The Cincinnati Bengals fell well short of getting back to the playoffs to start the Zac Taylor era.
Luckily for all involved, the unintentional tank puts the Bengals in a nice position moving forward in terms of assets. With the right moves, the team could have a bigger turnaround than some might be comfortable projecting.
Here’s a brief eight-step plan to get the Bengals back to the playoffs in the next year or two.
Draft Joe Burrow
Even the most adamant Andy Dalton supporters can probably agree the Dalton era has run its course. Problems around the position or not, he wasn’t a great fit with Zac Taylor.
But now sure is a good time to finally should some gall and make a change for the long-term with Joe Burrow entering the draft. The Heisman Trophy winner just had one of the best college football seasons by a quarterback in history and has everything the NFL wants in a franchise passer. His energy and improv ability alone on the field could help propel what is quietly a talented supporting cast quite far.
Extend A.J. Green
One of the most polarizing ideas surrounding the Bengals is extending A.J. Green.
But now’s the time to get it done.
We’ve gone off the deep end on this subject before. But it boils down simply — Green is a special player when healthy and it’s not like this front office would be using his extension money elsewhere anyway. If the Bengals get rid of Dalton’s contract after drafting a passer, they have even more free space as it is. Give your potential franchise passer a chance to play with a top-10 wideout.
Easy.
Cut/Trade Cordy Glenn
Cordy Glenn is a $9.5 million cap hit in 2020.
Which quite frankly, is unacceptable. Buffalo was more than happy to offload him via trade a few years ago because they found an adequate replacement and he had an injury history. Now Glenn got himself suspended and allegedly asked for his release before (somehow) getting back on the field. He’s as good as gone so the Bengals need to do whatever it takes to fully free up that cap space.
Get out from under Dre Kirkpatrick’s contract
Dre Kirkpatrick is (often unfairly) a punching bag for fans and part of it comes from the fact he’s due a cap hit of more than $11 million in both 2020 and 2021.
The Bengals need to free up that number somehow too. Not because they’re hurting for space, but doing so will remove any excuses the front office might try to dream up when it comes time to extend guys in the secondary like Darqueze Dennard and William Jackson.
Free it up now via adjustments or offload it while Kirkpatrick still has value, enabling spending in other ways, be it extensions or free agency.
Extend Joe Mixon
Paying running backs is also a polarizing topic and we could be here all day listing examples for and against the idea.
But Mixon is special, something that is plain as day to anyone who takes the time to watch a Bengals game. And besides the play itself, he’s a clear lockerroom leader who has helped solidify the belief in Zac Taylor’s approach.
This boils down to a few things. One: this team isn’t spending the money elsewhere anyway, in all likelihood. Two: Why risk a holdout this summer and potentially dash the start of the Burrow era?
Trade Andy Dalton
Somewhere out there a team will end up willing to cough up some sort of asset for Andy Dalton.
At this point, any return is better than none. He’s made it clear he wanted a trade after getting benched and just as clear he wants to be a starter in this league.
The thought of Dalton pulling a Jon Kitna for Burrow is nice, and indeed appealing for many reasons — but it’s silly to eat a $17.7 million cap hit on a backup quarterback.
For Dalton and the team’s sake, he needs to be dealt over the summer.
Hire a G.M.
Some might get tired of hearing this but the team needs some outside blood looking at draft pools and an expansion of the process.
No more of this cutesy “he’s a G.M. but doesn’t officially have the title” thing with Duke Tobin. He and the front office have had their hits over the years but things have fallen apart lately, especially when it comes to finding and coaching up offensive linemen.
The Cincinnati front office is lucky to have No. 1 and a player like Burrow in the fray to make things a little easier. Drafting outside of the first round has been steadily struggling (only one player from the 2014 and 2015 classes remain) and some increasingly questionable decisions (Drew Sample) have started to come up.
This wouldn’t be so bad if the team was more active in bringing on free agents, but it isn’t. One can easily trace the degradation of drafting hits with on-field performance and things have bottomed out.
