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Bengals could feast in free agency
The Cincinnati Bengals could be major players during the free agent signing frenzy expected to take place once the NFL lockout is lifted. The team will be well below the league salary cap and may have to overpay some players to reach the 90 percent threshold in cap space.
The threshold requires teams to spend at least 90 percent of the $120 million each team is allowed to pay its players.
The team’s first order of business will be re-signing some of its own free agents. Starting cornerback Johnathan Joseph is top priority on that list.
“Hopefully, we can get something done because I want to be back,” Joseph said during his last interview with the Dayton Daily News prior to the lockout. “Unfortunately, in this business you can’t sign everybody back. There are some guys you have to have back and some you can deal with walking away. Ultimately, you have to do what’s best for the team overall. I don’t know what my percentages are to return, but if I have to decide… I’ll be back.”
According to Joseph, head coach Marvin Lewis has been like a second father to him and one of the reasons he wants to return to Cincinnati.
There is no doubt the Bengals will get a deal done to retain Joseph. The last thing the organization wants to see is teams such as Pittsburgh and Baltimore creating cap space and signing the prize corner. Both teams are in the market for a starting cornerback.
Next up is running back Cedric Benson.
Benson has returned home to Austin, Texas after the last two seasons for a little rest and relaxation. In as many years, he has been arrested for going oops upside somebody’s noggin for whatever reason. Benson was recently arrested in his hometown for causing bodily injury to a family member.
Now they say there’s no place like home, but apparently that’s not the case for Benson. Next offseason, make Bora Bora your home away from everybody.
Benson will become a free agent once a collective bargaining agreement is reached by the owners and players. Not certain how much Benson’s latest brush with the law will cost him in terms of contract, but he may have put himself in a pickle. The organization would definitely like to re-sign the runner, but could use the incident as leverage in terms of negotiations.
This much I know, Benson was one heck of a player in the Bengals locker room as well as on the field. He rushed for 1,111 yards and seven touchdowns in 16 games started last season. He deserved a long-term deal to play in Cincy.
Second Tier
The team would like to have re-signed defensive lineman Jonathan Fanene and linebacker Brandon Johnson, but may have to slightly overpay for their services to meet the threshold.
That said contact negotiations with Fanene could get rather interesting. He’s a versatile player and provides the team with quality depth on the D-line. The question would be what is his value and will injuries come into play?
Fanene suffered a hamstring injury in the first game of the 2010 season against New England. He returned to the lineup in Week 7 against Atlanta and later was placed on injured reserved. There is reason to believe that the player’s injury was misdiagnosed from the outset. Fanene tore the hamstring initially but rushed back and re-aggravated the injury in the game against Altanta. He missed 14 games last season. Fanene had a breakout season in 2009 posting 36 tackles with six sacks and one interception.
“I like Jonathan a lot,” defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer said. “He works extremely hard and is very prideful. I’ll ask him all kinds of questions in meetings because he never wants to be wrong. Jonathan is the kind of guy you like to have on your defense. He can do a lot of different things that people don’t realize. Jonathan goes hard on every play.”
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Comments
By yeah right
July 20, 2011 4:06 PM | Link to this
..could be major players during the free agent signing frenzy… LOL!!!
By Slagneb
July 20, 2011 4:14 PM | Link to this
More like “choke” not feast.
By turd fergison
July 20, 2011 4:27 PM | Link to this
see yeah right!
By bengalsin11
July 20, 2011 4:32 PM | Link to this
See the haters already posted. Benson’s arrest, Jones Arrest (I stopped calling him pacman and he gets arrested again) same old crap. I’d keep JJ, work on Fanene the other LB is so so. Ride palmer and Chad out on a rail and let a new era begin. Can’t do much worse than last season and we could honestly blame on young players, not veterans that cry like babies and put on a side show. As always there’s potential but it’s up to the individual team mates to come together and work for the win. Who Dey!~
By Tom
July 20, 2011 4:52 PM | Link to this
I was expecting more speculation about adding some veterans from outside the organization based on the title.
By JMo
July 20, 2011 7:07 PM | Link to this
They could be major players in free agency, they should be, but the won’t. They will drag a*s and try to lowball JJoe which will result in him getting big money from another team like Philly or Dallas. Then they will give Benson a 5 year 40 million dollar deal (Thats his reward for getting arrested again). Then we will let other key players on the d like Fanene and Johnson go. All the while keeping Palmer’s 12 million on the books in case he decides to change his mind and un-retire. All to prove a point that you don’t double cross Mike Brown. The NFL should step in and fine this goon of an owner, we deserve better.
By Benson skeptic
July 20, 2011 10:38 PM | Link to this
I do not see why so many are on Benson’s bandwagon. He had on e of the lowest yards per carry in the league and fumbled more times last year than all of his other years combined.
By Ant Man
July 21, 2011 7:53 AM | Link to this
Hey Big C, if your beloved 49ers release cornerback Nate Clements the Bengals should sign him. Clements and Joseph are nearly clones. Both are good cover guys and tough against the run. Clements could come at a cheaper price considering his performance has dipped over the past couple of years.
By Brian
July 25, 2011 7:20 PM | Link to this
Might want to edit the subtext of the headline on the main page of the Bengal’s section. It says Jonathan Jones instead of Jonathan Joseph/Pacman Jones.
By CJ
July 26, 2011 9:41 AM | Link to this
Nothing against Benson, but he’s a year older and he had bad numbers last year. He’s already old for a running back. I hope they find a “Chris Ivory” in the undrafted group. They blew that one last year.
By Earl
July 27, 2011 7:41 AM | Link to this
Someone please tell me again why the Bengals didn’t Franchise Tag Johnathan Joseph? As one of the top two FAs on the market, the Bengals will never bid high enough without the tag.