Well, if Hobson is right it's same old Bungles...

[nevergonnachange]

Originally Posted by Stewy

Nice try Leeroy. Sanu actually was working out before he got injured. And they had no intention of getting rid of "whatshisface" and planned to put him back on the practice squad, but he didn;t clear wavers and someone else picked him up.

Keep those blinders on if it makes life easier.

How did the Bengals plan of going with young, unproven guys at WR and S work out for them? When a rookie who started, what 3 games, gets hurt and that trashes your offense, you've got problems.

Keep those rose colored glasses on if it makes life easier.

[Monster]

If there is a chance to stock pile talent why not do it while you can?

[Millz]

I am not getting my hopes for free agency as I have low expectations of this organization making moves in free agency to actually make the team better, particulary the offense. I can see guys like Tate and Leonard coming back, maybe even re-signing Bernard Scott as well. Heck I can even see Cook being named starter from the get-go in mini-camps.

Originally Posted by yellowxdiscipline

Anyone remember did what the Eagles did a couple of seasons ago in free agency? That didnt work out so well now didnt it? So why get all butt hurt because were not going after every big name free agent out there..

They went defense though. I remember the Ravens going after Boldin in free agency, and Jacoby Jones last year, it seemed to work out good for them by doing so.

Basically if we dont bring in any solid talent on offense through free agency at least at one position, we won't be that much better this next season, and will be known as a team that went 0-3 in the playoffs 3 straight years. yay

[OSUfan]

Originally Posted by nevergonnachange

How did the Bengals plan of going with young, unproven guys at WR and S work out for them? When a rookie who started, what 3 games, gets hurt and that trashes your offense, you've got problems.

Keep those rose colored glasses on if it makes life easier.

Well in general WRs begin to show an impact in their second seasons so they are right on track.

[Housh]

Originally Posted by neek

We should extend Jason Allen. Dude was a beast for us last year. You can't go wrong with quality pick-ups like that.

lol


Im not even gonna join the arguments goin on in this thread.


I mean OBVIOUSLY NOT signing a big name FA hasnt worked so why dont we try to add some proven talent on the team?

I like it when people use other teams as examples for why we shouldnt do something. Like use your head would our situations be ANYWHERE near the same?

"Eagles went crazy and **** now"

or

"Ravens did it and it worked"



Who cares, we have totally different squads, and outside variables.

[OSUfan]

Originally Posted by Housh

lol


Im not even gonna join the arguments goin on in this thread.


I mean OBVIOUSLY NOT signing a big name FA hasnt worked so why dont we try to add some proven talent on the team?

I like it when people use other teams as examples for why we shouldnt do something. Like use your head would our situations be ANYWHERE near the same?

"Eagles went crazy and **** now"

or

"Ravens did it and it worked"



Who cares, we have totally different squads, and outside variables.

Could very well be the best post in the entire thread.

[TheLeonardLeap]

So what I just read.. basically says the Bengals who have $55m plus some more if they get rid of deadweight like Allen/Anderson/Connor/Wharton/Cook... are going to approach the free agency period the same as the Super Bowl Champions who have $15m and a franchise QB to resign.

I can totally see the connection there. One team won the super bowl, the other can't win a playoff game. One team has $40m more than the other... but approaching free agency the same way sounds brilliant. I mean, why would you want to use the most cap space in the NFL to improve your team that wasn't good enough to win a playoff game, let alone a super bowl? That's just silly.

I should have known better. I hate Hobson.... and his articles.

[nevergonnachange]

Originally Posted by OSUfan

Well in general WRs begin to show an impact in their second seasons so they are right on track.

No doubt about that but you still don't know what you have with them. It was a huge mistake to go into last season with a bunch of question marks at WR and it would be an even bigger mistake to do it again next season. There's really no downside to getting a quality vet to start the season opposite Green but there is a downside to hoping the young guys blossom.

Everyone talks about how young this team is but if they keep wasting time, it will catch up to them.

[TheLeonardLeap]

Originally Posted by OSUfan

You mean same old Bengals that have accounted for playoffs 3 of 4 seasons and back to back playoffs? The same old Bengals that were arguably only an injury to a young receiver of a playoff win. The same old strategy that accounted for a guy like Wallace Gilberry? The same old Bengals that have accounted for one of the youngest and most solid core groups in the league?

Terrible for sure.

