Free Agents

Hey there blogger faithful. Before I get into my Bengals draft board, which is coming, I wanted to take some time to talk about the brief period that teams had after the season to resign their guys.

I'm sure most people who read this know that I LOVE JONATHAN JOSEPH. I think he's one of the top 5 corners in the league right now and will be for a while. I feel good about him going one on one against any receiver all day (maybe a little safety help vs Andre or Calvin Johnson). I think the Bengals blew a great opportunity (surprise) and here's why.

With the CBA going down this is probably the last year with absurd rookie contracts. What will most likely happen to the money saved by having a rookie wage scale is it will be redistributed to proven veterans. Everyone is happy, yay rookie wage scale. This means that the price of veteran players will go up obviously.
Follow me here.

The Raiders resigned their number 2 corner, don't even remember his name, they paid him I think 10 mil a year for like 4 years. So you have to assume that J-Joe is going to ask for more than that after seeing that signing (aren't crazy senile owners fun?). So lets say worst case scenario he wants 13 mil per year. Big price, sure but with corner being a big money position and the market about to inflate for veterans I'm willing to bet thats a damn good price for an elite (top 5) corner in his prime once the new CBA is in place.

Now I would imagine that once a new CBA is in place it will be open season right away. Once J-Joe sees other teams that aren't hopeless throwing him huge offers its hard to imagine Mike Brown letting his equally inept daughter, Katie Blackburn spend the kind of money it would take to keep him.

Here is the cherry on top. Nnamdi Asomugha is about to hit the open market. For those of you that aren't huge football fans this guy is the Tom Brady of cornerbacks. 2nd best if not THE best in the league at his position. He's going to get a huge deal right away and while J-Joe won't get the same, he will look to get something close.

I know a lot of people are probably wondering about Cedric Benson too. It would be nice to resign him for 2 years but I think that will get done at a reasonable price anyway. He's a good player but who else would have him as a starter? Most teams that need running backs this year need depth and youth. The Redskins come to mind but for the most part, the Bengals make the most football sense for him and I know he's stoked on Jay Gruden so far and Jay is stoked on him. So I think a deal gets done for 2-3 years at a reasonable price.

Some might be saying, we're stacked at corner, why not let him leave? I hear ya. Pacman can start for sure. Leon is still a very good corner. We have depth with Morgan Trent playing alright and we drafted Brandon Ghee in the 3rd round last year who could be a serious dude in years to come. There is a very real possibility of who some think is the best player in the draft, corner back Patrick Peterson, staring us in the face at number 4. So I get that argument. Check this out though.

Next year Leon Hall and Pacman Jones's contracts are up. So even if you get Patrick Peterson you're looking at the same problem next year and are treading water instead of making your team better. I guess you resign Leon next year? Is he better than J-Joe? I would have a hard time believing anyone can put together a good argument on that other than he's more durable.

Here are my solutions ranked best to worst. (I'd love to hear what you think)

1. As soon as the new CBA comes out re-sign both J-Joe and Leon Hall until they're 32 or 33. Pay them whatever the hell they want, 11-12 mil a year? No problem. You probably don't have to pay that much with contracts that long anyway. Move all that money from offense (Chad an Carson) to D. Also I think that number is going to look real reasonable with the new CBA. This defense doesn't work without them and this team doesn't work without the defense. The Bengals don't spend money on free agents so they can resign their own. Well, lets see it Bungs. Resign two of your best draft choices in the Lewis era.

2. I'm surprised no one has mentioned this before. I might like this more than my first solution. Resign J-Joe obviously, dude is a beast, pay him what he's worth. Since Leon is in his contract year, shop him around! I know trades don't happen often in this league but this dude is just under elite, in his prime and is high character. He's in the last year of his contract, which he's happy with, so theres no baggage for the trading partner or the Bengals as far as cap penalty. If you're not going to sign both of these guys why not sign the better one and get something in return for the other. My guess is you could get a second and maybe 4th of 5th from a desperate team. Pacman can take his spot and that would make Patrick Peterson make a lot of sense. Am I wrong here? Am I missing something? Sounds like a solid plausible plan to me . Well plausible for a team without a crazy stubborn owner anyway.

3. These options get a little less attractive to me. I guess let J-Joe walk and pick up a 3rd round compensatory draft pick next year and let Pacman step in. I would think you would have to resign both him and Leon next year so have fun with that. Also if Patrick Peterson is there at 4 and you don't have plans to resign J-Joe he looks a lot more appealing. Seems like you're treading water to me though.

4. If they don't resign J-Joe I might just be a full time Lions fan. Their front office knows whats up. Hey Mike Brown! The Ford family might have some insight as to how to run a company! Maybe take a look at how they run their football team. THEY LET PROFESSIONALS DO IT! Actually this is solution number 3 for me. Flip the last 2.

Back to solution number 1 real quick. If Patrick Peterson's big beautiful face is sitting there at number 4 and you already have probably the best corner trio in the league (J-Joe, Hall and Pacman) Go ahead and pull the trigger. Dude is big, 6'1 219. Move him to free safety and you have a pretty nasty secondary. Maybe a corner/safety hybrid ala Charles Woodson. Marvin was just bitching about how there aren't many good safetys out there anymore. Well, how about a dude that runs like a gazelle and has elite coverage skills? Bengals have been hurt by tight ends recently. Heath Miller? How about we just put Patrick Mf'in Peterson on him all day. Try to smoke him on your delayed release you overrated check down artist. He's a willing tackler and while it will probably take a bit for him to learn the new position, that speed makes a lot of mistakes go away at safety.

So there we have it. I know I got a little ranty and less objective but the off season and being a Bengals fan can do that to a guy. Little disappointed I don't have any comments. Would love to hear from you guys. Thanks for reading!

-Joel