than what both AC and MJ would have cost, would be a HUGE bolster to both Dalton and the running game, and would hurt a division rival.

He isn't the only player in the category either. TJ Ward, Darius Byrd, and others.

Yeah, great plan to do nothing.

Hobson is certainly more of a PR guy than an actual columnist.

I'm interested in seeing how they approach this offseason in terms of the O-line. I really think that is the missing piece to what could be a very good team. Dalton produces with time to throw, when he doesn't have it, he doesn't produce. We saw it in almost every loss they had this past season. Seems like a no-brainer. While I actually like Pollack over Boling, Cook is the real issue. Until he's replaced, or given an upgrade to the entire line, he's going to struggle against better NT's and DT's. It's easier to find a better center. Period. If the line is left as is, I really don't see this offense improving a whole lot against those teams they have typically struggled against, i.e. the Steelers.

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I wanted Collins back. Clearly, though, the Bengals have other ideas.

Over the past several seasons, I've learned to trust their judgment. It's done wonders for my sanity and overall health.

I'm with you in regards to wanting said player back with the Bengals and i've learned to trust their judgement recently as well.

However, that's not my concern as I stated earlier.

If the plan was to spend up to "x" amount of dollars on both AC and MJ and now they are not, why not put that money to good use in upgrading another area?

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I wanted Collins back. Clearly, though, the Bengals have other ideas.

Over the past several seasons, I've learned to trust their judgment. It's done wonders for my sanity and overall health.

I'm with you in regards to wanting said player back with the Bengals and i've learned to trust their judgement recently as well.

However, that's not my concern as I stated earlier.

If the plan was to spend up to "x" amount of dollars on both AC and MJ and now they are not, why not put that money to good use in upgrading another area?

Yeah, this. I was resigned to losing MJ after they inked Dunlap and drafted Hunt, and while I wanted to keep Collins I understand that if the Bucs are going to pile it high and deep, at some point you walk away, and that's ok. But the answer to those losses shouldn't be to stick the money in a drawer, it should be to reinvest it somewhere else. For example, there are a boatload of good corners shaking loose. I wouldn't expect any of the top guys but there are several guys who might help and would ease the need to reach for a CB at 24. Or they could look at upgrading RB: there is zero market for FA RBs these days. For the $3 million they are paying BJGE plus a little of what they were offering MJ or Collins, they could get just about anyone.

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Yeah, agreed, if you aren't gonna pick up Johnson or Collins, pick up some bargains - a solid starting or nickel veteran corner who isn't over 30 plus a good to great running back (I like the Jennings kid from the Raiders) on the cheap. Those two positions would help the Bengals and there are a TON of them available and the current high supply leads to relatively low price

As Army said you can drop the Law Firm altogether and essentially trade-up for little to no added cost, due to the high availability and lower demand for quality running backs

Signing a vet corner means you can then take a DE or LT on draft day 1 to replace MJ or ACC. I'd favor an LT in this case because we have some depth at DE.

And if you're gonna save all that money, sign SOMEBODY to an extension. I don't know if Burfict is eligible or not yet, but if he is, he's first in line, and no one else is a close second

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I expect the Bengals will indeed come to some extentions, I think that is indeed what they are holding the money for.

I also expect the Bengals will eventually get some pieces in FA to fill in. It will take several weeks while the market sorts itself out. That's been their approach for the last several years. It's worked for them, frankly.

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