They managed to get Gilberry.. but in the meantime in 2012, they were paying 2/$8.2m to Allen, 2/$10.5m to Clements, so while they sometimes pick up someone good at low/mid level FA, they also end up paying an accumulated ton of money to random people rather than just sign 1 proper FA who could get the job done... so you're paying an average of $9.35m a year to Allen and Clements instead of giving Finnegan $10m, or Carr $10m, or Joseph $9.7m.

That's the Bengals FA motto. Why pay 1 good player a lot of money when you can pay a ton of mediocre players almost the same amount of money to do a much worse job? Quantity over quality. Then they get a hit on a guy like Gilberry who gets 6.5 sacks as a situational pass rusher, and pow.. that's the rallying call for why their method works... meanwhile JJo is in Houston laughing it up, enjoying his two playoff wins in two years over the Bengals... while the Bengals enjoy a third offseason in a row of spending $9m bringing in an army of washed up former 1st rounders to try to fill the gap he left at CB. But at least there's Gilberry!

[momadance02]

Originally Posted by OSUfan

So of the teams that went out and landed high profile FAs how many of them did not even make the post season?

Pssshhh, Mario Williams made the Bills a force to be reckoned with.

Same with Vincent Jackson and Grubbs in TB.

[Toast Jones]

Originally Posted by momadance02

Pssshhh, Mario Williams made the Bills a force to be reckoned with.

Same with Vincent Jackson and Grubbs in TB.

Actually Vincent Jackson had a GREAT year and Tampa Bay improved quite a bit.

[neek]

So if AJ was a Free Agent, and you were a fan of another team, would you say, "I don't want AJ, he won't make us any better"?

And not a 5-11 team, a 10-6 team that went to the playoffs 2 years in a row.

[Ryan Mc]

Originally Posted by Stewy

Nice try Leeroy. Sanu actually was working out before he got injured. And they had no intention of getting rid of "whatshisface" and planned to put him back on the practice squad, but he didn;t clear wavers and someone else picked him up.

Keep those blinders on if it makes life easier.

Originally Posted by Stewy

*wonders why he even posts in these threads* Seriously....

Well, if you're going to post complete nonsense then don't know either. I said that we should have had a veteran FA on the roster at WR next to AJ and you used the fact that Sanu played 5 games as a rookie and that we wanted to move Binns off the active roster to practice squad as evidence against that. I've read some weak arguments in my years on these boards, but wow. I'm not the one with the blinders on ... we had a clear need at #2 WR in the offseason, the coaches chose to address it by going with the unproven young players on the roster and that was definitely an error in judgment on their part which produced the clearest weakness of our team last year.

And BTW, don't put "whatshisface" in quotes when that word never appears in my post.

Originally Posted by Stewy

Aside from the fact that Anquan Boldin was the only high priced FA in those three. Nice Leach was a Pro Bowler, yes, but it wasn't like he was expsneive. Just high priced for his position.

Is there a point you're trying to make? My point was that Baltimore addressed specific needs by signing free agents, and that when they did so they didn't shop around for journeymen role players or young players with upside ... they signed two Pro Bowl caliber starters.

[neek]

Originally Posted by Ryan Mc

Well, if you're going to post complete nonsense then don't know either. I said that we should have had a veteran FA on the roster at WR next to AJ and you used the fact that Sanu played 5 games as a rookie and that we wanted to move Binns off the active roster to practice squad as evidence against that. I've read some weak arguments in my years on these boards, but wow. I'm not the one with the blinders on ... we had a clear need at #2 WR in the offseason, the coaches chose to address it by going with the unproven young players on the roster and that was definitely an error in judgment on their part which produced the clearest weakness of our team last year.

And BTW, don't put "whatshisface" in quotes when that word never appears in my post.



Is there a point you're trying to make? My point was that Baltimore addressed specific needs by signing free agents, and that when they did so they didn't shop around for journeymen role players or young players with upside ... they signed two Pro Bowl caliber starters.

But but, Stewy is the only one on these boards that knows how to run an NFL franchise... How could he possibly be wrong?

[Toast Jones]

Originally Posted by Stewy

Nice try Leeroy. Sanu actually was working out before he got injured. And they had no intention of getting rid of "whatshisface" and planned to put him back on the practice squad, but he didn;t clear wavers and someone else picked him up.

Keep those blinders on if it makes life easier.

Define "working out". I'm on my phone so can't look it up quickly but didn't he have under 200 yards on the year?

[McC]

Originally Posted by momadance02

Pssshhh, Mario Williams made the Bills a force to be reckoned with.

Same with Vincent Jackson and Grubbs in TB.

Two lessons with Mario Williams and Buffalo-- You don't sign Mario Williams to that kind of deal unless you are one Mario Williams away from dominating and the money may be guaranteed but the performance ain't.

