Q: Has Marvin Lewis Lost His Nuts or His Mind

[HairOnFire]

TAMPA – Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis has no problems dealing with receivers Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco, but apparently has an issue with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Prior to the season, the Bucs signed to their practice squad receiver Dezmon Briscoe, a rookie from Kansas who was drafted by Cincinnati in the sixth round this offseason. Briscoe was waived by the Bengals on Sept. 4 and the team expected to sign him to its practice squad after he cleared waivers.

Instead, Tampa Bay signed Briscoe and offered him a contract worth the rookie minimum salary, which is $325,000. Practice squad players typically are paid $5,200 per week, roughly $90,000 for all 17 weeks, but Tampa Bay exercised its option to go above and beyond to obtain Briscoe.

Lewis was not happy by Tampa Bay's contract offer to Briscoe.

"He was in camp for us, but when you overpay a guy on the practice squad, you create a problem in the system for teams," Lewis said. "I don't know that teams want to set the precedent and they did with Dezmon."

When Lewis was asked to describe Briscoe's talent, he declined.

"He's a Bucs player now," Lewis said. "You probably should ask Raheem (Morris)."

Lewis did re-emphasis his belief the Bucs were out of line in their contract offer to Briscoe.

"That's not a great precedent for the teams to set as we try to keep the NFL and do the things we're trying to do as a league," Lewis said. "It's still a league of 32 teams and teams are put together a certain way."

/>http://www2.tbo.com/...ri/sports-bucs/

[ArmyBengal]

I'm sorry, but Marvin is being a bitch here. The Bucs wanted him and they did what they felt they needed to in order to make the move happen. I call that a proactive front office. Instead of Marvin being upset with the Bucs and how they do business, he should have made sure HIS front office and owner did what they needed to do.

Hey Marvin, just shut the f*ck up on this one.

[HoosierCat]

Neither. But this should help everyone understand why he and Mikey get on so well.

[James_Brooks21]

I'm sorry, but Marvin is being a bitch here. The Bucs wanted him and they did what they felt they needed to in order to make the move happen. I call that a proactive front office. Instead of Marvin being upset with the Bucs and how they do business, he should have made sure HIS front office and owner did what they needed to do.

Hey Marvin, just shut the f*ck up on this one.

Yeah I saw this article too and was a little confused, if Tampa chooses to pay someone a certain amount of money than that's their choice. I'm liking the fact of TO stepping up to discuss that dirty hit on Shipley, he said tell that guy to hit me like that. That's what I'm talking about right there they would have had to get the commisioner down on the field to escort me off if someone would have hit one of my teamates like that. The Bengals are missing that guy that can lay someone out on defense, Mauluaga had the rep coming out of USC but I haven't seen him put the wood on anyone since he has been in the NFL. They are missing someone with a missing streak ala James Harrison, I watch Harrison everytime I see the Steelers on t.v. just to watch what he does throughout the game and you are talking about someone straight vicious. Where is that type of player at on our soft defense?

[HairOnFire]

Exactly. The Bengals decision to draft a player specifically targeted for the practice squad was stupid from the start and the fact that another team punked them by paying a little more only makes the previous decisions look even dumber. Not to mention how complaining about WR contracts opens up the floor to the Antonio Bryant fiasco.

Frankly, everything this team is doing right now seems slightly pussified.

[HairOnFire]

Neither. But this should help everyone understand why he and Mikey get on so well.

That's the first smart thing you've said in a month.

Perhaps someone should by you an imaginary cigar.

[ArmyBengal]

I just don't understand why he would put himself out there like that.

Isn't Marvin always the one saying, "You have to be smarter than that" about things ??

[BengalPimp]

A: Neither!

Marvin is not B*tching, you just need to understand what he's trying to say. For example:

"He was in camp for us, but when you overpay a guy on the practice squad, you create a problem in the system for teams," Lewis said.

If a guy normally on the practice squad makes $5,200/game or $90,000 for 17 games, and you pay him the rookie minimum for a Roster player($325,000), you throw things out of whack....Kind of like giving a QB selected #1 overall $50 Million Guranteed.

