Andre Smith

FootballGod · 03-08-2013, 09:03 AM

If the Bengals let Smith walk and then draft Fluker in the first round how does that make the team better? I have seen people suggest this as if it would be a good idea. Please explain to me how the Benglas are going to even win a championship if we let out best players go after their rookie contracts? Smith is not getting $9 million a year by this team or any other team as a RT. That is LT $$$. You know darn well that top tier free agents are not going to come to Cincinnati so what do you do with the cost savings from letting Smith walk? We need to sign Smith to a 4 year $7.5/yr contract. He is the best RT in the game and worth the money. If he turns into a fat slob then just cut him since contracts are not guaranteed in the NFL. We need to draft a LB, Safety, or RB in the first round not another RT!

hobbes2053 · 03-08-2013, 12:50 PM

Agreed on this. Letting him walk would be straight foolish.

Pat Sims 90 · 03-09-2013, 06:35 PM

I would not give Andre Smith anything over 6 million a year. His work ethic is still suspect and I doubt he will really try hard if he gets the big money. No LB is really worth the 21st pick, Safety Class is deep, and they won't draft a RB in the 1st because they were happy with Green-Ellis last year and they are looking for someone to complement him not replace him. They should just go BPA regardless of position.

rickscott · 03-11-2013, 05:11 PM

An awful lot of folks think he's one of the best RTs in football. He's young and still maturing, but he'c some a long way ad shows no signs of reverting back to his old ways. Why shouldn't he ask for 9 mil? It's a starting point. Hopefully MB is fair to him and realizes that he can't allow the 6th pick in the draft to walk after a couple years. The guy has 6-8 good years ahead of him....hopfully with us.

Pat Sims 90 · 03-12-2013, 02:06 PM

The Problem with him asking 9 million a year is that the FA market and Draft is very deep at the tackle position. The Bengals will prolly let the market dictate what they will offer him.

rickscott · 03-12-2013, 10:02 PM

The problem is that you can not be successful if you are having to replace quality players in the draft while you needed to use that pick on a position of need; Safety, RB and LBer. We will have to settle for less in one of those positions if we lose out on Andre

Pat Sims 90 · 03-12-2013, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rickscott

The problem is that you can not be successful if you are having to replace quality players in the draft while you needed to use that pick on a position of need; Safety, RB and LBer. We will have to settle for less in one of those positions if we lose out on Andre

Baltimore, Pittsburgh, New England

Are teams that are not afraid to let quality FAs walk if the price is not right.

NotMyJob · 03-13-2013, 01:24 AM

sure would be nice to spend some of our cash resigning Smith, or even Vollmer to replace him.

how would you guys feel about grabbing Nnamdi, lol?

rickscott · 03-13-2013, 02:20 PM

I do not him. He has really fallen and I don't know if it is speed or wht, but heis clearly not the same CB he once was. I would like to come out of free agency wit Smith, and 1 starter, likely at Safety which I think would b affordable, or a veteran LBer that can step in and play and has good cover ability.

Balt and the Pats have also been willing to add quality free agents when needed. The Steelers not so much, but they have this down to a science more than us as far as replacing their pass rushing LBers with another every few years.

FootballGod · 03-14-2013, 06:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pat Sims 90

Baltimore, Pittsburgh, New England

Are teams that are not afraid to let quality FAs walk if the price is not right.

Baltimore and Pittsburgh draft extremely well and draft players that fit their system. Baltimore signed Flacco to a huge deal and now have zero cap room to keep their other players. Pittsburgh always finds replacements and might be the best in the business as far as front offices go. New England has a lot of deficiencies that are covered up by Tom Brady. You know, the guy with multiple rings who is a first ballot Hall of Famer. They also go out and spend on guys in FA to fill needs.

I find myself disagreeing with PatSims most of the time anymore. How does it feel to see the real Pat Sims in Oakland?

SC Igniter · 04-13-2013, 05:28 AM

It's getting tough to figure this one out. No activity being reported and only news is that sides are far apart. The fact Andre isn't making any visits is a positive. So one would think, it's in both sides interest in getting things done before the draft. Reality must set in at some point for Smith on salary expectations. If not, I am worried about him signing elsewhere for a 1 yr deal so that he can delay his payday for next season. This isn't what we want, as we would need to then spend a high draft for his replacement option.

Surely, we get put something creative together? Like Football God said, if he turns into an overweight head case, then we drop him.

I still think we draft OT within our top 4 picks even if we sign him.

rickscott · 04-13-2013, 07:45 AM

If we end up getting Flucker, he will be a great addition in time BUT, he will likely be beaten frequently in his learning years just as Andre was and as others have been also. In addition, my main point of contention about failing to sign Dre is that that spot in rd 1 is meant for another position player not to cover up the loss of a guy you just drafted a few years ago

hobbes2053 · 04-13-2013, 01:58 PM

All the talk about us emulating the offseason strategies of Pittsburgh and Baltimore go out the window if we don't retain him.

SC Igniter · 04-14-2013, 07:28 AM

Obviously we don't know what's being said between them, other than their differences remain significant. Assuming this is true, we're never going to sign him if he continues to demand in the neighborhood of $9M.

RT market I think is more in the $6-$7M range, I don't see them moving too far off this. I don't blame the Brown family for this. If Andre can't be happy with $7.5M or so, then screw him. Everyone would like to keep our top draft choices in fold within reason. Certainly we have some big ones coming down the pike.

Hopefully, both sides are making progress and keeping it quiet. Wishing thinking, but that's my hope.

What OT's look good to everyone in 2-3 rounds? I kind of like the Armstead kid.

JungleRock85 · 04-14-2013, 10:59 AM

I can't imagine he has any thoughts about still getting 9 million. Jake Long and Sebastian Vollmer didn't even come close to that number and with them all being represented by the same firm even Andre has to realize it isn't happening. But like you said we have no idea who is offering or wanting what. I imagine the Bengals want his contract to be mostly incentive/weight based and he wants no strings attached to his contract but that is just my guess. Thing is, I could live with DJ Fluker but other than him I don't see a Day 1 starter at RT with even a possibility to be there. What do we do when Fluker is gone before 21, reach on Menelik Watson? I would bring in Tyson Clabo for a visit and iron out some contract details with him, go to Andre and say here is what we are offering and if you don't take this we are going in another direction. Relying solely on the draft when you have no idea who will be available at your pick is a dumb thing to do in my opinion.