Addition by subtraction is often the name of the game to improve team sports. One bad apple can spoil the bunch and it’s my opinion that it’s time to move on from certain players who are under contract. These players were either draft picks that didn’t work out, players who are not living up to their contract, or worth something on the market that we can make a trade for and at least get value while value is to be had.
Andy Dalton: There is a suitor out there for our 9 year starter. Teams like the Bears, Carolina, Dolphins or even the Chargers could use the Red Rifle in their offense. I believe that the Bears are an Andy Dalton away from being a NFC contender and are being hampered by poor play of Mitchell Trubinsky. What can we get for Andy on the trade market? We certainly will not recoup our 2nd round pick that we paid for him when we had to furiously look for a replacement for Carson Palmer (aka Voldemort). Andy could get us a 3rd or 4th and this is probably open to massive debate among all football fans. Has he won a playoff game? Nope. Has he shined in big games? Nope. Is he a consistent game manager that has the tools to lead a team on a playoff run? Yes. Think back to his MVP trajectory season of 2017. Until Andy hurt his thumb, it was likely the breakout season that we have been dreaming of since 2005 when Palmer went down. Dalton has value, go get it.
Dre Kirkpatrick: I have stood by Dre for quite some time now but these past two seasons have worn on me. Not only is he literally the worst tackler in the NFL but he often gives up penalties for big yards. He has the instinct and tools to be a great corner but he just isn’t worth the $11M he is going to make in 2020. Take the $2M dead cap hit and move on. With the rise of Phillips, a healthy Dennard and Jackson, who knows what we have in this CFL guy Winston Rose. Let’s cut bait and put this money back into the known commodities. We missed on this re-signing so let’s just admit it and evaluate new talent.
John Ross: The speedster is fast but since the ball does not find it’s way into his hands then what are we even doing with this guy? His route-running is weak, he drops a lot of balls and he is not able to make big plays for the team when it counts. A first round blunder, let’s add him to the all-time list. He is dead money and will be a 1:1 against our cap of $5M but let’s try and find a dance partner in a trade. Someone will fall in love with his record setting 40 yard dash (Las Vegas Raiders…cough cough) so let’s see what we can get. Maybe a player-for-player trade to add depth at OL or LB.
BW Webb: Webb was completely terrible this season. He was beat often and was the Bengals worst corner. As he was called into service with Kirkpatrick injured, Webb started strong and ended as a joke. This was Zac Taylor’s hire and we can see that it was his first FA flop. Please God, cut this guy.
Bobby Hart: When Hart was signed last off-season I, like all other real Bengal fans, fell out of my chair. In 2018 he was terrible, in 2019 he was more terrible. We handed him a contract after a bad 2018 and with Cordy Glenn coming back (maybe) in 2020 we can easily replace his sub-par play with a new RT. Let’s take that $4.8M and the $2M in dead cap space and spend that money wisely elsewhere. Bottom line we should have never re-signed him in the first place.