These are some of the things that will contribute to a lock-out. Make no mistake, Tampa Bay is one F*cked up franchise, and they go and pull something like this, yet they are the same franchise who will cry about the salary cap, and how they can't pay like big market teams. If they are setting a precedent, it will only be a matter of time before other "large market" teams follow suit. They'll f*ck up the system, then cry about the system being f*cked up. Bunch of B*tches. You can't just go out and pay Practice Squad guys like Roster Players...c'mon now.

[ArmyBengal]

I know what you are saying here Pimp and while I can agree with it f*cking up the system to a degree, it's simply the way it is and they are working within the dicked up system they have. It's an uncapped season and it cetainly won't hurt them. They felt they needed to make a move of that nature and did what they felt they needed to. I wish the Bengals would be proactive about how they go about business instead of worrying about others.

Again, I think it's just stupid to get worked up about a player they cut. There was no obligation after that and I think it's Marvin being a bit on the bitchy side of things.

[Stripes]

Marvin's entitled to feel however he feels, and whining about trivialities in the face of the media has never been his style. I don't give half a f**k either way.

[volcom69]

Marvin needs to shut up and be a leader. He dosnt want his players calling out others, then be a leader and dont call out people or org. Just shut up and coach your team.

Marvin has lost it!

[cHaD711Johnson]

Marvin needs to shut up and be a leader. He dosnt want his players calling out others, then be a leader and dont call out people or org. Just shut up and coach your team.

Marvin has lost it!

LOL.

[HairOnFire]

Marvin's entitled to feel however he feels, and whining about trivialities in the face of the media has never been his style. I don't give half a f**k either way.

If it hasn't been his style then why do it now? Especially when doing so will likely result in you being made to look foolish regardless of whether you're right or wrong? Seriously, is there any way this one gets portrayed differently than....Headline: Whining Bengal Head Coach gripes about another team spending more money for an obscure football player?

I'm guessing this has less to do with Briscoe specifically and everything to do with the number of players the Bengals have lost from their practice squad over the last couple of years. They're mad and they're willing to say something publically because Tampa has raided their practice squad before. But even if their beef is legit it can't be representatives of THIS team that lead the fight in the media. Not when you have this teams reputation and it's an issue regarding the lowest paid players in the NFL.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

If somebody with a better understanding of practice squad arcana wouldn't mind educating me on this:

How were the Yucs able to grab a PS player to put him on their practice squad? I thought that if a team signed somebody else's PS player that they had to put him on the 53.

Is the 'loophole' here that they snagged him *before* he got to the PS? Because if so, I could see a legit beef in that the PS is intended to be a balance between protecting a team's interest and a player's opportunity. Here, though, the team has no opportunity to get him there. If so, it seems to me that PS players ought not to go through waivers since they're already available to other teams via the PS rules.

In the end, though, they put a bullseye on him. He was too good (and they made him too cheap) to try to play that game.

[cincyhokie]

If somebody with a better understanding of practice squad arcana wouldn't mind educating me on this:

How were the Yucs able to grab a PS player to put him on their practice squad? I thought that if a team signed somebody else's PS player that they had to put him on the 53.

Is the 'loophole' here that they snagged him *before* he got to the PS? Because if so, I could see a legit beef in that the PS is intended to be a balance between protecting a team's interest and a player's opportunity. Here, though, the team has no opportunity to get him there. If so, it seems to me that PS players ought not to go through waivers since they're already available to other teams via the PS rules.

In the end, though, they put a bullseye on him. He was too good (and they made him too cheap) to try to play that game.

He wasn't on the Bengals PS. He was released. Because he was released he had the right to agree with any team that wanted to claim him. If no team would have claimed him, the Bengals could have resigned him to the PS. If the Bengals have a player officially on their PS the team that claims him has to add that player to their 53 man roster.

