NFL
By Jalen Willingham
The Cincinnati Bengals have been mostly quiet so far throughout the beginning of NFL free agency, and many fans are starting to panic. Bengals fans are starting to wonder what in the world is going on in the front office. Do they not realize that they are in win-now mode for the first time in almost 40 years? Why haven’t they signed anyone? Why haven’t they re-signed Joe Burrow yet? The Bengals then responded by handing former Chiefs tackle Orlando Brown Jr. a four-year $64 million deal. Cincinnati fans couldn’t be any happier.
From the outside looking in, all it seems that the Bengals have done so far is watch many talented free agents get signed by other teams while simultaneously losing core players from the last two playoff runs. So far, the Bengals have lost safeties Jessie Bates to the Atlanta Falcons and Von Bell to the Carolina Panthers. Losing Bates was expected but also losing Bell was quite a disappointment. That’s just on defense. On offense, they lost backup running back Samaje Perine to the Denver Broncos and tight end Hayden Hurst to the Panthers as well.
The losses on offense are nowhere near as disappointing as the defense. I feel that Cincinnati can definitely improve at both position groups. The good news is that they were able to retain starting linebacker Germaine Pratt on a solid three-year deal. The even better news is that they made a huge acquisition in signing four-time pro bowl left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.
When asked about what the plans were in the off-season to make the team better, Bengals Director of player Personnel Duke Tobin said quite a bit at the combine.
“Our job is to put a value on every player that’s available to us, and it’s a value based on the player’s ability and what he can bring to us. And we try to stay with those values. We don’t want guys who are being paid far above what they actually bring to the football team. That creates issues in other areas of your football team. Our job, and it’s a tough job, is to put a value on every player. What is this player worth in today’s football, in this year, in this market? And try to stay close to those values. Just because you pay somebody more doesn’t mean they play better. They just get paid more, and that’s less money you can spend on helping your team in another area. So yeah, the market is what the market is, and we try to analyze that, and we try to understand ‘here’s what these guys are getting. Is that something we want to wade into with this player because we don’t think it’s reflective of what we think we’re going to get as a team in return.’ It’s a hard analysis.”
Tobin also made it clear that they are “going to spend to the cap.” I personally just didn’t expect them to hand out a $60 million contract to anyone not named Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins.
The Reality
What this has also shown me is that the Bengals staff is staying away from giving big deals to players who will be near 30 towards the end of it. Hayden Hurst, Samaje Perine, and Von Bell will all be near or at least 30 by the end of their new deals. Keeping the team youthful will also allow them to compete with the Chiefs, Bills, and any other contending team.
When a team is red hot and winning, everyone one else starts to poach. Every fan-favorite player can’t be retained. Sacrifices have to also be made when Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins will all need new deals. The subtractions on offense scream out that both the tight end and running back groups are in for a big change either in free agency or the draft. Cincinnati met with six tight ends during the combine. When Bengals fans began to panic, the front office responded with a signing that caught everyone off guard. They have a plan. Fans just have to be patient.
