2020 Cincinnati Bengals Offseason Thread

[Bob Sheed]

I think if Greg Cook hadn't been injured, there would have been a dynasty. Cook is why I became a Bengals' fan. We speak of Kenny Anderson being Hall worthy, but Anderson was pretty mediocre compared to Cook. Everything in the AFC in the '70's would have been different,...for Oakland, for Miami and for Pittsburgh.

I never got to see Cook play, but everyone says he was a generational talent before he got injured. Hopefully the Bengals are about to get another generational talent in Burrow.

EDIT: Just watched that video. What a shame...

And I agree about Kenny Anderson. He was an intelligent game manager but nothing special, talent-wise. He was even benched for a while in favor of Jack Thompson. He sure could take a beating though, that's for sure. Not HoF material though. I always thought Esiason was better, although he had a much shorter career.

If I'm ranking Bengals QBs, it has to be
Palmer
Esiason
Anderson
Dalton
a big what-if with Cook
Blake

...and then a whole bunch of mediocre.

[Kingspoint]

Thanks, texasdave.

[KoryMac5]

I see a little bit of Cook in Burrow...Burrow's able to move well in the pocket and always has his eyes up field reading the D. After all the years of bad luck we have had I think it's time to exorcise the demons with Burrow.

[KoryMac5]

Some positive news for FA Bengals might not be able to carry over their usual 10 mil according to Goodberry and others

[KoryMac5]

Darrin Simmons promoted to Asst Head Coach...good move by the Bengals as some had speculated the Hoodie would make a run at him.

[chicoruiz]

Darrin Simmons promoted to Asst Head Coach...good move by the Bengals as some had speculated the Hoodie would make a run at him.

I had thought maybe that the "assistant head coach" title might be offered to Bill Callahan to help lure him here.

[GAC]

Paul Brown passed on a fair amount of baggage to his son.

Control comes first. Even at the expense of winning.
Loyalty comes second. Even at the expense of winning.
Winning, as a priority... is a very distant third.

Winning was top priority for Paul Brown. Until he got burned in Cleveland. Paul Brown had great success with the Buckeyes and in Cleveland. But if you look at his track record after he was run out of Cleveland, it's pretty average. 2 Super Bowl losses and a handful of playoff appearances in 22 years. Not exactly a dynasty.

Basically, as soon as Paul Brown abandoned his "win at all costs" mentality in favor of his loss-of-control paranoia that he passed down to his son, he became quite average as a coach and as a team owner. Poor decisions stemming from that paranoia cost the Bengals as a franchise dearly. Bill Walsh comes to mind. There are countless other examples.

And Mike Brown is Paul Brown without the football acumen. His daughter, even more so.

It's just too bad that Paul Brown took the betrayal in Cleveland as hard as he did. Not only did that drive his decision making from that point on, to the detriment of on-field success, but he also passed his baggage down to his kids. Now here we are in the 3rd generation of Brown ownership and actions/results are pretty much the same.

He went from being a head coach to an owner, and all the "baggage" that comes with it.

It's ironic to some degree (IMO) because Paul Brown became that which he detested, and had a very tense relationship with - an owner. When he was the head coach at Cleveland for all those years he "ran" the team/organization, except when it came to the administrative/financial aspect - which was the owners job, just stay the hell out of my way! And they did because he not only won, but they feared the guy. LOL

When he started the Bengals, and was not only the head coach, but "the boss, the head man, top dog, big cheese, head honcho, number one" where everything was on his shoulders ... he saw how difficult it could be. He was also growing older.

[KoryMac5]

He went from being a head coach to an owner, and all the "baggage" that comes with it.

It's ironic to some degree (IMO) because Paul Brown became that which he detested, and had a very tense relationship with - an owner. When he was the head coach at Cleveland for all those years he "ran" the team/organization, except when it came to the administrative/financial aspect - which was the owners job, just stay the hell out of my way! And they did because he not only won, but they feared the guy. LOL

When he started the Bengals, and was not only the head coach, but "the boss, the head man, top dog, big cheese, head honcho, number one" where everything was on his shoulders ... he saw how difficult it could be. He was also growing older.

and he was also stubborn as well with his refusal to promote Bill Walsh to head coach...instead going with Tiger Johnson who had worked under Walsh.

[chicoruiz]

The biggest irony is that Paul Brown is famous for being an innovator, while his descendants have become the epitome of “the way we’ve always done it is just fine”.

[Bob Sheed]

The biggest irony is that Paul Brown is famous for being an innovator, while his descendants have become the epitome of “the way we’ve always done it is just fine”.

Can't say he was much of an innovator while coaching/owning the Bengals. If anything, by that point, if he saw innovation, he was threatened by it and drove it away.

[redsfanmia]

Can't say he was much of an innovator while coaching/owning the Bengals. If anything, by that point, if he saw innovation, he was threatened by it and drove it away.

Under his watch in Cincinnati didn’t they run/develop the West Coast offense and the no huddle offense?

[Big Red Smokey]

The Bengals have had 2 Quarterbacks the last 16 years and did a fantastic job of building contenders around them in accordance with their drafting of them.

The fact we're going to have a rookie QB deal for 5 years... and along with basically 2 additional first round picks (Jonah and 33) means that this could be another 2011 esque season right away if things break right.

This also is based on resigning AJ Green. They're going to have the money.

I'm cautiously optimistic. QB's on rookie deals are the best deal in sports. Gotta take advantage. 5 year window starting now

[chicoruiz]

The Bengals have had 2 Quarterbacks the last 16 years and did a fantastic job of building contenders around them in accordance with their drafting of them.

The fact we're going to have a rookie QB deal for 5 years... and along with basically 2 additional first round picks (Jonah and 33) means that this could be another 2011 esque season right away if things break right.

This also is based on resigning AJ Green. They're going to have the money.

I'm cautiously optimistic. QB's on rookie deals are the best deal in sports. Gotta take advantage. 5 year window starting now

The upside is the path to respectability is pretty straightforward: get deals with Green and Mixon, draft Burrow, and sign two or three quality free agents, mostly at OL and LB. The downside is that no matter how obvious that seems, we longtime Bengal fans have zero confidence that the front office will actually do these things...

[Big Red Smokey]

The upside is the path to respectability is pretty straightforward: get deals with Green and Mixon, draft Burrow, and sign two or three quality free agents, mostly at OL and LB. The downside is that no matter how obvious that seems, we longtime Bengal fans have zero confidence that the front office will actually do these things...

I mean, if the empty seats this year along with city-wide apathy doesn't invoke changes in how the team is built/ran....

Then I would say there's a good chance 2026 is the last year of the Bengals in Cincy. Stadium lease is up, the city isn't footing the bill again after the last debacle. And the Brown/Blackburn clan isn't going to spend a dime of their own money to finance any sort of stadium or massive renovation needed.

I know it's very doom-like, but they held the city over the barrel of a gun before to get what they wanted, they're going to do it again.

With the threat of LA no longer being used to hold cities captive, I could see that clan openly volunteering for London if the money is right.

[Redsfaithful]

Joe Goodberry pointed out on Twitter that the 49ers won 4 games last year, the Packers won 6.

There's no reason the Bengals can't contend this year, if they want to try. I'm not saying conference championship contend, but they could be good.

They have money to spend, the QB will be there, and they have the opportunity to cash in at the draft. The way the draft is set up now is so hugely advantageous for the team picking at the top of each round.