Geoff Hobson (we'll only use Baghdad when we are disagreeing with him or otherwise highlighting ridiculousness) points out that the Bengals have signed Safety Chris Crocker to a four-year deal worth $10 million with $3.5 million guaranteed. At first glance, it seems like a bit much for a guy who played 8 games last year and was signed off the street but the guy was pretty much all over the place during those games and D-coordinator, Mike Zimmer has raved about him and his versatility combined with Ndukwe's. According to Zimmer, both can play either Safety position, which allows packages to be disguised and gives the defense some versatility (also from Geoff Hobson). It's even more understandable if we cut Dexter Jackson.
Plus it's nice to have a position that we 100% don't need to address. That list is as follows:
-Safety
-Guard*
*Unless we move Andrew Whitworth to left tackle
NOTE: Quarterback and Cornerback were not put on this list because we still need a backup QB and an upgrade at CB #3.
All of this aside, as of now, we're still getting worse (No Housh, No Benson and nobody new). To be fair, there is a Derrick Ward visit scheduled for this weekend, which is a decent, small surprise, but likely an alternative to Benson if we can't sign him.
Thank goodness. I cannot believe that MB was able to get this deal done. (Considering no one else wanted Crocker.)
Posted by: Ray | February 27, 2009 at 04:03 PM
Rumor has it that MB is indeed looking for more guards. He needs someone to man the telephones to make sure that no one makes long distance phone-calls.
Posted by: Ray | February 27, 2009 at 04:09 PM
$10 million, four year deal for a player who will be 29 in a week. Brilliant.
Posted by: Bob | February 27, 2009 at 05:48 PM
Crocker was playing for his career last season, if he continues to do that it'll be a good deal. If not, it will end up a lot like the Dexter Jackson signing.
Posted by: Dan | February 27, 2009 at 09:32 PM
Maybe I drank too much Kool-Aid, but I really like this deal, and I think Derrick Ward would be a great fit here and going after him is a smart move for the Bengals.
And I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that the Bengals will re-sign TJ. My guess is he is just not getting the $$ offers that he thought, and all things being equal he'd prefer to come back to Cincy and play for Carson.
More Kool-Aid time: if we sign Birk or one of the other quality veteran Center/Guards, sign Ward, TJ, and one of the linebackers you mention, I think it will have been a pretty good free agency. We can go OT in round 1, RB or DL in round 2, and get depth on the O-line and defense in the rest of the draft.
Maybe it's just the hangover.
Posted by: Joe | February 28, 2009 at 07:41 AM
Joe, take that nonsense over to bengals.com. Stay away from the light, Carol-anne. Welcome back to reality. The Bengals aren't signing Ward. They're not signing Birk. They're not signing anyone who wasn't on the team last season save for a few scrubs. That's just a fact. Might as well accept that and move on.
Posted by: Steve | February 28, 2009 at 07:56 AM
i thought that´s who you give the deals to - the people who will only be early 30´s when it runs out, not the ones who are there when the deal starts. $2.5 mil a year - what are you whining about. the guy showed some swagger. younger than dexter. more experienced than the promising rookies we have. and what´s to be and be coached by the coaches here. sure the guy was playing for his career. who cares. he played adequately, and at this point, subtracting him from that position would mean having to spend money there when everyone agrees it would be better spent elsewhere. it´s a value. try to at least say something reasonable in your comments as the host of the site did in the original post of this thread.
Posted by: runpassorboot | February 28, 2009 at 09:22 AM
I don't think I said anything unreasonable...Ever notice how baseball players seem to put up better numbers the year before free agency? That's all I said. i like his swagger and his style, and if he plays like that this year it will work out. The bottom line is, he was the best safety available at that price and already knows the system. I am cautiously optimistic.
Posted by: Dan | February 28, 2009 at 11:08 AM
comment was meant for bobby boy up there with his cliched, ´brilliant´...some people can´t give a single word of positivity to this franchise....
Posted by: runpassorboot | February 28, 2009 at 12:25 PM
I need some help from WDR Nation...
I am looking for the post on here where a few geniuses harassed the Brown Family in the luxury box at an away game and Katie Blackburn reportedly tried to steal their sign through the window.
Any ideas??
Posted by: Lloyd Christmas | February 28, 2009 at 01:53 PM
I gotcha runpassorboot, sometimes by Bengals douchebaggery makes me a little defensive! I wish they would use the same common sense approach in the TJ situation as they did with Crocker's.
Posted by: Dan | February 28, 2009 at 02:47 PM
Here it is Lloyd.
http://www.whodeyrevolution.com/whodeyrevolution/2008/10/honorary-memb-1.html
Posted by: KTRB | February 28, 2009 at 03:35 PM