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FA Bargain Shopping/MLB Hartwell


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With the questionable release of the solid and dependable Brian Simmons(In Marvin I Trust :( ), we have basically 2 guys with more than 1 year experience, which could potentially be a problem, especially if someone gets hurt. I think we have to sign a veteran MLB because of how important the position is the defense.

What do you guys think about giving a look-see to Ed Hartwell? When healthy this guy is a beast, the problem is he's been injury prone the last few years. Coming from Baltimore he was considered one of the best young lb's in the game, unfortunately injuries have derailed his career and the Falcons cut him earlier this year after signing him to a big contract only 2 years ago.

Before he joined the Falcons he had NEVER missed a game due to injury, playing in 64 consecutive games. From 2002-2004 he avg. 110 tackles and 2 sacks, we could use a guy like that manning the middle of soon to be championship defense. Plus, Marvin knows him from his Ravens days and Ed came up under Ray Lewis so you know he knows how to prepare and bring it on Sundays.

Rehabbing in Atlanta can be a tricky thing, I believe they say an idle mind is the devil's playground and there's plenty of places to play in Atl, Blue Flame, Scores, Body Tap..I could go on. If Ed can pass a physical, I'm assuming he can't so that is why no one is interested in him yet. But maybe in July he be healed up and ready to go, if so I hope we sign him.

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Pass on Hartwell. The Bengals already got 2 2 down MLBs in Brooks and Nicholson. And both of them got a better shot at swinging nickel than Hartwell would.

You would rather have two guys who 4 starts combined over a guy whose been to Pro Bowls :blink:

I know Brooks's potential and all but c'mon, do you really think a rookie MLB can lead a defense to a SuperBowl victory? I don't, I like Brooks but I would rather see him play ROLB were he can come off the edge to rush the passer, plus he won't be responsible for making all the calls so can just pin his ears back and play.

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He wasn't even any good when he was healthy for Atlanta. Yet another example of a free agent bust. The list is endless of these big name free agents who sign with new teams and aren't nearly as successful as they were with their original teams. I don't know how many times there is a player that bengal fans are clamoring for us to sign, who then signs with another team, and ends up gettting cut within a year or two becasue he sucks so much .

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He wasn't even any good when he was healthy for Atlanta. Yet another example of a free agent bust. The list is endless of these big name free agents who sign with new teams and aren't nearly as successful as they were with their original teams. I don't know how many times there is a player that bengal fans are clamoring for us to sign, who then signs with another team, and ends up gettting cut within a year or two becasue he sucks so much .

He avg. around 5 tackles a game while in Atl, that's not great but that's not horrible either. I'm not saying we give him a 30 million dollar signing bonus, I say we bring him in for cheap and see if it works. He's not going to get a big dollar contract because of health issues, at the worst he can make a go of it and he's cut.

What other veteran MLB can u think of that would help?

He was good in Baltimore, like every other defensive player that's ever been with the Ravens. I don't want him here though, as his weaknesses were much more emphasized with the Falcons. I doubt he'd be very cheap either.

I disagree, I think he will have to take a low one year offer to prove that he can stay healthy for a full season before he gets another big contract, if we can get him for a decent price I don't see why not.

Btw, what are his weaknesses.

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why does everyone think Hartwell will expensive, most of the big money deals have already been done. If he was going to get a big pay day he would have gotten it already, plus he was injured for the past two seasons, so that is another reason why he won't get a big pay day.

If you think that a veteran Pro Bowl MLB wouldn't affect our defense then there's no point in discussing this with you because you obiviously don't understand were I'm coming from.

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Seriously, sign an old, injured MLB so we can stunt the development of our own younger, more talented MLB, thereby prolonging the amount of time until we have a top tier defense. Good idea.

How is Hartwell old on 5/27 he will turn 29 and this will be his 7th year in the NFL, if anything he's in his prime. Also I said only to sign him if he's healthly; you see in the NFL guys get hurt, then they get healthy, it's amazing how that works. ;)

You say Brooks is more talented, how do you come to that conclusion, what has Brooks done on the field in the NFL to lead you to say he's more talented then Ed Hartwell? He was so talented he spent the last month of the season on the inactive list, sounds like a future HOF'er to me. <_<

Brooks has physical talent but, mentally he's not even close to being on Hartwell's level. When healthy how many games has Hartwell missed because he was inactive, 0. Brooks has the potential to be good, but as of right now he's nowhere close to being as good as Hartwell.

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injury riddled fight starter , pass on hartwell.

And the point is?? He got into a TC fight, at least he plays with some emotion. When is the last time Brian Simmons's meek ass got into a fight, we need guys who have some fight in him.

I'm going to say this for the last time, I'm only advocating signing Hartwell if he's healthy and for a relatively cheap salary. So please stop with the he's injured and wants too much money comments, because nobody knows if either of those things are true.

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Btw, what are his weaknesses.

At times he struggled to shed blocks behind a porous Falcons defensive front, and I'm not sure he can handle coverage duties very effectively. He's pretty slow too.

Name me one mlb that will be productive behind a pourous d-line, next! As for his speed and coverage duties I'm not sure about those either, but bringing him in wouldn't hurt.

Answer me this, are you comfortable going into the season with our current lb's, given their lack of experience and all. I'm a homer, but I think we're going to need someone besides Landon and Caleb with some experience and Hartwell is the best option to fill that void.

What vetern lb would you like the Bengals to go after?

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We don't need Hartwell when we got Brooks and Odell could come back. It wouldn't happen anyways. Is Na'il Diggs a free agent still?

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I wouldn't mind them bringing in Hartwell for a look. Brooks, despite the Hobjob on bengals.com today, is still a question mark, and while Caleb looked better last year I'm not sold on him being a NFL-starting-caliber MLB by a longshot. There seem to be a fair number of one-year, one-million-ish contracts going around right now. If he were healthy and willing to sign in that range, I say do it.

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Hartwell seems better suited on the strongside. I wouldn't mind seeing the Bengals use an actual LB there. In the middle, he 'd be a liability in coverage and from what I watched all season long, the run D is not the problem with the Bengals, it's the pass defense. Hartwell would just make matters worse.

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