JT- completely agree. I think the Bengals need to go all in and the draft will not be the best route. Rookie receiver and TEs just don’t bring enough their first year. Give Denver first and second round pick and take Schefler and Marshall. I think with Marshall you will have to pay him like a top 5 receiver because I think he is one. He really is a steal at this point. How many 26 year old pro bowlers are available? I think Chad only has one year left and I think deep down he will want to leave.

JT
Excellent call on the bengals going after Marshall. I said the same thing to my friends at work last week. I also included Vincent Jackson, Steve Breaston (a stretch), or Miles Austin. All free agents this year (unless i missed something) granted Austin and Jackson would be hard to get but still. Coles has to go unfortunately but getting a legit threat to go with Ocho is HUGE!!!

I like your ideas JT. We definitetly need a reciever or 2 and a TE. I would go after Marshall or Boldin but if not them two there are a couple FA’s they should look at. There are some quality recievers in FA but they are on the backside of their careers. Antonio Bryant and Lee Evans should be looked at. Bryant was the only recieving threat in TB and still had good seasons. Another guy who is a FA is Malcom Floyd from SD. He is a tall reciever with good speed. He is older than i thought but would still be a solid pickup and an improvement at the position. Even if they get any of these guys they should still draft a WR in the 1st round unless it is used for Marshall. Would also love to get Scheffler.

I love your reasoning, I just wonder, can the Bengals dump Coles even if they want to from the standpoint of guaranteed money? We absolutely need to go out and get one of those two receivers and dump Coles. The Bengals standing pat, would be the same thing as losing ground, because they aren’t going to win the division or even have a winning record with a passing game that doesn’t exist, even with Mike Zimmer’s defense.

I don’t think Chad would have a problem with one of those receiver’s coming in, he will never say it, but he knows he’s not going to enjoy the same production and is not considered a top tier receiver as he was in past and this as you say will improve and prolong his career.

On the offensive side of the ball, I don’t really see them making much in the way of change with the personnel on the offensive line. It’s really is a matter of who of the existing group is going to get the playing time at right tackle. Andre Smith needs to win the job and would be expected to be an upgrade in pass blocking. Is it possible for the Bengals to be a better pass blocking offense with this personnel?

I say go for defense hard. They DL, S, CB. Take the best at each position when that pick comes up. That way they can keep young talent on D and not have to overspend in FA when guys contracts are up. Only keep the super talented guys and pay them big bucks.

The #21 pick is in no mans land. Good pick, but u are not getting top talent unless it falls to you. NFL people view 15-35 as same type players. Thats why you see teams trading those picks to teams that want to jump back in the first round and get a player they covet. They can trade that pick and get a 2nd rd pick and a first for next year.

JT,
Finally someone’s on board!! This is what i’ve been hoping for, now you just need to go to the bengals brass and get the deal done. Crazy to say, but i think if we got Marshall and Scheffler this could be a top 10 offense again!

I have been saying for a while that they need to pursue Marshall. A lot of people disagree with me b/c of his immaturity. Although I think Chad could straighten him out. I would LOVE to have Marshall here. He was good friends with Henry so maybe he’d love to be here as well and wear Henry’s # here. We’ll see. But again like someone else already said, we have to remember who our owner is. Yeah he has shown some improvement but let’s not ask too much too quickly now. LOL

marshall had some off the field issues but marvin can deal with that. if bengals wanna excite playerrs and fans, this is the move.

JJ…. Id rather take a proven vet than a kid in the draft, so if we gave up the #21 pick for Marshall im all for it, i dont care if he has “problems” so has about 2/3rds of our team.

JT you are 100% correct. We need the BEAST!!! I am a Bengals fan though and we all know how we can be with free agents. Do you think we could really compete for Marshall with other teams, JT? Please, Mr Brown, please…

No way I’d trust our “scouting department” (yes I put that in quotation b/c I don’t feel that department is worthy of being called a professional scouting department) to make a good pick at #21. I’d give up that pick for Marshall any day of the week. Please Mike, listen to what we’re saying. Go after that kid!

