If you had the 40+ million cap...

[CrashDavisSports]

what would you have done with it this year?

1) Would you have done what Mike Brown did, get some good filler and try to see what you have before a full offseason of filling holes with a fresh crop of free agents you do not have to overspend on?

2) Would you have blown your entire wad on FA this year and risked them panning out?

3 Other? If so, what would you have done?

 

[vancelot23]

I would have done whatever necessary to get Matt Hasselbeck. He's still good enough to win games, and would have been a perfect tutor in the WCO for Dalton for a year or two. I also would have went after a safety, a G, and probably somebody like Ray Edwards. And obviously, I'd try to keep Joseph, and if not, Clements is fine. One more thing: Palmer would be traded.

 

[flamingrey]

Every year you risk your FA not panning out. And this year there were more FA than typical because of the new CBA and teams wanting to take advantage of the no cap hit to release players. There was not a better time to use that money. So, there's no excuse not to have used the $40 million. All of it. Every penny.

The least he could have done was offer Joseph $1 million more than the Texans to bring him back. He shouldn't have let Whitner get away. Those are the obvious ones.

Hasselbeck would've been very nice.

 

[TrinDaddy]

Honestly, I wouldn't have minded the Bengals even landing Vince Young for a year or two. Sure, not the greatest role model, but I think a change of scenery for him would have been good and his presence would give Dalton more than a month to develop. It would also have made us some what competitive for a year.

Also would have liked to see us keep Joseph, maybe sign a veteran receiver (Steve Smith?), get Whitner, go after another guard or tackle (Is Andre Smith going to hold up?), and trade Palmer. I'm fine with Cedric, only because it's a short deal, he's been here before, and I think the most ridiculous thing to do is sign a vet RB longterm. That's just a position that needs to come from the draft.

 

[vancelot23]

I had Steve smiths name on mymind too at one point. I also liked Malcolm Floyd.

 

[bengaldoug]

It makes absolutely no sense being this far under the cap and doing NOTHING to improve the team. No way they should have lost Joseph or Whitner, and I agree there would have been no better WC mentor for Dalton than Hasselbeck. The OLine needs serious attention, not the fringe signings we got. And yes, stupid to not trade Palmer. I could go on and on but you guys understand all this.....

 

[vancelot23]

That's mike browns MO. Sign some guys who have name recognition so it looks like he's trying. Roy williams, manny Lawson, odom, etc. He signs big names thy haven't done much, but thinks we're too stupid to notice.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

I personally like the Manny Lawson signing, I guess I may be in the minority. However, almost anyone is better than most of the guys on our LB core.

 

[vancelot23]

I like the Lawson signing too, and he's better than Rivers for sure. But MB likes to bring in guys who sound impressive so that we'll stop saying he isn't trying.

 

[flamingrey]

It makes absolutely no sense being this far under the cap and doing NOTHING to improve the team. No way they should have lost Joseph or Whitner, and I agree there would have been no better WC mentor for Dalton than Hasselbeck. The OLine needs serious attention, not the fringe signings we got. And yes, stupid to not trade Palmer. I could go on and on but you guys understand all this.....

Imagine what a team like the Patriots or Steelers could do with $40 million.

Only if the Bengals weren't the worst run organization in all of sports. People might actually WANT to come here.

 

[cincygrad]

I would have signed J-Jo right away and offered an extension to Leon Hall. Corner is the one position where we were good. Why mess with it. I would have also spent big on the offensive line and at linebacker (I do like the Lawson signing).

 

[DanBengalfan]

I think it is apparent, if he wants to develop a young quarterback and force the running game to work, that the offensive line needs to be top notch. apparently, Mike Brown doesn't agree. we have good tackles, but our guards and center are suspect.

 

[DanBengalfan]

oh, and our pass rush seems suspect. but if we're just trying to have a growing year, I guess that's not that important, just sub in the second string when the first string runs out of gas after giving up 30 points.

 

[Servo]

I liked the Lawson signing. Liked the Gradkowski signing. I would've gone after Gallery hard and kept JJ. Coulda done all that and still been well under the cap.

 

[vancelot23]

I liked the Howard signing too. They guy was a quality starter until last season. We absolutely needed a quality G and a safety.