One or two moves....

[ClarkHarris4Prez]

Tell me if i'm wrong but one of my constant frustrations with this organization is their unwillingness to make the final one or two moves that REALLY make us threats to win it all. Here's the way I see it year by year:

2021 offseason: It was EXTREMELY clear that we needed a massive upgrade to our o-line. Burrow was coming off a shredded knee because of that awful line. What did we do? Signed an over the hill Riley Reiff and reached for Jackson Carman in the 2nd round. The result? I think most of us would say we were one solid o-lineman away from winning that SB. Extremely frustrating. It was SO OBVIOUS and they just didn't go all the way. Now we obviously had some great defensive signings this offseason but my point stands. And the o-line shortcomings kept us from getting the Lombardi.

2022: Atleast they tried here. We had the same issue as the year before but atleast this time they took it seriously and got us 3 new o-line starters in free agency and a rookie 4th round pick who started. That year I would mostly chalk up coming up short to bad luck. All those o-line injuries going into the playoffs killed us. Refs didn't help in that AFCCG either.

2023: We needed an upgrade at tackle (I would contend Volson should have been upgraded too but I can understand them thinking he would improve) and we got OBJ. Great signing.... On defense though, we lost Bates and attempted to go cheap (This will be a theme) to replace him with journeyman Nick Scott. Horrible signing. Set us back big time in addition to having a bad first round pick and really just getting stale on defense in general. Cody Ford was a solid signing as a backup (BACKUP being the key word....Obviously that has changed now). Overall just not enough again.

2024: Not signing Reader or a real replacement for him was a huge mistake. Signing a 30 year old Rankins was okay. There were better options but at the time it could have been a good signing IF they kept Reader like they probably should have. Also they attempted to fix their mistake from 2023 by signing Geno Stone to replace Scott. Was seen as a decent signing but again they went the cheap route for a position that was CLEARLY very important in Lou's system. Still just trying to put a serviceable body back there rather than fix the position with an exclamation point. Swing and a miss on both defensive free agent signings. Vonn Bell was basically free so I can't fault them for going back to him, but again this stale defense just keeps getting more stale. Could have used a veteran CB to replace Awuzie but nope. Cost us big time. Gisecki was a home run signing and Moss wasn't a bad signing, it just didn't really pan out. We could have used a guard at this point as Volson was still struggling and Cappa was declining rapidly. Just not quite doing enough. The draft was okay. Mims was a good first round pick but it was silly to expect our 2nd and 3rd round d tackles to contribute much in year one. Once again, just not quite enough.

2025: The most egregious example of this. We cut Cappa making us all think good things were coming. They saw a big weakness and wanted to upgrade there....Wellllllll as it turns out that was just a cost cutting move. We had 2 GLARING holes at left guard and right guard and our response was to re-sign Cody Ford, a solid BACKUP and Lukas Graham? A guy in his early 30's who's been a journeyman his entire career and a backup caliber player are going to protect our franchise qb. Have we not seen this movie enough times by now to know how it could end? Burrow has already had 2 serious injuries in 5 seasons. There have been multiple upgrades available since March and this organization would apparently rather save that money then massively improve Burrows chances of staying healthy and taking us to the promise land. Add to that the lack of a veteran CB that most would say would have been a wise move, then the decision to go for a 25 year old linebacker over a stud guard in the 2nd round. They just simply refuse to make the final one or two moves that would put them over the top. They are either counting on two backup caliber guards to suddenly play better than they have ever played OR they are counting on a 3rd and 5th round pick to start in year one and produce. And at corner we are relying on Hill coming off an ACL (Almost always takes 2 years to fully be back) and CTB who is coming off a horrible season. We hope Turner will take another step but if we have any injuries we are in trouble. Same at safety. So many moves could have been made that would have really upgraded this team. Instead we sit. Like we seem to do often.

Yeah i'm ranting, but I think my point is valid. We always end up one or two moves short of really being a team capable of the SB we all desperately want. But do the Browns desperately want it? I have my doubts.

2025

[Nicomo Cosca]

Not reading all that, but I can almost guarantee they’re “happy with what they have” at this point.

[*ochocincos*]

(Yesterday, 01:48 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Not reading all that, but I can almost guarantee they’re “happy with what they have” at this point.

I think yes to an extent this is true, but I also think the FO is always in the back of their mind thinking "What if this doesn't quite pay off?"
Then they would be worried of "wasting" money that could have been put toward something/someone in future year(s).

At the end of the day, most of us are not football coaches, at least not at the collegiate or professional level.
We very likely could not actually coach up a player, scheme plays, and run the playbook for games.
However, we are more like stakeholders/end users for a product. While we may not know or care to be able to do the complex thing for what we want, we can usually say whether what is actually produced is good enough or not for our consumption.

For example, I could never actually try to coach the OL, but based on various things I've seen and read of the players the Bengals have, I am still skeptical the plan for the OGs will end up paying off. Same thing with the pass rush.

