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http://www.cincyjungle.com/2017/1/18/14307096/bengals-must-move-on-from-domata-peko

 

If locker room leadership is the reasoning behind the Bengals wanting to retain Domata Peko, it’s time for other players to step up as leaders.

by Rebecca Toback@Rebecca_Toback  Jan 18, 2017, 9:00am EST

 

We’re not even a month into the offseason and there have already been two reports that the Bengals plan to re-sign veteran defensive tackle Domata Peko this offseason.

The latest comes from Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson who writes the following:

With the Bengals looking to re-sign long-time locker room leaders Whitworth and nose tackle Domata Peko, he’s (Marvin Lewis) looking for reserves that can‘t be reserved to eventually succeed them down the road after the next few seasons.

It’s great to hear the Bengals want to re-sign Whitworth, and of course, they should. But, Peko does not deserve another contract in Cincinnati.

Peko has spent 11 seasons with the Bengals and at 32-years-old, he just played one of his worst seasons in the NFL (if not his worst), which included zero sacks on the season. In 2016, Peko recorded 37 tackles and 3 passes defended. In 2015, he had two fewer tackles, but a career-high 5.0 sacks. Those sacks helped justify Peko keeping his job in Cincinnati this season. But, entering free agency this March, it seems like the perfect time for the Bengals to thank Peko for more than a decade with the team and move on to a younger player who can replace him and play more effectively.

But with this report, an earlier one from Katherine Terrell and a knowledge of the Bengals’ loyalty to their veterans, it’s more likely than not that Peko is re-signed, whether or not he deserves to be.

I simply can’t get behind this as a passionate fan who wants the Bengals to win games. The arguments for keeping Peko have nothing to do with his play (as he was quite frankly bad in 2016). Peko was ranked as PFF's 104th interior defender this season, and had a 42.9 overall grade, deemed as poor by the service. You probably haven't heard of most of the 23 guys ranked behind him, as they're largely irrelevant in the NFL.

Since his play isn’t the reason the Bengals would want to keep him in Cincinnati, instead, the arguments for keeping Peko around relate to his locker room presence and being a great, family guy. I love that Peko has been a locker room leader and someone who Bengals players and staff love, trust and rely on for leadership. That’s terrific and there’s nothing better than a great player who adds to the locker room in a positive way. But, locker room presence and being a great guy are not reasons to employ a sub-par player in the NFL. They’re qualities that can make a good player great or a great player excellent. But in the NFL, teams simply can’t afford to have a player on their 53-man roster for only his locker room presence. And if the Bengals were to employ Peko in 2017, it would not be for his play.

How are young players like DeShawn Williams, Marcus Hardison and Andrew Billingsgoing to learn, grow and find playing time on defense if the Bengals continue to employ Peko? The young players are in Cincinnati, in place to take over and help lead a youth movement. What would re-signing Peko do to a Bengals’ defense that was the second oldest in the league in 2016? Make it older.

The Bengals need to focus on getting better, getting younger, developing talent for the future and even shaping their younger players on defense into more vocal leaders. The way to do that is by parting ways with Peko while he’s a free agent and moving on to better and younger players who can be pushed to do better and not only step up on the field, but in the locker room, too.

If the Bengals want to prove they’re actually interested in winning and making a run at the Super Bowl (let alone notch a playoff win), the way to do that is not by wasting time, money and a roster spot on Peko.

This isn’t meant to be me hating on Peko. I certainly appreciate Peko for his more than 500 tackles and more than a decade of playing time in Cincinnati. This is more a reaction to the Bengals’ strange way of handling players who don’t deserve to keep their jobs. The team needs to employee quality defensive lineman who can terrorize opposing quarterbacks and strike fear in the opposition. That wasn’t the case in 2016, outside of Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins, who need at least average players alongside them for the Bengals’ defensive line to return to dominance. 

Employing players exclusively due to their locker room presence isn’t the way to win in the NFL and the Bengals should move forward without Peko in 2017.

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Why wouldn't the Bengals re-sign him? He's got kids currently in school in the area, after all. Do you want those kids to have to pick up and move mid-year? Even worse, do you want them to be separated from their dad for months at a time? 

No way, the only right thing to do in this situation is extend Peko for another 3-4 years so that his kids can finish high school. 

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54 minutes ago, T-Dub said:

Piss & moan all you want but chances are he's the starting NT again next year.

Then we'll all continue to piss and moan. He wouldn't be a starting DT on any other team in the league. Same as Maualuga wouldn't have been a starting LB for anyone else other than the football equivalent of a Poconos weekend getaway that we all call the Cincinnati Bengals. 

