Bengals Get Duped?

Have the Bengals made another huge mistake early in the draft?
via videosift.com

Check out this little nugget from our good friend Baghdad Hob posted last night:

The source indicated the Bengals have concerns with the decision to fire Rick Smith, a member of the Priority Sports agency that has represented a variety of former Bengals such as Levi Jones, Bryan RobinsonTory James. After it drafted Andre Smith, the club indicated that Smith's decision to hire Priority had been part of the decision-making process.

Then, check out what ProFootballTalk has dug up on the subject:

In the wake of the news that Bengals tackle Andre Smith has fired agent Rick Smith and is poised to rehire Alvin Keels, whom Andre Smith fired several weeks before the draft, multiple league sources tell us that the firing and rehiring of Keels was planned.

The theory here is that, by firing Keels and hiring the more established Rick Smith of Priority Sports, Andre Smith proved to the teams interested in selecting him that the former Alabama standout was finally beginning to “get it.”

Moreover, there’s a chance that Andre Smith was being told by one or more other agents that he needed to fire Keels in order to persuade teams that Andre Smith acknowledged the errors that were made during the pre-draft preparations, including the bizarrely stupid decision to run a 40-yard dash while not wearing a shirt.

And there’s a chance that Andre Smith still wanted to deal with Keels.  And so there’s a chance that Keels and Smith agreed to the fire-and-rehire scenario.

You see, this is what happens when you DON'T HAVE A SCOUTING DEPARTMENT OR A GENERAL MANAGER!

Comments

[Thom Tadsen]

Great. We got burned. Way to waste a #6 pick. This son of a bitch will rip us off, hold out, never pan out and generally be a lazy piece of shit, great.

Thanks Mike Brown, way to fucking go once again.

[Showtime]

Come on guys, it's not like there was a viable alternative who was a better pass blocker sitting right there at six. Oh wait, yes, yes there was. Eugene Monroe wasn't eligible for Redeeming though.

Also, it's HippapotaSmith damnit!

[BILL]

I am usually critical of this site's offseason shenanigans, but this is becoming the worst draft nightmare before a snap has been played. There is no positive conclusion that can be drawn from this. This kid is the largest baby ever drafted. Good thing we got Malauga because our first oick is going to be the next Leonard Davis/Robert Gallery at best.

[Gambling Fool]

"largest baby ever drafted"

Sorry, that still belongs to Eli Manning. I was wondering how this would get turned around on Mike Brown and no GM. I mean, if the Bengals didn't draft this amazingly talented guy then I guess no one would have.

It stinks he is also holding out and not in camp. Whats that? Camp hasn't started yet. Oh, I thought from the article and comments this guy is already a holdout and a bust.

What miserable lives you all must lead with that kind of attitude. Every day the sky falls on you right?

[RK]

Oh shut up with you optimisim i am not in the mood for positive thinking. We are not improving we suck and we always will.( At least till MFB dies that is, and then we might have a chance!)

[Thom Tadsen]

Gambling fool. Your name says it all. Is it possible this all works out? Of Course, I could also walk out the door of my job, win the lottery and have super models craving my man juice. But none of that's going to happen.

History tells us when Mike Brown drafts low character fucks who collect pay checks and don't show up on Sunday. See 11 arrests in 2006 and a .351 career winning percentage. Logic dictates we are right and Vegas backs us up.

Viva La Revolution!

The Bengals will not return to the playoffs till Mike Brown is gone. Mark my words.

[Gambling Fool]

I would take that bet Thom.

A guy fired his agent. How is that low character?

RK, you have confirmed my point, your life must really suck.

[Major Payne]

Dear God... "Big Daddy" part duex?! I think I'm going to throw up.

[fried green tomatwats]

countless draft picks hold out in this league. countless veterans refuse to show up to voluntaries, workouts, and camps. it happens with all kinds of players and on every team. this is the business side of...wait a minute...it's a business. this is the business of this business. get over yourselves that this is a utopian fantasy meant to represent a pure game in the name of the people of cincinnati.

the kid wants to get paid. mike brown is a damn good businessman and is going to play hardball. this will potentially upset your delicate gameday systems, but it's the reality you should try to step-up and live in.

if you want to do something constructive (because you're consistently drifting way off course with organizing against mike brown's profits), try organizing to change this fucking idiotic system of how these draft picks get paid all this guaranteed money. that might actually put money in brown's pocket, but it's the right thing to do in your football never-never-land.

[Ryandg5]

This is a little absurd - since when do we all of sudden start basing draft picks on their agents? Would it be better if it was Ol' Slick Rosenhaus?? Honestly, I could care less who represents the kid as long as he can protect Carson Palmer. How this site/these comments are starting to turn this into a "wasted pick" or "front office" error is beyond me. Show me hard evidence that at least ONE other team looked into their magic crystal ball (aka Scouting Department) and saw this coming - rather than just being lazy and blaming it on the Bengals. I admire this site and it's purpose but I catagorize this under "Stretching just to have something to complain about"

[Gambling Fool]

turns out the story may not even be true. Damn that Mike Brown, he makes rumors spread like wildfire on the internet. He made thom and RK blindly swallow whatever swill this site pushes out.

Damn him!

[Chris]

I hadn't been on this site in a while but all this optimism that showed up while I was gone is pissing me off. Just because a few so called experts liked our draft people quickly forget the record and problems of the last few years. I got excited after the draft and renewed my tickets and already hatte myself for it. There is no place on this site for you gambling fool and your criticism for how we think. We are miserable fucks but at least were not assholes.

