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Cincinnati Bengals 2017 offseason blueprint


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Cincinnati Bengals 2017 offseason blueprint

The Bengals have a laundry list of things to do to improve in 2017.

 
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The Cincinnati Bengals had a rough 2016 season as they finished 6-9-1 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2011, but unlike many teams that did not make the postseason, the road back for them is not all that difficult.

Below is the checklist for the Bengals this offseason to not only make it back to the playoffs, but to win for the first time since the 1991 season. Marvin Lewis is coming back but has to feel like he is on borrowed time without an extension coming before the end of 2017.

This is what he needs to do to get his team back in the hunt.

Bring in a quarterback whisperer

Complacency is one of the biggest problems that the Bengals have as an organization. Andy Dalton has showed flashes of being a good NFLquarterback, but it has not always come together for him.

Cincinnati should consider a shakeup on their offensive staff and replacingKen Zampese, as unlikely as it may be. He gets a bit of a free pass because the team rarely played with a healthy lineup, but it is apparent that upgrades can be made.

Sign your free agents

Sometimes the Bengals elect to let some of their higher-priced free agents walk, but they cannot afford to do this in 2017. Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler both should be brought back because an offensive line without them could spell major trouble. Dre Kirkpatrick was the team's best cornerback and should be paid like one. Rex Burkhead showed himself to be a productive back in this league and certainly should be kept in the mix.

 
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Cincinnati is notorious for being cheap, but they are not going to field a better football team next year if those guys are not on the roster. Period.

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Decide on a starting running back

Speaking of Burkhead, the Bengals have an interesting decision to make with him. He is set to hit free agency and made himself some money with a productive stretch of games to end the season. He looks more dependable than Jeremy Hill and with Giovani Bernard coming off of an ACL tear, Burkhead is the team's best back if they choose to re-sign him.

It probably would not hurt to draft a running back in the mid-to-late rounds, either.

Find a deep threat opposite A.J. Green

Green is arguably the best receiver in the league and the wide receiver position as a whole was a pleasant surprise for the Bengals this season. However, Brandon LaFell is set to be a free agent and he can easily be replaced and improved upon. Tyler Boyd and Cody Core are young players with promise, but bringing in a DeSean Jackson or Ted Ginn Jr. would give the team someone opposite Green that can take the top off of a defense.

Fix the defensive line

Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap were two of the best defensive linemen in the NFL this season but did not have much help from their linemates. Domata Peko and Michael Johnson were extremely underwhelming and the team needs a boosted pass rush.

The team is high on Andrew Billings, who did not play this season, but he figures to be in the mix next year. Look for the Bengals draft a defensive end early on as they try to add another pass rusher to the front of their defense.

Get younger and more athletic at linebacker

This is arguably the team's biggest need. Outside of Vontaze Burfict, who had the best season of his career, the Bengals are slow and old at the position and it showed all season long. The linebacker position is another candidate for something the team can and should look at early on in the draft.

Pittsburgh may still be the class of the AFC North, but the Bengals are not far behind. We will see what they can do to swing the division back in their favor in 2017.

 

 

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/cincinnati-bengals-2017-offseason-blueprint/

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Analysis: Personnel moves Bengals should make

 

 

Bengals beat writers Paul Dehner Jr. and Jim Owczarski offer personnel moves the Bengals should make this offseason in order to produce a roster capable of making a run in the playoffs next year.


For the first time in six years, the Bengals enter the offseason looking for a way to bounce back from a losing season instead of bouncing back from a playoff loss. The 6-9-1 record creates a different urgency inside the organization, which is spending time analyzing a roster that wasn’t near good enough this year.

We offer our opinion on personnel decisions the club should make over the next six months in order to return to training camp with a roster capable of ending the 26-year postseason victory drought.

Sign a kicker in free agency

The competition will be on, according to Marvin Lewis, in the quest to find consistency at the kicker position in 2017. The position has never held more value in the league as the extra point moving back caused teams with poor kickers to watch wins sail left and right. You can always try to draft a kicker, but as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers learned with Roberto Aguayo last year, even when you move up in the second round there are no guarantees of success. The closest guarantee comes from a track record and that’s why dipping into the free agent market for a proven kicker would be advisable and a relative bargain compared to most free agent positions. On the free agent list are Greg Zuerlein, Robbie Gould, Phil Dawson, Steven Hauschka and Nick Novak. Luring Zuerlein away from the Los Angeles Rams should be option one, with a big leg that has twice hit from 60-plus and connected on all but two extra points since the line moved back prior to 2015.


