CINCINNATI -- Several teams, including the Cincinnati Bengals, were wheeling and dealing over the weekend as they tried reach agreements with players who are set to hit free agency when the new league year begins Tuesday.
Many of the deals reportedly agreed to over the weekend won't go into effect until Tuesday when they are official. One of the Bengals' reported moves is already official (Rey Maualuga), and the other should be sometime Monday morning (re-signing kicker Mike Nugent).
As free agency 2015 begins heating up, it's a good time to quickly look back at how it all went for the Bengals in 2014.
Grantland on Friday revisited the 2014 free agency period by grading each team's efforts. Not surprisingly, the Bengals, with a few uninspiring signings and re-signings, received a C.
The good news for Cincinnati, though, was that 16 teams received worse marks. Some even were dubbed failures.
The main reason Grantland had an issue with the Bengals' free agency efforts last season was because it felt they inadequately replaced Michael Johnson, Anthony Collins and Kyle Cook, specifically.
" ... There's no excuse for a team with the cap space Cincinnati possessed last year neglecting to replace them [Johnson and Collins] -- or Cook -- with new blood," the Bengals' blurb read. "The result was an offensive line that struggled to create running lanes for Gio Bernard and a defense that produced a league-low 20 sacks."
As well-intended as that statement was, there are a couple of problems with it.
For starters, a case could be made that the offensive line was one of the best in the league. After all, it took four games before quarterback Andy Dalton was even sacked. Veteran tackle Andrew Whitworth allowed only nine pressures (and no sacks) all season. And while the running lanes weren't there for Bernard -- something Bernard was every bit as culpable for -- they did exist for rookie Jeremy Hill who led the NFL in rushing the last nine weeks of the regular season.
As far as replacing Cook at center, the Bengals didn't need to get another veteran. They felt a younger, cheaper player existed in the draft. So they took Russell Bodine in the fourth round. Granted, Bodine's age and comparative inexperience showed up at times, but for a first-year player, he handled the position well. The snapping issues he had in training camp didn't really exist during the season.
An argument could be made that Cook was replaced.
One could also agree with Grantland, though, and say that Johnson and Collins were not.
After Johnson left in free agency for Tampa Bay, Dontay Moch (later cut) and Sam Montgomery (went on practice squad) were signed and Will Clarke was drafted. All were backup defensive ends, making the No. 2 defensive end position a mess for the Bengals this past season. Backup Wallace Gilberry logged the most playing time of his career. Without a player like Johnson opposite him, Carlos Dunlap struggled fighting through the double-teams that were sent his way.
Collins, the solid backup swing tackle, was replaced by Marshall Newhouse but the former Packer couldn't fully replicate his predecessor. When starting right tackle Andre Smith was lost in Week 12 to a season-ending triceps tear, the Bengals needed Newhouse to step up, too. He didn't, forcing the team to eventually sign off-the-street veteran Eric Winston to a late-season deal. Winston worked out wonderfully, and now the Bengals are hoping to bring him back for at least another year.
So now the question is, what grade will the Bengals receive this year?