Unfortunately, the time to really make moves has kind of passed now that the Bengals have had their mandatory minicamp. They're now in a quiet period for the next ~5 weeks, so bringing in anyone new is likely not happening unless an injury occurs or someone really interesting ends up getting cut on cutdown day in early Sept.

[ClarkHarris4Prez]

(Yesterday, 01:48 PM)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: Not reading all that, but I can almost guarantee they’re “happy with what they have” at this point.

Lol yeah for sure they are. Pretty much the problem i outlined, in a lot more words lol.

[WildCat]

(Yesterday, 01:46 PM)ClarkHarris4Prez Wrote: Tell me if i'm wrong but one of my constant frustrations with this organization is their unwillingness to make the final one or two moves that REALLY make us threats to win it all. Here's the way I see it year by year:

2021 offseason: It was EXTREMELY clear that we needed a massive upgrade to our o-line. Burrow was coming off a shredded knee because of that awful line. What did we do? Signed an over the hill Riley Reiff and reached for Jackson Carman in the 2nd round. The result? I think most of us would say we were one solid o-lineman away from winning that SB. Extremely frustrating. It was SO OBVIOUS and they just didn't go all the way. Now we obviously had some great defensive signings this offseason but my point stands. And the o-line shortcomings kept us from getting the Lombardi.

2022: Atleast they tried here. We had the same issue as the year before but atleast this time they took it seriously and got us 3 new o-line starters in free agency and a rookie 4th round pick who started. That year I would mostly chalk up coming up short to bad luck. All those o-line injuries going into the playoffs killed us. Refs didn't help in that AFCCG either.

2023: We needed an upgrade at tackle (I would contend Volson should have been upgraded too but I can understand them thinking he would improve) and we got OBJ. Great signing.... On defense though, we lost Bates and attempted to go cheap (This will be a theme) to replace him with journeyman Nick Scott. Horrible signing. Set us back big time in addition to having a bad first round pick and really just getting stale on defense in general. Cody Ford was a solid signing as a backup (BACKUP being the key word....Obviously that has changed now). Overall just not enough again.

2024: Not signing Reader or a real replacement for him was a huge mistake. Signing a 30 year old Rankins was okay. There were better options but at the time it could have been a good signing IF they kept Reader like they probably should have. Also they attempted to fix their mistake from 2023 by signing Geno Stone to replace Scott. Was seen as a decent signing but again they went the cheap route for a position that was CLEARLY very important in Lou's system. Still just trying to put a serviceable body back there rather than fix the position with an exclamation point. Swing and a miss on both defensive free agent signings. Vonn Bell was basically free so I can't fault them for going back to him, but again this stale defense just keeps getting more stale. Could have used a veteran CB to replace Awuzie but nope. Cost us big time. Gisecki was a home run signing and Moss wasn't a bad signing, it just didn't really pan out. We could have used a guard at this point as Volson was still struggling and Cappa was declining rapidly. Just not quite doing enough. The draft was okay. Mims was a good first round pick but it was silly to expect our 2nd and 3rd round d tackles to contribute much in year one. Once again, just not quite enough.

2025: The most egregious example of this. We cut Cappa making us all think good things were coming. They saw a big weakness and wanted to upgrade there....Wellllllll as it turns out that was just a cost cutting move. We had 2 GLARING holes at left guard and right guard and our response was to re-sign Cody Ford, a solid BACKUP and Lukas Graham? A guy in his early 30's who's been a journeyman his entire career and a backup caliber player are going to protect our franchise qb. Have we not seen this movie enough times by now to know how it could end? Burrow has already had 2 serious injuries in 5 seasons. There have been multiple upgrades available since March and this organization would apparently rather save that money then massively improve Burrows chances of staying healthy and taking us to the promise land. Add to that the lack of a veteran CB that most would say would have been a wise move, then the decision to go for a 25 year old linebacker over a stud guard in the 2nd round. They just simply refuse to make the final one or two moves that would put them over the top. They are either counting on two backup caliber guards to suddenly play better than they have ever played OR they are counting on a 3rd and 5th round pick to start in year one and produce. And at corner we are relying on Hill coming off an ACL (Almost always takes 2 years to fully be back) and CTB who is coming off a horrible season. We hope Turner will take another step but if we have any injuries we are in trouble. Same at safety. So many moves could have been made that would have really upgraded this team. Instead we sit. Like we seem to do often.

Yeah i'm ranting, but I think my point is valid. We always end up one or two moves short of really being a team capable of the SB we all desperately want. But do the Browns desperately want it? I have my doubts.

2025

Paul Brown placed winning above all else. His son placed family over that. Winning was a secondary thing. His daughter is just doing the same. It's the best example of futility I've ever seen. Good for them. Bad for US.

[Sled21]

I got up this morning thinking to myself, man if there were only one more thread on the Bengals Board bashing the front office.

[Isaac Curtis: The Real #85]

Ravens added CB Alexander for 6-7 mil. That would have been nice.

