Per PFT, Stacy Andrews is gone. According to PFT, it's a multiyear deal averaging $7 million per year. This is pretty surprising considering Andrews blew out his knee in the second to last game of the season. Initial thoughts are:
-When teams are willing to spend $7 million/year on Stacy Andrews, it just solidifies that the Bengals aren't signing anybody.
-We knew he didn't want to be here. Maybe there was a small chance after he tore his ACL but obviously someone showed interest, and like many before him, he jumped at the opportunity.
-The Bengals just went from needing 1-2 Offensive Tackles to 2-3 Offensive Tackles. Slated in the position as of now are Crappy Jones and Anthony Collins. Unless the Bengals are going to have Levi creatively assault Carson again this year or Whitworth moves to Tackle, creating a need at Guard, second year man, Anthony Collins will be tested to fill both Tackle positions...a tall task for the fourth round pick
-And is it me, or does this lead one to believe that Cedric Benson is going to sign somewhere for a surprising amount of money and/or years?
I see them signing TO and Pacman.
Yeah, its so crazy it will probably happen.
Posted by: 5chw4r7z | February 27, 2009 at 10:57 AM
Andrew Whitworth is not an NFL left tackle. I know this. Does Mike Brown? Probably not.
Posted by: Showtime | February 27, 2009 at 11:11 AM
as I'm reading this I get my bengals week in review with the top
"Report: Andrews signs with Eagles"
and with that the Bengals are done with free agency...Mikey can go back to clipping cupons and wondering why they haven't recieved any season ticket renewal checks yes...that damn pony express takes forever....
Posted by: Delta5243 | February 27, 2009 at 11:59 AM
and apparently T.J. Houshmandzadeh is on a flight to Seattle
Posted by: Delta5243 | February 27, 2009 at 12:04 PM
why aren't any of you commenting on the idea that stacy andrews just got this kind of contract coming off an injury? for years you've panned the bengals for investing in a guy like this - a project...why franchise a back-up offensive lineman and get rid of willie? you all kept clamoring that he was bunk...now you've got a winning franchise like the eagles (who people on this site have often sited as a team we should strive to be like) signing him for big money...are they stupid just like mike brown? now we can talk about why adrews didn't want to sign with the bengals...maybe we weren't willing to give that kind of money to an injured tackle (if we had, could you imagine the howls your own pie holes would make?)...and really, how are you going to convice a guy to sign, when he's dead bent on playing for one team because of one personal reason that his brother plays there...at least try to comment on things from a variety of angles....would be a nice change of pace.
Posted by: P,O.U.M. | February 27, 2009 at 12:58 PM
P,O.U.M., I'm not sure what you want us to say about Andrews that we haven't said. I think $7M/year for an injured Andrews is too much and we shouldn't have signed him for that. The Eagles aren't stupid but to us, the move is questionable. If the Bengals would have signed him for that, we would have ripped it. I do think franchising a non-starter last year was stupid because (a) the QB was not protected well last year and Andrews contributed to that, (b) it was clear he wasn't interested in doing a long term deal with Cincinnati and was determined to hit free agency, and (c) we still had Wille under contract and could have potentially cut him after this season.
I don't think there would have been anything wrong with signing Stacy to a long term deal pre-injury. He just wasn't interested in it. The above post was simply to announce he is gone (pending a physical), point out the unexpectedly large amount of money considering his injury, point out the highlighting of the Bengals' need for a tackle and wonder if Benson will also get an unexpectedly large amount of money.
Posted by: Who Dey NYC | February 27, 2009 at 01:32 PM
"why aren't any of you commenting on the idea that stacy andrews just got this kind of contract coming off an injury?"
I personally have no direct knowledge of how bad his injury really was and apparently neither did the Bengals training staff, coaches or management....however, someone in Philly did...and they were willing to pay him big money....how's that.....
Posted by: Delta5243 | February 27, 2009 at 01:35 PM
My guess is that the Eagles signed our "project" as an incentive to get little brother Shawn to play despite his "depression".
Posted by: Ray | February 27, 2009 at 04:01 PM
I don't think this changes much, though I'm certainly not happy to see him go. Collins, I thought, did a fair job last year and should improve over the summer. I (apparently mistakenly) thought he wouldn't be able to play next season due to his injury anyway, so to me the game plan (for the O-line) should still be to
1. sign a veteran center
2. draft an offensive tackle with the #6 not named Andre Smith
3. hope Levi fixes his leg/brain/whatever made him suck last year
hopefully at least one of the three happens, but I won't hold my breath.
Posted by: themask | February 27, 2009 at 04:20 PM
The fact that they haven't been mentioned in connection with the Centers (Jason Brown and Matt Birk) is believably infuriating. It's the type of shit that drives you nuts every single year at this time. That is the most glaring need so f-ing go get one of them.
But we won't.
If we drafted a tackle, I'd actually just be fine telling Levi to just get out. I love how people were saying with Haynesworth that the main concern teams had would be that he'd just mail it in after signing a big contract. Levi Jones instantly popped into my head.
Posted by: Who Dey NYC | February 27, 2009 at 04:59 PM
How is it that as recently as two days ago Geoff Hobson was pontificating that there was a 'possibility' Stacey Andrews could start the season on the PUP list and miss the first 6 games. But now that Stacey is gone it's jumped from a possibility to a probability? Can there be any doubt now that every time Hob speaks MikeyBoy has a hand in his back?
Posted by: ItmightbeJB | February 27, 2009 at 05:06 PM
Stacy Andrews is not worth 7 million dollars. He made it very apparent that he did not want to be here(can't hold that against him). So, the Bengals now have 7 million more to spend. I'm sure that they will put it to good use.
Posted by: PAl | February 27, 2009 at 06:35 PM
Stacy and his brother are head cases and now they are together and some other teams problem. He didn't want to be here and he was never going to be the answer. Now we can focus on finding healthy skilled linemen who make a difference on the field instead of hoping a man who learned to play football in his 20's will all of a sudden get it. And if he does good for him and the Eagles. I'm more worried about T.J crawling back to the Bengals, beaten in free agency after over estimating his worth outside of this city, and sulking like Chad.
Posted by: Chris | March 01, 2009 at 01:06 PM