Bengals make good decisions

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Jmble
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Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2019 8:33 pm

Bengals make good decisions

Post by Jmble » Tue Mar 12, 2024 9:16 am

This is from last week, but it just showed up on my Twitter feed. It actually becomes more relevant after the news that Vonn Bell is being let go.

Just thought it was an interesting read.

By Jay Morrison
CINCINNATI – After years spent as passive observers in free agency, the Cincinnati Bengals are constructing an impressive register of impact acquisitions.

But while making the right call on which players to add obviously is a key factor in roster building, deciding which players to let leave is equally as important. And the Bengals have excelled there as well.

Perhaps the line of demarcation is a coincidence, or maybe the lessons letting Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler walk out the door in 2017 is a driving factor in the sharp turn of fortunes for the Cincinnati front office.

Free Agents Who Leave the Bengals Often Flame Out
In the previous six offseasons, the Bengals have seen 25 of their free agents sign with other teams from the time free agency opened until the draft.

And they are nearly batting a thousand.

Some of the 25 spurned offers from the Bengals to go elsewhere, while some never were invited to stay. Of them, 12 signed multi-year deals with their teams.

Only one of them played out the duration of that contract, while three others are incomplete.

That means eight of the 12 (67%) were cut or traded before their contracts expired. The number was six until Tuesday when the Carolina Panthers released Hayden Hurst, who signed a three-year, $21.8 million contract last March, and the New York Jets parted ways with C.J. Uzomah, who left Cincinnati after the 2021 season to sign a three-year, $24 million contract.

Uzomah never came close to matching the production from his career year in 2021 with Joe Burrow when he logged 49 catches for 493 yards and five touchdowns. In two seasons with the Jets, Uzomah caught 29 passes for 290 yards and three scores and earned $16 million.

The Bengals replaced Uzomah with Hurst for $3.5 million.

Hurst caught 52 passes for 414 yards and two touchdowns in his one season in Cincinnati. The Panthers gave him $13 million in guaranteed money as part of his three-year deal, and due to injuries and a dreadful offense, he managed just 18 catches for 184 yards and a touchdown before Carolina let him go.

The other former Bengals who didn’t finish their multi-year deals elsewhere include:

Andre Smith. The 2009 first-round pick signed a two-year, $8 million with the Arizona Cardinals in 2018 and got cut in the middle of his first season there (and returned to the Bengals for $915,000)
.
Chris Smith. The defensive end inked a three-year, $12 million deal with the Cleveland Browns with $4.5 million guaranteed in 2018. Cleveland cut him after one season in which he recorded 21 tackles and one sack in 16 games.

AJ McCarron. After winning a grievance against the Bengals in 2018 due to the team putting him on the non-football injury list in 2014, McCarron signed for two years and $10 million with the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo traded him before he played a snap.

Tyler Kroft. The 2015 third-round pick signed with the Bills for three years and $18.8 million in 2019. Buffalo cut him after two seasons in which he caught 18 passes for 190 yards and four touchdowns.

William Jackson. The Bengals did not attempt to keep their 2016 first-round pick in 2021. Jackson signed a three-year, $40.5 million deal with Washington with $16 million guaranteed. Jackson recorded two interceptions and eight pass breakups in his first season, and then Washington traded him to Pittsburgh after four games in 2022 and he hasn’t played a snap in the league since.

Cethan Carter. The special teams standout left in 2021 to sign with the Miami Dolphins for three years and $7.8 million with $2.7 million guaranteed. Miami cut him after two seasons.

The lone exception on the list is Carl Lawson, who was one of 10 Bengals free agents to sign elsewhere in 2021. The Jets gave Lawson a three-year, $45 million contract with $30 million guaranteed. In three seasons, he played just 23 games with 38 tackles and seven sacks.

The player the Bengals replaced Lawson with was Trey Hendrickson, who has missed just one game in three years while registering 39.5 sacks.

Three other players who left last March could still end up on the list. Jessie Bates III has three seasons remaining on the four-year, $64 million contract he signed with the Atlanta Falcons. Vonn Bell (three years, $22.5 million) has two seasons left in Carolina, and Samaje Perine (two years, $7.5 million) has a year left with the Denver Broncos.

Even if Bates continues to play at an All-Pro level, the Bengals will be content with their decision not to pay a safety $16 million a year. Of the 17 highest-paid safeties in the league in 2023, only four were employed by playoff teams.

It’s not just the Bengals who have left for long-term contracts who have fizzled.

Of the 13 former Bengals who left to sign one-year contracts elsewhere, nine never finished that season, with several failing to even make the 53-man roster.

Some of the names included on that list are Kevin Minter, Jake Fisher, Shawn Williams, Alex Erickson, John Ross, Auden Tate, and Darius Phillips.