[Luvnit2]

Would yo be surprised to know the Bengals signed 43 free agents thus far in 2025 + 4 2025 NFL draft picks

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/contracts/_/year/2025/team/cin

I mention it because a lot of always ask why not one or 2 more. Is it the quantity we want, or it because we don't feel they signed they quality or a guy we wanted?

This is the point of the off season where many fans feel the FO underwhelmed, we were cheap and just plain inept. I a not saying there is no reason for concern. We look at the Ravens who seem to always add that one or 2 guys late to make them Super Bowl favorites and think why didn't we sign Alexander or some former all pro to improve our roster.

The media is singing their praises and annointing them as possible next SB champ, but I would argue it is a long NFL season and lots of land minds and bumps in the road. Some media are saying Denver or Chargers will win the AFC West. They may, but so may the chiefs. It is easy to read the projections and noone taking us seriously to win the AFCN, what alone the SB. But, take a look back and fins one so called expert who has picked the last 5 Super Bowl teams in July or August the year prior.

There is not one. I still hope we have an eye on Hernanandez once he is deemed 100%, but the 2 guys we need reslved are Trey and Stewart. Trey will determine not only 2025, but 2026 and possibly 2027 cap. It can impact us if we did in fact wanted to make a bold roster mover in August or after the season starts (trade) to improve the current roster.

[NUGDUKWE]

(5 hours ago)Luvnit2 Wrote: Would yo be surprised to know the Bengals signed 43 free agents thus far in 2025 + 4 2025 NFL draft picks

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/contracts/_/year/2025/team/cin

I mention it because a lot of always ask why not one or 2 more. Is it the quantity we want, or it because we don't feel they signed they quality or a guy we wanted?

This is the point of the off season where many fans feel the FO underwhelmed, we were cheap and just plain inept. I a not saying there is no reason for concern. We look at the Ravens who seem to always add that one or 2 guys late to make them Super Bowl favorites and think why didn't we sign Alexander or some former all pro to improve our roster.

The media is singing their praises and annointing them as possible next SB champ, but I would argue it is a long NFL season and lots of land minds and bumps in the road. Some media are saying Denver or Chargers will win the AFC West. They may, but so may the chiefs. It is easy to read the projections and noone taking us seriously to win the AFCN, what alone the SB. But, take a look back and fins one so called expert who has picked the last 5 Super Bowl teams in July or August the year prior.

There is not one. I still hope we have an eye on Hernanandez once he is deemed 100%, but the 2 guys we need reslved are Trey and Stewart. Trey will determine not only 2025, but 2026 and possibly 2027 cap. It can impact us if we did in fact wanted to make a bold roster mover in August or after the season starts (trade) to improve the current roster.

Alot of experts pick the Chiefs or you could say the Patriots and they were right more often than wrong. 

[NUGDUKWE]

I think the Bengals are inept or value money over talent. Perhaps the answer is a bit of both. From theyre point of view perhaps it makes sense. After being active in FA for a few years and getting Burrow and Chase they make the superbowl. What's the financial difference to them over a losing season with a late push for the playoffs that we just miss. Probably not much so it makes more sense for them to save as much cap space to roll over for "future use" that never comes.

[Nicomo Cosca]

(6 hours ago)Isaac Curtis: The Real #85 Wrote: Ravens added CB Alexander for 6-7 mil. That would have been nice.

You can’t ever accuse Baltimore of not going all in after they paid Lamar. The Bengals otoh expect Burrow and 2 WR’s to carry the entire team. Night and day difference in the way our FO’s operate.

[Luvnit2]

(4 hours ago)NUGDUKWE Wrote: I think the Bengals are inept or value money over talent. Perhaps the answer is a bit of both. From theyre point of view perhaps it makes sense. After being active in FA for a few years and getting Burrow and Chase they make the superbowl. What's the financial difference to them over a losing season with a late push for the playoffs that we just miss. Probably not much so it makes more sense for them to save as much cap space to roll over for "future use" that never comes.

You make a very bad assumption in my humble opinion. I have not met anyone in sports whose goal was to not do anything possible to win. They may not win, but must would cut off a nut to win. Your assumption is based on a preconceived notion you have the Bengals care more about money than winning. 

They may be the case when the team had much lower value, but now they have a value in the billions and winning helos that future value while losing could hurt it. I am not saying you or anyone who feels that way is wrong, but I don't think you are correct. If I am Katie, I would die to give my Dad a SB win before he died, the guy many hate and make fun of it that as a billionaire still shows up at his office at 6 a.m. like he is works for the team versus owns the team. The same guy that has never lived a lavish lifestyle, but is mocked for not spending his money made.

[*rfaulk34*]

(4 hours ago)Nicomo Cosca Wrote: You can’t ever accuse Baltimore of not going all in after they paid Lamar. The Bengals otoh expect Burrow and 2 WR’s to carry the entire team. Night and day difference in the way our FO’s operate.

Yep. One is a room full of ******** that think they can reinvent the wheel and can't see how bad they are at drafting and another looks like a competent NFL ownership. 

I'll leave it up to you all to decide which is which.