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Just now, Madieu Superstar said:

Then we'll all continue to piss and moan. He wouldn't be a starting DT on any other team in the league. Same as Maualuga wouldn't have been a starting LB for anyone else other than the football equivalent of a Poconos weekend getaway that we all call the Cincinnati Bengals. 

 

Eh.. I'm not saying it's a great move, but it's what they're probably going to do anyway.

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Peko has always been a favorite punching bag for the haters.  It was funny to hear all the burger flippers on here claiming they were smarter than Mike Zimmer when we were consistently posting top 10 defenses while Mike sang the praises of Peko.  But even a guy like me who defended Ptko for years would like to see us move on to younger players.

The problem is that all  of the young players that most of us are high on (Billings, Hardison, Williams) have not done shit in the NFL.  It is possible that none of them will be as good as Peko this year.  So I am fine if we are signing Peko to come in and compete for a job (maybe even as a back up).  I just don't want to re-sign him and automatically pencil him in as a starter.

We don't really need Peko just for his "locker room presence".  This team is full of veterans, and most of them were not stupid enough to draw a penalty by running on the field in a playoff game.

 

 

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13 minutes ago, fredtoast said:

Peko has always been a favorite punching bag for the haters.  It was funny to hear all the burger flippers on here claiming they were smarter than Mike Zimmer when we were consistently posting top 10 defenses while Mike sang the praises of Peko.  But even a guy like me who defended Ptko for years would like to see us move on to younger players.

The problem is that all  of the young players that most of us are high on (Billings, Hardison, Williams) have not done shit in the NFL.  It is possible that none of them will be as good as Peko this year.  So I am fine if we are signing Peko to come in and compete for a job (maybe even as a back up).  I just don't want to re-sign him and automatically pencil him in as a starter.

We don't really need Peko just for his "locker room presence".  This team is full of veterans, and most of them were not stupid enough to draw a penalty by running on the field in a playoff game.

 

 

Zimmer defended Maualuga too, so what? He ain't perfect. The defense would have been even better with upgrades over Peko and Maualuga. 

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52 minutes ago, Madieu Superstar said:

Zimmer defended Maualuga too, so what? He ain't perfect. The defense would have been even better with upgrades over Peko and Maualuga. 

So Mike Zimmer is not perfect, but you are? 

Hmmmmm, Whose judgment should I trust on this issue?  An elite DC who consistently produced some of the best defenses in the leagu or some random dude on a message board?  What experience do yuou have in football that would make me think you know more than Mike Zimmer?  I can understand fans ripping coaches when the team is failing, but our defense thrived with Peko starting.  And the numbers backed it up with him  being able to shed blockers and get to the runner often enough to consitently rank among the league leaders in tackles by an interior D-lineman.

 

I've been around long enough to hear fans here squeal about how Justin Smith was trash and would not start on another team, Leon Hall was too slow to play CB, and Whitworth could not handle speed rushers and needed to be moved to guard.  So forgive me for not blindly falling for an opinion just because it is popular on a message board or talk radio.

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We have tried to find replacements for him in Still, and Thompson (though yes I know Still was more of Geno's backup...as a 2nd round pick)... neither of those guys worked out and so we have drafted Billings this past offseason and he got hurt and didn't take a snap so we have no idea what we have in him.

So it shouldn't be surprising to anyone we want to keep Peko, I expect it will be at less cash this time, but he will serve as the veteran who will likely start and depending on Billing's and any potential draft pick we get, see his role reduced as the season goes on. (Assuming the young kids are any good). 

It's either that or go out and get an aging vet like the Bengals always do, so why not just keep our aging vet?

You could say why not try to make a play at a guy like Fairley, which I would love, but they tried that last year and Fairley balked at their offer.

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Re-signing Peko isn't the worst move this organization could make this offseason, bringing him back for the vet minimum in a back-up role makes sense. Let him compete vs. the young guys in TC and if he earns a spot, he earns a spot.

Peko has been a model player for this franchise; gave it all he has, been a great locker room/community presence, and represented the team well in almost every situation. 

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15 hours ago, PatternMaster said:

Re-signing Peko isn't the worst move this organization could make this offseason, bringing him back for the vet minimum in a back-up role makes sense. Let him compete vs. the young guys in TC and if he earns a spot, he earns a spot.

Peko has been a model player for this franchise; gave it all he has, been a great locker room/community presence, and represented the team well in almost every situation. 