[Wyatt]

Chris,

You say that there's no room on this site for Gambling Fool, but you broke Rule #3 of Project Mayhem in renewing your tickets and giving money to Mike Brown. That was the one task that could actually hit Mike where it hurts - his wallet. So perhaps you should look at your choice of domocile before hurling rock projectiles.

But, as Gambling Fool has mentioned, SI today reported that Smith did file the termination papers, but wisely, the NFL requires five days for these requests to be finalized in order to let cooler heads prevail, and Smith has reportedly rehired Rick Smith, so the great grand conspiracy prognosticated by ProFootballTalk.com is nothing more than a theory (and apparently a half-baked one at best). If this (SI's report) proves to be untrue, I'll eat my words, but let's practice what we preach here guys - you were gung-ho about not jumping to conclusions after a good draft, so let's not jump to conclusions about anything else either, regardless of whether or not the historical precedent is there.

[Mockenrue]

The story was premature.

http://blogs.nfl.com/2009/05/13/bengals-smith-opts-not-to-fire-second-agent/

Andre Smith never fired Rick Smith. That is all.

[Gambling Fool]

Chris, Wyatt said it best and this comment is more props to him.

Are you so pissed because with your season tickets you also bought an Andre Smith jersey? You are more a detriment to the cause then me posting my opinions on a public site.

You also are pissed by the optimism on the site. Yet you went out and handed Mike Brown hundreds of dollars because of your own optimism. If you want me to criticize how you think, I think you are an idiot for saying one thing and doing another. How are you going to boycott yourself? Do you write yourself hate mail? Do you boo yourself on the way into the stadium every Sunday?

[queen la'queef'a]

jesus, i guess you pissers and pillow biters are in a bad place. there's a reasonable and i dare say, healthy, base of us out there that follow the bengals and follow this site for the cause it claims to advocate. we hope the team does well, and we refuse to patron mike brown's business. the rest of you pathetic muppets who stamp around like danica patrick about the state of the team and then go buy season tix, get hopped up on booze at the game, and buy personalized bengals gear, should probably just have it go ahead and say, "douchbag". that's what you claim to be and i'd say the receptacle of dirty cooter backwash fits you niiiiicccceeee.

[Leo deTrotskyo]

Queen, what do you have against Kermit and his friends? I shudder to think what could have happened to you during early childhood...

Other than that, I'm with you.

[Chris]

I sit in the middle of a few people and didn't want to let them down but I did try and get them all to walk away. In a moment of weakness I renewed and I apologize for that. Besides as soon as they go 8-8 Mike B will resell my seat license to nother idiot and make even more money. But I will sneak at least 5 beers in to each game and leave at the first sign things are not going the Bengals way. And I will proudly wear my Thurman jersey until they give me a reason not to.

[Hofbraunow]

From the PFT article:

"Moreover, there’s a chance that Andre Smith was being told by one or more other agents that he needed to fire Keels in order to persuade teams that Andre Smith acknowledged the errors that were made during the pre-draft preparations, including the bizarrely stupid decision to run a 40-yard dash while not wearing a shirt..."

I do not blame his agent for him taking off his shirt at the NFL combine. I think the rest of the guys at the combine saw how sloppy he was, and in stark contrast, knew how hard they themselves had worked to prepare, and were a little bit insulted that he would show up like that...so, the other guys started to take their shirts off, 'calling him out' if you will...he probably started to feel weird, like the only guy wearing a shirt, so he took his off too ( he called it 'getting caught up in the hype', I call it getting *called out*, and he himself---not his agent---only made it worse, by taking his shirt off to run a 40-yard dash ).

Point being, I don't think firing an agent makes up for one's own bad decisions, and I don't think it improves his position (as for the sake of negotiating).

He's already more of a distraction than he's worth...I could care less if they sign him or not; he's not going to make or break the team...

¡VIVA!

[Hofbraunow]

I did read he's keeping Rick Smith, but he did fire his first agent, right? I also heard that his stock went down by *millions* when he pulled that stunt, showing up to the combine like that...and then leaving early, because he was 'bored' as he put it...actually he got drummed out, by the sound of a thousand shirts hitting the floor...

[Keke]

""""He's already more of a distraction than he's worth...I could care less if they sign him or not; he's not going to make or break the team...

¡VIVA!"""

Are you retarded? a high talent on the Oline isn't going to help? did you see carson get killed? have you seen our run blocking? really are you retarded?
People seem to forget Andre Smith was considered the most dominate player in this years draft.

[Hofbraunow]

If by 'dominate' you mean 'dominating', and if by 'dominating' you mean 'large-and-fresh-out-of college', then I'm not convinced, and neither are the Bengals, if they plan on starting him at 'right tackle' (when as bad as their current line has been, it would seem that he sure as hell couldn't do any worse)...

Whatever he did in college,

*he showed up sloppy at the combine,

*left early,

*currently wants to hold out for more money (meanwhile the Bengals claim to want to start him at right tackle, instead of left, i.e. the spot we need to address, but this could be a ruse against his holdout)

* is unproven in the NFL, an *incredibly sophisticated, highly selective* league (the teams who win that is)...why was he passed on by other teams with similar OL needs?

[supra shoes]

This is a great article. Wow, so many of these things I never thought of before. I often read posts, even on this site, and I think they are great, but I don’t take the time to leave a comment. I’m going to start leaving more comments for sure.