And of the four who played their new one-year deals to fruition, none left the Bengals bathed in regret for letting them leave — A.J. Green (Arizona), Mackensie Alexander (Minnesota), Cedric Ogbuehi (Jacksonville), and Jeremy Hill (New England).

Cincinnati has 16 free agents they can re-sign this offseason.

The ones who walk away will be traveling a foreboding path.

stripesincarolina
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Re: Bengals make good decisions

Post by stripesincarolina » Tue Mar 12, 2024 12:30 pm

AJ McCarron was the biggest mistake on this list. We would have multiple rings already if they kept him. How that guy never landed a true NFL starting gig I will never know. He has a cannon! And he's tough as nails. Are you telling me he shouldn't be starting for a team like the Vikings now? Ridiculous. He'll go smoke the Canadian league again this year.

I joke about this a lot, I know, but I'm halfway serious too. I do think he's a "miss" for the NFL. So many bad QB's over the last 5 years that he would have been an instant upgrade.
AJ McCarron = Superbowl Wins

Jmble
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Joined: Tue Feb 12, 2019 8:33 pm

Re: Bengals make good decisions

Post by Jmble » Tue Mar 12, 2024 12:38 pm

stripesincarolina wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2024 12:30 pm
AJ McCarron was the biggest mistake on this list. We would have multiple rings already if they kept him. How that guy never landed a true NFL starting gig I will never know. He has a cannon! And he's tough as nails. Are you telling me he shouldn't be starting for a team like the Vikings now? Ridiculous. He'll go smoke the Canadian league again this year.

I joke about this a lot, I know, but I'm halfway serious too. I do think he's a "miss" for the NFL. So many bad QB's over the last 5 years that he would have been an instant upgrade.
The current Minnesota Vikings QB room is Sam Darnold, Nick Mullins, and Joshua Dobbs.

The Washington QB room currently has Sam Howell and Marcus Mariota

The Raiders just signed Gardner Minshew

I like the guy too, but the fact that players like these are on NFL rosters and nobody is giving McCarron a chance has to show a lot. I just don't see every organization in the NFL missing on him.

stripesincarolina
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Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2019 5:30 pm

Re: Bengals make good decisions

Post by stripesincarolina » Tue Mar 12, 2024 5:11 pm

Jmble wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2024 12:38 pm
stripesincarolina wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2024 12:30 pm
AJ McCarron was the biggest mistake on this list. We would have multiple rings already if they kept him. How that guy never landed a true NFL starting gig I will never know. He has a cannon! And he's tough as nails. Are you telling me he shouldn't be starting for a team like the Vikings now? Ridiculous. He'll go smoke the Canadian league again this year.

I joke about this a lot, I know, but I'm halfway serious too. I do think he's a "miss" for the NFL. So many bad QB's over the last 5 years that he would have been an instant upgrade.
The current Minnesota Vikings QB room is Sam Darnold, Nick Mullins, and Joshua Dobbs.

The Washington QB room currently has Sam Howell and Marcus Mariota

The Raiders just signed Gardner Minshew

I like the guy too, but the fact that players like these are on NFL rosters and nobody is giving McCarron a chance has to show a lot. I just don't see every organization in the NFL missing on him.
I'm sorry but you can't take Kurt Warner out of a grocery store to a Superbowl win and tell me that McCarron couldn't at least take a team to the playoffs. Sam Howell, Maariota, Minshew, are you kidding me? How about the Jets. Are you telling me McCarron couldn't have outplayed Mike White a couple seasons ago? I don't know what it is that has him blackballed, but all I see is yards and TDs at a record pace in Canada.
AJ McCarron = Superbowl Wins

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Bengals1
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Re: Bengals make good decisions

Post by Bengals1 » Tue Mar 12, 2024 6:22 pm

stripesincarolina wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2024 5:11 pm
I don't know what it is that has him blackballed, but all I see is yards and TDs at a record pace in Canada.
To be clear, AJ has never played in the CFL. He plays for the St. Louise Battlehawks of the UFL.

Two different versions of football.
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4256 Hits
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Re: Bengals make good decisions

Post by 4256 Hits » Tue Mar 12, 2024 6:27 pm

It is amazing how little the players that left the Bengals have done.

stripesincarolina
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Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2019 5:30 pm

Re: Bengals make good decisions

Post by stripesincarolina » Tue Mar 12, 2024 9:13 pm

Bengals1 wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2024 6:22 pm
stripesincarolina wrote:
Tue Mar 12, 2024 5:11 pm
I don't know what it is that has him blackballed, but all I see is yards and TDs at a record pace in Canada.
To be clear, AJ has never played in the CFL. He plays for the St. Louise Battlehawks of the UFL.

Two different versions of football.
Ah, good point. I thought it was CFL.
AJ McCarron = Superbowl Wins

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