I’d like to award the Bengals for saddest offseason of 2019. It wasn’t that the Bengals made any egregious moves — though the Bobby Hart contract was certainly a head-scratcher — but they just didn’t do anything of note.
I’m struggling to come up with an opinion on their offseason as a whole because nothing really happened. Well, except for the coaching change. The team finally decided to move on from Marvin Lewis and brought in Sean McVay Disciple 218217 (also known as Zac Taylor) to replace him. Taylor has only ever called plays for one five-game stretch in Miami, and the Dolphins averaged 17 points per game, so yeah. Who knows what to expect.
I can’t even give you a strong take on the coaching hire. Do more interesting things, Bengals.
Notable draft picks: OT Jonah Williams, TE Drew Sample, OLB Germaine Pratt, QB Ryan Finley
Key acquisitions/re-signings: OG John Miller, DT Kerry Wynn, CB B.W. Webb, CB Darqueze Dennard*, LB Preston Brown*, TE C.J. Uzomah*, TE Tyler Eifert*, OG Bobby Hart*
Losses: LB Vontaze Burfict, DE Michael Johnson
*Re-signed with team
Moving on from Andy Dalton could have been one of those interesting things, but it didn’t really make sense for the Bengals to start their search for a QB of the Future™ this offseason. Dalton is still a decent quarterback making money commensurate with his production. That’s rare to find in today’s NFL, where starting-caliber quarterbacks can exploit their team’s fear of QB Purgatory and land a big-money offer. Dalton remains an asset to the team — for the time being. Next offseason may be a different story, but if Dalton is still providing league-average play with a cap hit of only $17.7 million, then the team should be in no rush to replace him.
The moves the Bengals did make aren’t going to dramatically affect the salary cap, with none of the deals — free agent contracts, extensions or otherwise — reaching $6.3 million in average annual value. So even if they weren’t the wisest investments, they aren’t going to cripple the front office’s ability to build the roster down the line.
The Bengals followed up an inactive free agency period with a perfectly boring draft. They took the best offensive tackle in the class, Jonah Williams, with the 11th pick. He’ll probably be a very good tackle, and if he fails there, he can kick over to guard and give the team Pro Bowl-level play inside. Yawn. Because fans in Cincinnati can’t have too many nice things, the front office decided to use a second-round pick on a blocking tight end just weeks after giving C.J. Uzomah, a blocking tight end who isn’t all that great at blocking, a three-year deal worth $18.5 million. More like the Cincinnati Blocking Tight Ends, amirite? No? OK, moving on…
The Bengals’ most interesting move of the offseason (a very low bar to clear, but still) was the drafting of N.C. State QB Ryan Finley, whom I compared to Ryan Tannehill before the draft. Finley is a good fit for the McVay-inspired offense his new coach will install, but a lot would have to break right for him to develop into anything more than an average starter. In other words, Cincy’s best hope is that he’ll be as good as Andy Dalton one day.
Time is, indeed, a flat circle.
