Everyone knows the Andre Smith situation is a mess, but let’s take a look at all of the angles of how the Brown family screwed this one up. From beginning to end, the Andre Smith story shows just how inept Bengals management can be. Step by step, here are some issues to ponder:

- The NFL draft slotting system, as unfair or ridiculous as it may seem, has 3 easy rules: 1) the newly drafted player will get paid more than the player drafted in the same position in the previous draft. 2) the player will also be paid more than the player drafted in the position directly after him. And 3) the player will not be paid more than the person drafted directly before him.
Pretty easy to understand.

- The Bengals, due to another losing season, received the 6th spot in this past draft. In the 2008 draft, the #6 pick, Vernon Gholston, received a five-year $50 million contract that included $21 million in guaranteed money. The Brown family had no intention of spending that type of money this year -- the first red flag. Why keep the pick when the very-easy-to-follow-slotting-rules let the Bengals know in advance how much they would have to pay? It’s simple, if you do not want to pay the money, move out of the draft slot.
The response of the Brown family to this question would clearly be, “We did not receive an offer of adequate value for the pick.” To which I say, “My nose is bleeding. You talking has actually made my nose bleed. Please excuse me while I go barf blood.” This proves the number one point to the last 20 years of the Bengals: Mike Brown only wants to bend the rules when it comes to money, not helping the team!!
Consider this proposition, if the Bengals have absolutely no offers of value on the table (Which I highly doubt), they trade the 6th pick straight up for the 23rd pick. Ridiculous! We didn’t get proper value!!! But think about it from a team standpoint, the 23rd pick happens to be the next OT taken in the draft Michael Oher. Michael Oher signed for the very Bengal friendly amount of 5 years, $13 million ($7.82M guaranteed), made it into camp on time, and is currently set to start at Right Tackle for the Ravens. Do you think Carson Palmer would rather have a ready-to-start Oher, or a 40 pounds overweight Andre Smith that has been to two practices? But no, Mikey had to have his 6th pick and pay him less than was to be expected. In the end, Mike Brown got his way and Andre Smith caved into signing a lower value contract, and the players rejoiced. The players really do not want their teammates practicing with them, they want the Brown family to break the draft slotting system. Heck of a job brownie!!

- Next, let’s move on to examining the details of Andre Smith. First, he was thrown off the team before his final college game. Name another solid NFL player to which this has happened. I can only think of one, fellow Bengal Laverneous Coles. NCAA rules are constantly broken without people being caught, perhaps because common sense steers people away from clear trouble. Could Andre Smith have poor judgment? Maybe.

- There are individual workouts and pro days, but NFL players have one true job interview, and that is the NFL combine. After missing his final college game, the NFL combine was a chance for Andre to get himself back on track. Of course, he decided to show up out of shape, disappear from the combine unannounced and drop a major incomplete in his evaluation. Imagine having a job interview for the Beach Waterpark, getting up in the middle of it and saying, “I don’t like how this is going,” and walking out. Do you think they would call you back? I doubt it. However, the Bengals were undeterred.

- And then everyone knows about this:


- Then there is the Alvin Keels as agent saga. Andre Smith signed with the relatively inexperienced Alvin Keels to be his agent. In the predraft build up, the Bengals made an issue of dealing with Keels were they to draft Andre. Shortly before the draft, Andre fired Keels and hired Rick Smith, an agent with which the Bengals have a familiarity. “Coincidentally” following the draft, Andre fired Rick Smith and went back to Alvin Keels. There is much speculation that Keels orchestrated the moves in order to make the Bengals feel more comfortable with Andre as the 6th pick. I doubt that as the Brown family is very tough to fool.

- After being drafted in April and attending summer minicamps, Andre Smith was left alone while Keels and the Browns worked out a contract. Somehow in this time period, Andre Smith, a professional athlete, found a way to become 40 pounds overweight. I often hear stories about Kobe Bryant and Lance Armstrong gaining 40 pounds in 2 months. This happens regularly to the highly motivated athletes.

- At least 70 missed practices, meetings, preseason games and workouts later, Andre Smith signed for 4 years, $26 million ($21M guaranteed). At the last second, the Brown family added a weight clause due to Smith showing up 40 pounds overweight. Any well run organization has to mandate contractually that their workers not be lazy and obese. Too bad Wal Mart cannot mandate this clause to customers.

- Many times, rookies that have held out of camp show up to camp and hurt themselves. This should not surprise people. In Andre’s case, he has not played football for 9 months, joined a team that is one month into training and preparing, and he is playing at a higher level than he ever has before. So he is 9 months out of shape stepping in against the best competition he has faced in his life. Rookie injuries could just be freak accidents, but many times it could be out of shape players forced into difficult situations. The Bengals minimize this risk by making sure rookies hold out ever single year.

Now the Bengals are 9 days away from their home opener and their offensive line depth is purely offensive. If they suffer any O-line injuries they will be in a world of hurt. Meanwhile, Andre Smith is focused on other issues. Somehow, without being able to walk on his broken foot, he has to lose 18 pounds by next Sunday or lose half of his salary.
Once again, HECK OF A JOB BROWNIE!!