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Fine, maybe “New Dey” fits now.
Tuesday, the second day of free agency — though it’s technically called legal tampering because deals can’t go final until Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET — seemed like a typical Cincinnati Bengals trip to free agency.
Namely, it was awkwardly quiet until word broke the Bengals just weren’t willing to spend enough money to get one of their top targets, linebacker Joe Schobert.
Then something weird happened.
In the span of under an hour, the Bengals shattered all narratives about spending, how much cash they have available, how they do business — all of it.
They agreed to terms with elite defensive lineman D.J. Reader. They then wrapped up a solid boundary corner with Trae Waynes.
Reader is a special player. They might’ve overpaid Waynes.
And that’s ok — message sent. It’s not just a message to Bengals fans either, as one Joe Burrow is sitting back and watching his likely future team sit as one of the biggest free-agency players out there.
So consider this point:
Look, if it takes a few $20million Year 1 deals to get names to come to Cincinnati and show free agents for the long haul you've changed…who cares? https://t.co/jzdCbH2yhD
— Chris Roling (@Chris_Roling) March 17, 2020
It was all just surreal, right? The Bengals whiffed on every single notable free-agent linebacker and appeared set to do the usual thing where they wait until the third or fourth waves of free agency to find a Preston Brown or Bobby Hart.
Instead, nearly $100 million over the lengths of agreed-upon deals went out to two players who are young upgrades. Reader is probably one of the biggest adds in team history. Waynes probably means this suddenly- aggressive franchise is about to move on from not only Andy Dalton, but Dre Kirkpatrick.
What’s the big takeaway? This front office isn’t playing around as it gets ready to build around an affordable rookie contract. It would also probably like to change narratives. That takes time. But shrugging off a whiff on a priority free agent, only to roll into other options and pay up big for upgrades is what winning franchises do.
There’s still plenty of work to do. Maybe besides everything already mentioned, this is more of the Zac Taylor impact. The Bengals have bent over backward to do whatever he wants, even taking P.R. hits with items like Jim Turner as offensive line coach. He axed Vontaze Burfict. Etc, etc. Maybe this is Taylor going to the front office and saying “told ya so” while pointing at the two-win record after he wasn’t able to do major roster turnover on the one he inherited. Maybe it’s a little less dramatic and he just finally got to exert his will on the market instead of — like he was this time last year or so — scrambling to still assemble a coaching staff.
Whatever the reason, consider the message sent. And with Burrow on the way and continued moves like this, perhaps feel free to consider the window starting to crack back open too.
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