Yeah, getting 15 yard penalties when you're NOT even on the field is the "model" player for this franchise.  Or getting ran over/dragged for 5 yards

by 2nd/3rd string RB's in the playoffs.  (No ninja)  :glare:  lol

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6 hours ago, Randle P McMurphy said:

Yeah, getting 15 yard penalties when you're NOT even on the field is the "model" player for this franchise.  Or getting ran over/dragged for 5 yards

by 2nd/3rd string RB's in the playoffs.  (No ninja)  :glare:  lol

Everybody on here says they want to see the team improve, yet every time a player is mentioned here, there's always a large sect who is dead set on seeing that player stay. There's only 53 spots on a roster and 45 spots to play. With the dufus coaching staff all coming back, where do the improvements derive from?

can someone on here show me the starters on this team that we uniformly agree should be replaced/improved upon? There's 22 spots. I've seen people defend Ogbuehi, MJ, Bodine, Fisher, Peko, etc. Where can this team improve?

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3 minutes ago, Madieu Superstar said:

Everybody on here says they want to see the team improve, yet every time a player is mentioned here, there's always a large sect who is dead set on seeing that player stay. There's only 53 spots on a roster and 45 spots to play. With the dufus coaching staff all coming back, where do the improvements derive from?

can someone on here show me the starters on this team that we uniformly agree should be replaced/improved upon? There's 22 spots. I've seen people decent Ogbuehi, MJ, Bodine, Fisher, Peko, etc. Where can this team improve?

In no particular order: Right end (Michael Johnson), Strong side linebacker (Dansby), Nose tackle (Peko), Center (Bodine), Running back (Hill), #2 Receiver (LaFell)

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1 hour ago, akiliMVP said:

In no particular order: Right end (Michael Johnson), Strong side linebacker (Dansby), Nose tackle (Peko), Center (Bodine), Running back (Hill), #2 Receiver (LaFell)

Good luck getting a consensus on here for any of those players. There's many stepford wives on here who will defend each and every one of them. In their mind, all have value to the team. In their mind, the Bengals were only a couple of bad bounces away from a 10-6 season. In their mind, once the Bengals get into the playoffs, anything can happen. 

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5 hours ago, Madieu Superstar said:

Good luck getting a consensus on here for any of those players. There's many stepford wives on here who will defend each and every one of them. In their mind, all have value to the team. In their mind, the Bengals were only a couple of bad bounces away from a 10-6 season. In their mind, once the Bengals get into the playoffs, anything can happen. 

 

The truth is not quite that extreme.  Here is what happens to me a lot.  I disagree with the claim that player X is the worst in the league and should be cut immediately and I am accused of being brainwashed and blissfully ignorant of any defect with the team.

For example, can you really give me an example of anyone saying we should go ahead and sign Bodine to an extension?  Even the people who say we should let him play out his contract are suggesting we look for a replacement.

There are plenty of legit reasons to criticise our players, coaches, and front office, but that does not mean that automatically every move is bad just because the bengals did it.  It is hard for some fans to look at moves the Bengals make with any objectivity.

 

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1 hour ago, fredtoast said:

For example, can you really give me an example of anyone saying we should go ahead and sign Bodine to an extension?  Even the people who say we should let him play out his contract are suggesting we look for a replacement.

 

I am for signing Bodine to an extension. In the second half of the season, he went from absolute trash to looking like a competent starting center. Signing low-round rookies to an extension when they have 1 year left on their contract often gets you a discount because the player gets a raise sooner, and the team doesn't need to compete against other teams. You also have the benefit of spreading out the new money over 1 more year so that the cap charge in later years is lower.

Basically it's what the Bengals did with Shawn Williams, making him the 25th highest paid safety in the league at $4.8 million/year. They structured his contract also so that if his performance is poor, they can cut him after 2 years.

Currently Bodine makes about $700k/year. If they give him a raise to between $2.5-3 million/year, he'd be somewhere between the 15th and 20th highest paid center. If the staff thinks that he can be at least a competent (e.g. Michael Johnson-level) center for the next few years, then it probably makes sense to extend him early.

Analysis of Shawn Williams' contract: http://overthecap.com/shawn-williams-contract-analytics/

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3 hours ago, fredtoast said:

 

The truth is not quite that extreme.  Here is what happens to me a lot.  I disagree with the claim that player X is the worst in the league and should be cut immediately and I am accused of being brainwashed and blissfully ignorant of any defect with the team.

For example, can you really give me an example of anyone saying we should go ahead and sign Bodine to an extension?  Even the people who say we should let him play out his contract are suggesting we look for a replacement.

There are plenty of legit reasons to criticise our players, coaches, and front office, but that does not mean that automatically every move is bad just because the bengals did it.  It is hard for some fans to look at moves the Bengals make with any objectivity.

 

Please see slantngo's response. That's my point. Everyone wants this team to get to another level, but no one is willing to show the areas where the old blood needs to sent out and actually upgraded. 

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