It's the first day of free agency and everyone in the NFL tries to add some shiny new toys. That is, everyone except the Cincinnati Bengals. In his annual role of Scrooge, Mike Brown will let Christmas pass without spending anything. Only in-house correspondent David Moriarty knows how this feels. "I never got anything on Christmas Day growing up. Our family would wait and buy things from Big Lots a few weeks after Christmas, after all of the good toys were gone. But it did save money. And since most of the toys were already played by other kids, my parents said they were already 'tested and approved to be fun.'" This has been the philosophy for years with the Bengals, avoid the early spending spree, and then grab a few from the scrap heap before camp begins.
This year, however, the Bengals cannot afford to stand idly by and do nothing. Almost every team in the NFL has money to spend due to the expanding salary cap. That means the scrap heap will be even heapier this year as marginal players will be signed in early free agency. That combined with the Bengals losing Madieu Williams, and probably Justin Smith and Landon Johnson ups the urgency in at least signing a defensive player that can make the roster. There are players out there, and here is a list of a few of them:
DL:
Antwan Odom, Titans
Mike Rucker, Panthers
Marques Douglas, 49ers
Bobby McCray, Jaguars
LB:
Calvin Pace, Cardinals
Clark Haggans, Steelers
Victor Hobson, Jets
Boss Bailey, Lions
DB:
Marlon McCree, Chargers (Many remember his hit on TJ 2 seasons ago)
Gibril Wilson, Giants
None of the players listed above are game breakers, but they are better than the defensive 2nd string for the Bengals. I have no problems with the Bengals allowing Smith, Madieu and Landon to leave, but they must replace them with at least an NFL level player. With the poor play of the defense, a 2nd day draft pick is not enough to fill out the Bengals roster. The offense can only be explosive for so many seasons, and a front seven of Fanane, Peko, Thornton, Geathers, Dhani, Brooks, and Schlegel are not going to be able to support a secondary of up-and-coming first and second year players. And as of right now, that is the best possible front seven the Bengals roster can produce. Imagine what their backups look like….I’ll give you a hint, the top LB reserve is Jim Maxwell.
On to the offense, the Bengals still need depth at every position. It is not as urgent as the defense, but with so many weak spots to address on the roster, there needs to be an early score somewhere to start solving roster issues. And once TJ gets his contract extended, the Bengals may be looking for depth at WR after Chad blows a gasket.