Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Those Stripes Soaked CleanThrough to the Brain

Apparently the Bengals have lost their minds. After the 'Skins offered 1st and 3rd (which could become a first) for Chad Johnson, the Bengals said...

NO.

Listen, that's a serious offer. Marshal Faulk only scored a second round pick. Right now at that price, I would potentially trade every player on the Colts roster for that with the following exceptions:
Manning, (duh)
Wayne,
Ugoh, (they basically paid a first and a second for him)
Sanders (duh)

You could argue that Chad Johnson is as good as Reggie Wayne (you'd be seriously mistaken, but you could say that), but when you throw in the fact that: 1. he doesn't want to be in Cincy 2. he's a head case and 3. you'd be trading him out of your conference, it seems like a obvious move. I think this team just got offered a motherload to take a headache off their hands and now they want to be too proud/macho to take it.

Baaad move, Bengals.

13 comments:

Joel said...

On paper (or maybe on Madden), I agree: the four you mentioned would be about the only ones I wouldn't give up for the pair of picks. But in reality, if I were Polian, there would be a LOT more players than that that would be off the table. To name a few:

Addai
Saturday
Diem
Freeney
Mathis
Brackett

and I'd have to think long and hard before trading:

Marvin (I know he's old, but he's Marvin)
Gonzo (do we really think we could get a replacement for him in the 1st round this year?)
Ed Johnson, Keiaho, Bethea (we found a diamond in the rough, why throw him away?)
Marlin, Hayden (good DBs that already know our system)

I think you'd be WAAAAAAY too quick to trade guys away for draft picks, given the uncertainty involved in the draft process. Or maybe it was just hyperbole.

On the other hand, Cincy should ABSOLUTELY have taken that trade. Idiotic not to, given the absolute cancer that CJ is going to be. Just a stupid move by whomever is running that club.

Deshawn Zombie said...

Saturday is a free agent after this year and in his 30s. Diem is replacable for 2 first round picks. Freeney is coming off a major injury. Brackett is a good LB, but not worth 2 first round picks. No running back, not even Kid Joe, is worth two first round picks. Marshall Faulk was only worth a second, so I'd deal Addai for two first round picks in a heart beat.

Now, when you have a contending club, making a trade like this isn't really necessary or totally advisable. But in a vacuum, thinking only about a player's value, I have no trouble dealing most of those guys for two first round picks. The quality of the man drafting comes into play as well. Polian has not missed even once on a first round pick with the Colts. That seems like a pretty good guy to bet on to me.

Most of the other guys you named won't be with this club in 2 more seasons. If someone wanted to give up a couple of firsts, I'd dig it.

Bob M. said...

I fall in between you two on this one regarding the Colts, but was a little surprised 93 wasn't on the original list. Maybe we see if his foot is all better?

Regarding the Bengals, agreed wholeheartedly.

Unknown said...

with freeney you'd also have to contend of the huge sunk cost in the signing bonus, so I think he'd be likely added to the list as well.

I could be mistaken, but do we have any real center prospects down the roster? I wonder if a "finish his career off with the colts" deal will be worked out for Saturday while they groom a proper replacement.

funtime42 said...

In the mid-90s, when my beloved Bengals forced me into the realization that there was no hope - ever - I decided to add another team to my list. I gave it a lot of thought. Couldn't root for anyone in the same division because I still loved the Bengals, the west coast teams didn't appeal to me, and the thought of one of the traditional powers was unfathomable.

Closer to home (or closer to school) I noticed that my college team had a pretty good quarterback, so the decision was made. Whoever drafted him was getting me as a fan. And all I can say is Peyton had better play forever because the Bengals are more self-destructive than any one organization has the right to be.

They're killing me...

Deshawn Zombie said...

Great point about the cap hit. I hadn't fully considered that, but it is a factor. I actually think it may be a factor with Ocho Cinco as well. Freeney, when healthy, would clearly be on the list. Coming off a significant injury...hard call.

Josh Brown said...

Check this out! Colts ranked #1 pro sports franchise by ESPN the Mag.

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080422/SPORTS03/80422056

Joel said...

I guess I was thinking a 1st and a 3rd, not two 1sts, so that makes a difference. But still, I don't think I'd trade Kid Joe or Freeney for two firsts. I'm not thinking just of pure talent or even of cap implications; I'm thinking of team chemistry and morale. And Faulk is a fairly apropos comparison with Chad Johnson, but not with anyone on our team. We only got a 2nd rounder for Faulk because teams knew he wanted out and might be a training camp holdout. Nothing like dissatisfaction to lower a guy's trade value. Which is why it is INSANE for Cincy not to have taken Washington's deal, but why I wouldn't have taken that deal for Addai.

Anonymous said...

The Bengals are obviously committed to stinking it up. If I were Carson Palmer, I'd be ticked. The Bengals could use that #21 pick to potentially pick a VERY promising WR as a replacement.

Anonymous said...

So are you guys gonna vote in two weeks?

Or are you on the side of the electorate that put the Imbecile in office twice?

Deshawn Zombie said...

I am voting in two weeks. I'm not sure who my guy will be in November, but I'm going to do everything possible to make sure Clinton isn't one of the choices. So for now, that means Obama.

I'm man enough to admit to voting for Bush in 2000. Ironically, the lines from the debate that sold me were "a humble foreign policy" and "the army shouldn't be used for nation building". At the time, I felt that the dudes around Bush terrified me, but I didn't trust Al Gore even a little (too close to the Clintons). In 2004, I voted 'en blanco' (I went to the polls and didn't vote) as a protest vote against both major candidates.

shake'n'bake said...

Jacob. Dylan Gandy was the backup at center and guard for the last two years. He was pretty good at guard when he played, but he never got meaningful time at center. Now he's competing with Charlie Johnson for the RG spot left by Jake Scott signing with the Titans. A center like Kory Lichtensteiger from Bowling Green or Doug Legursky from Marshall would be a good pick in the middle rounds.

Deshawn Zombie said...

Yeah, the Saturday thing...center isn't a physically demanding position, so given the fact that there really aren't any other key free agents this year (Kelvin Hayden, Hagler), I'd say the odds are very strong Saturday gets resigned.