[Sea Ray]

I think Marvin's beef here is that he doesn't think Practice Squads should be about bidding wars. I'm amazed that the Bucs could offer him $300K. I thought the PS had a fixed salary. So now it seems that there is no salary cap for practice squads? I assume his salary does not count against the salary cap. That at least is against the spirit of the rules. I'd feel much better about this if he'd chosen the Bucs over us due to his perception on opportunity rather than money. I'd hate to think that folks like Jerry Jones and Dan Snider could stack their practice squads because they were willing to pay them big bucks. That's a financial advantage that the NFL has tried hard to prevent. It wouldn't surprise me if they address this loophole in the off season

I think it'd be hilarious if another team, maybe even our Bengals, plucked Briscoe off their PS

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

He wasn't on the Bengals PS. He was released. Because he was released he had the right to agree with any team that wanted to claim him. If no team would have claimed him, the Bengals could have resigned him to the PS. If the Bengals have a player officially on their PS the team that claims him has to add that player to their 53 man roster.

Right, then that's kind of goofy. You shouldn't have to get him through waivers first to put him on the PS since they can always get him from the PS. Otherwise, the only way to get a guy on the PS is if no other team wants him for theirs. Which means that the only way the PS system has ever worked was through the sort of understanding that Marvin alluded to.

Probably not the sort of thing that will be a high priority come negotiation time, but if the NFL ever wants to get serious about developing players who have a few rough edges, they have to make the PS thing work better.

[Kazkal]

would be nice if they upped the game day roster to like 48-50 players then total roster to 60...then just get rid of the PS.

[Wraith]

Players always have to go through waivers first before the team can place a guy on the PS otherwise you would have teams taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd round selections and placing them on the PS if they weren't ready for the games rather than taking up a roster spot.

[DC_Bengals_Fan]

Players always have to go through waivers first before the team can place a guy on the PS otherwise you would have teams taking 1st, 2nd and 3rd round selections and placing them on the PS if they weren't ready for the games rather than taking up a roster spot.

Wouldn't work since another team would claim them, right?

[ArmyBengal]

I can certainly agree with all the back and forth about the rights and wrongs with what the Bucs did in paying Briscoe.

My thought is, why did Marvin allow this issue to play out in the media with him being the face of the argument ??

Isn't that why they have meetings with the league, owners, and coaches ??

Bring it up there as opposed to appearing like a bitch on tv.

[COB]

The league should make it a rule regarding what you can pay PS players, because the gentlemen's agreement they've been operating under isn't working anymore.

Bidding wars for practice squad guys? They probably will create a rule to stop this from happening. I suspect the PS is outside the collective bargaining agreement, so the owners can probably just do it.

[Sea Ray]

The league should make it a rule regarding what you can pay PS players, because the gentlemen's agreement they've been operating under isn't working anymore.

Bidding wars for practice squad guys? They probably will create a rule to stop this from happening. I suspect the PS is outside the collective bargaining agreement, so the owners can probably just do it.

Yes, my point exactly

[kingwilly]

I can certainly agree with all the back and forth about the rights and wrongs with what the Bucs did in paying Briscoe.

My thought is, why did Marvin allow this issue to play out in the media with him being the face of the argument ??

Isn't that why they have meetings with the league, owners, and coaches ??

Bring it up there as opposed to appearing like a bitch on tv.

Agree. It makes him look petty and is tells me he is allowing it to distract him from the job at hand: beating TB.

Marvin gets beat up for his shtick in how he he answers questions from the media. When he does now make a comment, he is getting beat up but only because of the question he chose to expound upon.

I think Marvin's term in the 'Nati is about up. The notion that he does not have control over the staff, specifically the decision to keep Brat, is probably partly accurate. He did have the latitude to fire Leslie Frazier, and Chuckie B, but i think Brat is more protected than those two.

When it comes to Marvin, I feel there are any number of coaches who can captain this team to mediocrity, and only a few who can extract the best from the talent they have assembled.

If they replaced Brat with someone like Darrell Bevell or Peter Carmichael, they could keep Marvin but if they keep brat, he is a goner.

[HairOnFire]

My thought is, why did Marvin allow this issue to play out in the media with him being the face of the argument ??

Isn't that why they have meetings with the league, owners, and coaches ??

There it is.

Marvin has improved the image of this team by assuming the role of the face of the franchise, but occasionaly when he steps out of the role of head coach to make a GM's argument he begins to look like Mike Brown's puppet. And there's the rub because Marvin just opened his mouth and let Mike Brown's words spill out.

Point blank, as a head coach he's got no business criticizing the spending habits of other teams.