[neek]

And people are laughing like "we went one and done in the playoffs again, why do we need Free Agent play makers, muhaha"..............Seriously?

[Slappy from New Haven]

Originally Posted by phil413

I think I believe I'd like to have 5 minutes of my life back. If you're going to say that they won't make a big splash...tell me where they will actually spend the money the HAVE to spend.

I read the first two posts and stopped. We have talent we need to resign, so it will cost money. Why does everyone think we need a splash? Signing our own who fit our system and then adding players we need is a bad thing?

Call Buffalo and their GM and ask them how Mario Williams is working out

[BengalRugby]

And people are laughing like "we went one and done in the playoffs again, why do we need Free Agent play makers, muhaha"..............Seriously?


Same idiots touting making the playoffs 3 out of 4 years and neglecting the win total...



Cheat sheet says it is equal to playoff victories in the past few decades...

[Housh]

Originally Posted by McC

Two lessons with Mario Williams and Buffalo-- You don't sign Mario Williams to that kind of deal unless you are one Mario Williams away from dominating and the money may be guaranteed but the performance ain't.

Thats how I feel about FA period. I LIKE drafting your core and filling it in with FAs. But we still need to fill in alot of holes....so when we are like only a couple positions away(Which may well be this offseason) I think theres NO EXCUSE to not go get a Mario WIlliams calibur guy. At that point what are you waiting for?

[TheLeonardLeap]

Originally Posted by momadance02

Pssshhh, Mario Williams made the Bills a force to be reckoned with.

Same with Vincent Jackson and Grubbs in TB.

Actually... Tampa Bay's offense went from 27th overall in 2011 to 9th overall, 10th in passing, 15th in rushing, and 13th in scoring in 2012 (all better than the Bengals except for scoring, the Bengals were 12th). Probably in large part due to Vincent Jackson's career year. They also improved from 4-12 to 7-9, which is 2 more games of improvement than the Bengals.

While Buffalo's improvement isn't quite as large, they did go from 30th overall to 22nd overall on defense, which an 8 spot improvement is still nothing to scoff at.


Man, just a little bit of internet research could have kept you from looking REALLY dumb.

[OSUfan]

Originally Posted by Toast Jones

Define "working out". I'm on my phone so can't look it up quickly but didn't he have under 200 yards on the year?

Would not think you would need to look anything up to understand he sustained an injury.

[Joelist]

I'm not saying be dumb like the Eagles. But take an intelligent and PROACTIVE approach to the offseason. Isolate need areas, settle on say the top 2 and then in those areas go after the best player you can get period, starting from day 1. That is how you complement building through the draft, by using Free Agency to transform a weak area or two into a strength.

So if, say, MLB and WR are the identified weaknesses then instead of trying to bargain shop to fill them go out and get the best players out there - again starting on day one and not waiting for all the prime players to sign elsewhere. Turn those areas into strengths BEFORE the draft; giving the team even more flexibility.

[Shake n Blake]

Originally Posted by neek

We should extend Jason Allen. Dude was a beast for us last year. You can't go wrong with quality pick-ups like that.

JA made 4 million last year, yet people scoff at paying that to Reggie Bush.

Originally Posted by momadance02

Pssshhh, Mario Williams made the Bills a force to be reckoned with.

Same with Vincent Jackson and Grubbs in TB.

Mario had 10.5 sacks. VJ had a pro bowl season with 1300+ yards. Carl Nicks has a great season for the Bucs, and Grubbs played just fine for the Saints.

All those players had great individual seasons. Just because those teams weren't one player away from success, doesn't mean the players were flops.

[Toast Jones]

Originally Posted by OSUfan

Would not think you would need to look anything up to understand he sustained an injury.

Really? No **** Shirlock. If the guy was "working out" as the 2 receiver he would have had more than 154 yards in 9 games. He would have had more than 16 catches.

Look, I like Sanu. I loved the pick when we took him, and I think he could be a really nice player. But the fact of the matter is that he never was a proven commodity at the 2 spot. (far from it) Heck, he only started 3 games. So he wasn't even in that role much when he was healthy.

You can't just say "Hey we had that spot all locked up until he got hurt". No we didn't. If we did he would have started every game and the depth chart would have never been up for debate or any change. The guy started less than half of the games when he was healthy. He averaged less than 2 catches a game when healthy. I'm not being a *****, but those are the numbers.

You can't say someone worked as your number 2 receiver when they never even had a 50 yard game. Period. End of story. Please don't bother replying to this.