Re-sign Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler

The Bengals allowed 41 sacks (not all were on the offensive line), but these two veterans played at a Pro Bowl level. With Clint Boling having his injured shoulder repaired and Jake Fisher seemingly entrenched at right tackle now, bringing these two back should bring the line back to 2014-15 form while allowing the club time to get an evaluation of Cedric Ogbuehi as a backup left tackle.

Bengals beat writers Paul Dehner Jr. and Jim Owczarski examine how the offensive line might change next season. The Enquirer/Kareem Elgazzar

Get younger on defense by releasing Rey Maualuga, letting Domata Peko and Karlos Dansby walk


When production lacks, getting younger always makes sense. In particular on defense, the Bengals see spots where slips in production meet age. Middle linebacker Rey Maualuga turns 30 this month and saw his snaps cut back significantly, struggling to produce at the level of previous seasons. Maualuga played on just 30 percent of defensive snaps this year compared to 57 percent in 2015. He has no dead money and one year left on his contract and cutting him would save $3.7 million against the cap. The time has come to move on. The same can be said for DT Domata Peko, 32, and LB Karlos Dansby, 35. Neither offered the production of previous seasons and younger options in Nick Vigil and Andrew Billings are available to allow the free agents to move on elsewhere.

Sign a veteran linebacker who can still be a difference maker

In 2015 the Bengals brought in a nine-year veteran in 31-year-old A.J. Hawk to play a role and last offseason they signed 12-year vet and 35-year-old Dansby to do the same. With question marks still surrounding Vigil and P.J. Dawson – and the effectiveness of Maualuga – the team would be better served signing a veteran inside or strong side linebacker that is still shy of 30. This gives the club the option of giving Vigil and Dawson a chance to earn a starting job but provides a more solid backup should they falter. There’s no need for an exorbitant expense – just allot the $2.5 million or so Dansby made to players like 27-year-old Keenan Robinson (New York Giants) or 26-year-old Sean Spence (Tennessee), young veterans who signed one-year “prove it” deals a year ago.



Trade AJ McCarron


McCarron enters the final year of his rookie contract and owns value on the market. What would he fetch? Tough to be precise, but it only takes one team to overpay. We know Sam Bradford went for a first and a fourth from the Philadelphia Eagles to the desperate Minnesota Vikings last year. And we know Brock Osweiler collected $72 million from Houston after seven starts in Denver. With only four career starts and one year on McCarron’s deal, you’re not acquiring that haul. But a second- or third-round pick wouldn’t be out of the question. Or you could possibly fill a need with a player-for-player trade, such as was mentioned above with linebacker. Either way, there’s value with a player who proved he can play in this league, but didn’t throw a pass in 2016 and obviously doesn’t have a long-term future with the club. The team kept Jeff Driskel on the 53-man roster all season to prepare for this possibility, so it’s time to take the best the market offers and run with it. Feel free to acquire a cheap, veteran backup as an insurance policy to battle Driskel.


Make a bold draft move
OverTheCap.com is projecting that the Bengals will pick up two additional fourth-round picks due to the departures of Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu, along with two sixth-round picks for Reggie Nelson and Andre Smith. Do the Bengals have room for 11 drafted rookies and the usual undrafted rookie to make the roster? This is the first year that those comp picks can be traded and they can make the most of those picks with a deal. The Bengals last traded up in 2014 when they surrendered fourth and sixth round picks to advance 12 spots to get Russell Bodine in the fourth round, and say what you want about him, but Bodine has started since day one and for 48 straight games. A trade up the draft board would be just the fourth in franchise history, but with the ninth spot in every round, a comp pick and McCarron to wield as well, the Bengals could be in position to assure ideal targets and land three or more potential starters out of this draft.

Plug the No. 9 overall pick in as a starter

Marvin Lewis said it perfectly on Beyond The Stripes: He hopes a handful of quarterbacks go in the top eight, pushing some of the best position players down to the Bengals for their first top-10 pick since A.J. Green was picked No. 4 overall in 2011. Regardless who is there for the Bengals at that spot, that guy needs to be starting at his respective position at the beginning of training camp.