I agree 100%!!!! Giving Chad help with another top receiver changes this offense completely. The offense was decent with Chris Henry on the field, and it really began struggling when his arm was broken. Having someone like Boldin or Marshall gets that advantage back plus some.

If the Bengals actually went after both a WR and a TE of the caliber you mentioned, and I would change my belief that the Ravens are the front-runners in the division going into next year. Seasoned veterans at those two spots could help the Bengals legitimately compete with teams like New England and San Diego next year.

JT, think of TE’s, do you have any knowledge on how Reggie Kelly is recovering and if he will play next year?

I read that if uncapped, all Free Agents would only be able to negotiate with thier current team. So does that mean a team would have to cut or trade them for them to go to another team?

So the Redskins will have no draft picks this year

I completely agree, especially about the trading away of high picks. Recent draft history suggests the Bengals aren’t capable of drafting picks in the higher rounds and getting any sort of production from them (see: Odell Thurman, Jerome Simpson, Chris Perry, Keiwan Ratliff, Kenny Irons, David Pollack, et. al.) but seem consistently to catch lightning in a bottle on the back end of the draft (see: Bernard Scott, T.J. Houshmanzadeh, J. Fanene, Chinendum Ndukwe). Why not trade and get a proven commodity instead of paying high round draft choices to pull splinters out of their rear-end. I also agree that what worked this year probably won’t work next year with the Browns poised to get better (lots and lots of draft picks for Holmgren to work with), the Steelers reloading and Baltimore’s young offense getting better. My bet is that the Brown family figures they’ve already signed their big free agent in Zimmer and they will ‘build through the draft’ which has obviously worked so well since 1992!

I don’t agree with all of you. Yes I would give up the 21st pick for Marshall. Hell I would even throw in a third. But the Bengals can pick well with mid-to late picks. I think J Jo and Leon Hall are doing ok. Anyone who doesn’t think Marhsall is worth it is nuts. Dude is a game changer. He is a pro bowler and is 26. Those don’t come available too often.

I think the Broncos would trade Marshall for just a one. The #1 and #3 is negotiable. Sometimes teams do just a #2 if there is no action for the player. I like Tate, but he’s not a great route runner. More of a strong guy. Carson needs a big target thats strong. Marshall would get those balls that Coles couldn’t get to.

Sapp would have been a disaster here. Good non move. Andrews is on the bench in Philly. Shaun Rodgers would have been the biggest addition in Bengals history.

Second round picks are gold in the NFL. But not until draft day

The 2 best Tight Ends in the draft are Jermaine Gresham of Oklahoma and Aaron Hernandez from the University of Florida. There will be a debate this off season as to what position the Bengals should use with their first round pick. Personally I do not believe in drafting Tight Ends in the first round, past history has proven that teams should use first round picks on premier positions. Jermaine Gresham has shown great potential and flashed playmaking ability iin his career, but he is coming off a season ending injury. Teams should be careful drafting injured players to high. The Bengals certainly need an upgrade at the Tight End position, I would look for a vet and to draft a young player to develop for the future. Chase has not shown enough to get on the field, as the speed and strength of the game has overwhelmed him. He played in a spread system in college that rarely asked him to block from a 3 point stance, so blocking has been a major hang up in his development. Hopefully another season in the system and weight room can help him improve enough to contribute next season.

Uncapped means Washington, Oakland, Dallas, etc will pay what ever it takes, if they can work a trade for those Free Agents they want. The key is, they have to pick and choose because they only have so much to trade in return. You have to figure that Cincinnati has no chance at Marshall, because other teams will be willing to give up more to get him, knowing they will pay more to keep him. The Draft picks will be valuable to Mike Brown this year because he can get guys that may be productive and much cheaper than top FAs.

Bengals have had thier share of luck and bad luck with players from all over the draft, it’s just that the higher the pick the more it hurts if they don’t work out. Some of the guys may have been great picks, but got hurt, and you can’t help that. With the 21st pick, they should get a good value pick, and the potential you have from that player is great considering the cost. Of course, if they can load up on 2nd round picks, that’s even better. With a 2nd rounder, you get a guy that could start by end of season and you pay them very little compared to the 1st round guys.