Draft an edge rusher early

Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther says it often, you can never have enough pass rushers. The Bengals didn’t have enough last year finishing 22nd in sacks per pass play. It marked the third straight season in the bottom half of the league. Good news for Guenther is this draft is overflowing with edge rushers. One prominent draft expert ranked edge rushers as eight of the top 22 overall prospects. Adding a young rusher who could mix in and be mentored by Michael Johnson on the right side should be a top priority in this draft. Whether at No. 9 or in the second round at No. 41, the demand for a pass-rush presence matches with the supply.

 

(Click the link for the entire article)

 

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/nfl/bengals/2017/01/12/analysis-personnel-moves-bengals-should-make/96490430/

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18 hours ago, Le Tigre said:

Dehner' s overview is spot-on. The first one is just traditional blah-blah-blah.

What is sad is Maualuga and Peko will be back based more on personality than performance.  McCarron will be back, too.

And we already know Marv will be here until Cleveland fires Huey and we can bring him here to carry on the Millennium of Mediocrity.

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2 hours ago, Dautcom08 said:

What's funny is Marvin's comments under "Plug the No. 9 overall pick in as a starter" make the "Make a bold draft move" that Dehner writes about completely obsolete.  They're not trading up.

I'd rather trade back in this draft....too much talent at 15-20.

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2 hours ago, Dr Tarzan said:

Is McCarron have a restiction FA after this year?  If he is then placing a 1st rd designation for him is an option for next year, so he can stay as insurance for another year and trade him next year.

No, he's just a normal unrestricted FA next spring.

Bengals basically have 3 realistic choices with McCarron:

1. Keep him as a good, cheap backup for 2017. Let him sign a big FA contract in 2018 and receive a 4th round (most likely) comp pick in 2019.

2. Try to trade him before or during the 2017 draft. Maybe a 2017 2nd rounder? There has to be a team calling and willing to pay a decent price for him for a deal to happen.

3. If the draft day trade doesn't materialize, maybe they get lucky and a QB injury in camp (think Bridgewater last year) convinces a team to give up a 2018 1st. 

 

The Bengals definitely seem willing to move him for the right price. Marvin was asked about it in an interview as somebody said "I can think of 5 teams that could really use him," and Marvin said, "well tell them ante up." 

I don't think you give him away for a 3rd or 4th rounder, since he has value as a backup and you also get a comp. pick in that range down the road. But if an offer of a 2nd rounder comes in, I think you have to pull the trigger. 

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4 hours ago, High School Harry said:

What is sad is Maualuga and Peko will be back based more on personality than performance.

For years I defended Peko against all the hate he got from fans.  He was never as bad as many people claimed.  But now even I would be willing to move on from him.  We are not a young team at all.   We have vets all over the place.  No need to keep him around just for his "locker room presence".  Especially after that move he pulled in the Stealers playoff loss running on the field like a hot headed rookie. 

Maualuga played the same number of snaps on defense as Margus Hunt.  He is another guy that was not as bad as some people claimed, but it is time to move on from him also. He costs too much money for the number of snaps he plays.  I also have a lot of questions about the mysterious off-season injury he suffered and they way he seemed to show up fat and out of shape for training camp.

Peko may be back, but I'll bet Maualuga is done as a Bengal.

 

 

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15 minutes ago, turningpoint said:

I'd rather trade back in this draft....too much talent at 15-20.

The draft is more of a crap shoot than many people are willing to admit.  Even the best teams in the league have first round picks that flop, and every year there are top 10 overall picks that flop.

The best way to increase your chances of getting a good player is having more draft picks.  It is like buying more lottery tickets.  This is especially true in the mid and later rounds.

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12 minutes ago, happyrid said:

 

2. Try to trade him before or during the 2017 draft. Maybe a 2017 2nd rounder? There has to be a team calling and willing to pay a decent price for him for a deal to happen.

Browns have 4 picks in the first 50.  A lot of struggling teams need their draft picks to fill other holes and may not want to give up a 2nd for McCarron.  But since the Browns have so many extra they might be willing to give more for AJ.

 

Otherwise I don't think we get a second for Mccarron unless we package another draft pick with him.  We will probably have 3 fourth round picks so I could see packaging one of those with Mccarron in order to get a better deal.

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I think every article is going to read about the same...

Trading McCarron is a no brainer

There has to be a edge rusher added. In Cincinnati's system, that means a Defensive End.

The linebacker play needs to be better.

If Zeitler and Whitworth are back, I think the pieces are in place for the line to be OK. An upgrade at center wouldn't suck, though.

LaFell could be back. He could not. No big deal one way or the other, because he's replaceable with a rent-a-vet.

Another running back in the stable would be nice.


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33 minutes ago, Big Alice said:

I think every article is good to read about the same...

Trading McCarron is a no brainer

There has to be a edge rusher added. In Cincinnati's system, that means a Defensive End.

The linebacker play needs to be better.

If Zeitler and Whitworth are back, I think the prices are in place for the line to be OK. An upgrade at center wouldn't suck, though.

LaFell could be back. He could not. No big deal one way or the other, because he's replaceable with a rent-a-vet.

Another running back in the stable would be nice.


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Agreed on everything, but we  i reallyhope we use a 2nd rounder on Pat elflein, I really think he's our center for the next 10 years.

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27 minutes ago, Big Alice said:


LaFell could be back. He could not. No big deal one way or the other, because he's replaceable with a rent-a-vet.

I don't know about this.  We miss on more "rent-a-vet" WRs than we hit on. Denarius Moore, Greg Little, Brandon Tate, Laveranusless Coles, Antonio Bryant, etc etc

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I don't know about this.  We miss on more "rent-a-vet" WRs than we hit on. Denarius Moore, Greg Little, Brandon Tate, Laveranusless Coles, Antonio Bryant, etc etc


That's fair.

Although I think Boyd and Core will have expanded roles next year, which means fewer balls for LaFell or whatever vet.

Personally, I'd prefer they bring LaFell back on a multi-year deal, particularly if they're not using the 9th pick on a wide receiver.


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12 hours ago, Big Alice said:

 


Personally, I'd prefer they bring LaFell back on a multi-year deal, particularly if they're not using the 9th pick on a wide receiver.

 

 

Same here.  dalton and LaFell have already worke together and have their timing down.  The only question is how much LaFell will demand on the free agent market.

 

Signing LaFell for only $2,4 million was a brilliant move by the Bengals, but he won't be that cheap now.  Brandon will be 30 next year, so he won't be as expensive as Sanu was, but he knows this will probably be his last big payday.  I assume he will go where ever they pay him the most.

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With some aging players, plenty of places to upgrade, and extra draft picks, the goal should be to claim 5 rookie starters from this draft. Plenty of extra picks to move up every round. Quality not quantity.


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I could see 3 or 4 Mike Williams at wr demarcus Walker at rde pay elflien at Center Raekwon McMillan at Mike or something like that

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Not game 1 but with all the picks we will have plus more if we trade McCarron, we should be able to get quality in the draft for 5 possible starters throughout the season: OL, DL, LBs, WR, K. Not far fetched when you look at all the areas that could be upgraded.


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15 hours ago, fredtoast said:

No way in hell we have 5 guys starting as rookies.

 

What 5 positions could we have rookies starting next year?

 

56 minutes ago, Harley said:

 we should be able to get quality in the draft for 5 possible starters throughout the season: OL, DL, LBs, WR, K. Not far fetched when you look at all the areas that could be upgraded.

 

 I never thought of kicker.

 

Don't think we will have a rookie starting at WR.  Lot of people want us to use the #9 on a WR, but I don'e see any way it is that big of a need.  We will draft a WR (or two) but not with a first or second round and doubtfully anyone who would be good enough to start.

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 I never thought of kicker.
 
Don't think we will have a rookie starting at WR.  Lot of people want us to use the #9 on a WR, but I don'e see any way it is that big of a need.  We will draft a WR (or two) but not with a first or second round and doubtfully anyone who would be good enough to start.

Yeah the only way we have a rookie wr starting is if we draft one at 9 the 2 top guys Williams and Davis are day one starters who will be number 1 receivers on 95 percent of NFL teams. I personally am a fan of drafting wr at 9 due to fact aj is getting up there in an and will be 34 if we do draft one of those 2 when the rookie deal would be up. After aj went down our offense was wack. Look at the packers Nelson went down offense just kept on rolling. If we had an offense like that we could cover up our other mistakes. Williams is comparable to Keenan Allen while Davis is comparable to Micheal Thomas. Besides those 2 though no other wrs would start day 1 for us.

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