More On TO Being Bryant Insurance

In my mind, only TO two narratives explain the signing and they are not necessarily mutually exclusive.  The first, and most popular as far as I can tell, is this:

Turns out Bryant's knee still remains a disaster and the Bengals signed TO out of desperation since they do not think they have the guy they need.

Just google "Antonio Bryant Bengals" and you'll see what I mean.  The second, which I really don't hear at all is:

The Bengals have (or at least, believe they do) all the pieces in place except for the passing game, which last excelled with a three headed monster (Chad, TJ & Henry).  They liked TO enough to bring him in for a workout earlier but thought Bryant was a better fit.  TO's price dropped enough that they realized they might be able to create the three headed monster again.  With the one year nature of TO and the potential lockout looming after this year, they made the move to win now.

According to virtually everyone whose job relates to football (journalists and agent Drew Rosenhaus even), and who know much more than me, the first narrative is the truth.  I actually never even considered the first narrative until yesterday when I kept reading things like this from Ross Tucker of CNNSI:

Antonio Bryant's knee is a serious concern for the Bengals. There is simply no other explanation for why they would even want T.O. in the first place. Not only do they already have Chad Ochocinco entrenched as the No. 1 receiving option, but they have invested three draft picks on receiver (3rd-round or higher) in the last three years.

This really bothers me and not just because I can easily think of another explanation (it's fucking TO - for 2 million bucks).  It bothers me because a side effect of this signing has been a kind of public questioning of Bryant as a viable WR.  We need some actual clarification because this is a very big deal if true.  Some possible explanations for why this whole Bryant thing seems like it's totally out of nowhere to me:

1. The Bengals really botched their evaluation of Bryant when they worked him out this off season before signing him and tried to hide it til now
2. Journalists are just trying to come up with an explanation/angle for the signing and this seems like the most obvious
3. I am dangerously out of touch with what's going on (it's probably this)

As I recall during free agency mania, the Bengal worked out both Bryant and TO on back to back days (the same day?).  They then chose Bryant.  Presumably because, in part, he had a better workout even when his knee was worse off.   So what changed since then?  Bryant should only have gotten healthier, right?

I dug through archives since minicamp of Joe Reedy's blog.  Not really any huge red flags that his knee would be a problem, just a general "can he come back to full strength from knee problems last year" type thing.  Okay fine.  But that is not new information.  It is mentioned that Bryant sat out the last day of minicamps but the reason was described as "mainly veteran's rest."  Otherwise, all I saw was a casual mention that "Antonio Bryant and Adam Jones continued to look good."

Again, what specifically changed since minicamp to Bryant's heath that made a TO signing so much more urgent?

Anyway, I don't get it.  The first report I can dig up on the media audit trail comes from Chris Mortensen on twitter here.  It's from the 23rd of July.  A whopping 5 days ago.  Where has all this talk of Bengals concern and the coaches being "lukewarm" been until now?

The second narrative always made more sense to me.  It even did that oh so rare thing:  put the Bengals in a positive light - they went out and spent money to win now.  The Bryant speculation changes that.

Still, it seems to me the Bengals may have had interest in TO all along but just took a gamble that his price would drop.  An interview with Brad Johansen did indeed confirm this signing appeared to be indepedent of Bryant's health.  Perhaps concerns of Bryant's knee did indeed make the pursuit of TO all the more urgent (it wouldn't surprise me to find out the Bengals cut corners on their research on Bryant's health).  But I still think trying to win now, despite the Bengals history of ineptitude, actually makes more sense and doesn't require revisionist history of concerns about Bryant's health that apparently were known all along.

Anyway, I gotta think Bryant feels pretty shitty about all this speculation (really?  talk of cutting Bryant?  really?)  Particularly if it is just speculation.  I guess we'll find out at training camp soon enough.  And even if TO does provide insurance, it's just for this year and is not a long term answer.

Update:  the Bengals, rightly so, are trying to counteract the injury story line, which needs to be killed if it is false

Comments

[Artrell]

Agreed. All the speculation about AB seems to be mostly unfounded, based on the facts as you look back through all the offseason news. A lot of this is started by Bengal hating news sources like ProFootballTalk.com and generalist football journalists who clearly have not done one iota of research.

They posted articles on this stirring up a fray with no sources, simply saying "there has been chatter" about PUP list, knee, etc. John Thornton tweeted that he can't believe people are counting AB out. Marvin emphatically stated that this signing has absolutely not bearing on AB, that he's been playing all the spots during preseason.

I was surprised when Drew Rosenhaus brought up AB's health, seems like a pretty vindictive move toward a non-client.

It sucks for AB to have all this floating around out there, but it can be quited very quickly tomorrow.

[Artrell]

Separate thought... every time I turn on ESPN over the last day Herm Edwards and others are talking Bengals, TO, Carson praising the move. How different is this than years ago when you'd be lucky to see our score flash by on the ticker. Seems like that's been the case a lot this off season with the moves. Barrell is loaded boys, we're playing with a full deck. We'll see where this goes.

[CurseofBoJackson]

You can't put any stock in an "article" that Mike Florio or one of his stupid minions writes. Unfortunately, PFT has morphed into a site hit accumulator with no real concern for the things they are speculating about or reporting, I have given up trying to rationalize patronizing the site, I just don't go anymore. That said, I echo the sentiment in this post that says there is no ACTUAL source or reason to think the signing of TO is anything other than filling of the Orange and Black gun with as many bullets as possible at the right time and for the right price. My assumption/speculation is that while Bryant's knee IS a concern, it's NOWHERE near the concern that Drew Rosenhaus (what a whore) or the ill informed talking heads of the media are making it out to be. Bryant will be used smartly during camp and preseason games to keep him fresh, and I wouldn't be too surprised to see him get a slow work into the lineup as the season progresses, again, to keep him as fresh as possible. I still remember the last monday night game in 2008 season when he WENT OFF for like 220 and 3 TD's or something ridiculous like that against the Panthers (who went to the playoffs that year). The guy's got it, no doubt, the doom and gloom is unwarranted. JT got it right when he said yesterday that the ONLY downside to this move is that the rooks don't get AS MUCH ability to get game experience, and one more person that probably could have made the team, will be gone come September. Boo Hoo.

[Mockenrue]

You got one too many "http"s in those links there, SWB.

[B_town]

The one very real possibility is that the Bengals are not confident in their running game. Benson may still have some legal issues to deal with which may leave them pretty thin at RB. I spend a fair amount of time in Tampa and follow the Bucs pretty closely. When a 3-13 team trying to develop a young QB did not even have a conversation with Bryant, that struck many folks as odd. I think there's a lot going on here, but Bryant has never finished a long-term contract with any team, has failed a drug test and had to sue the NFL to be re-instated. The reason the journalists has called out this guy is because they are a lot more familiar with him than the people are in Cincinnati.

[DorsetBengal07]

TO signing raises a lot of questions for sure. I'm not too concerned about off the field stuff but I am concerned with how our OC is going to piece together what is now a considerably different offense from last year. Does he really have the capability (and time?) to put together different packages for different opposition, which is the logical way forward? I would love to think so but I remain sceptical. Potentially we have an offense which is unpredictable in a very good way indeed - it will take talent and balls of brass to run it though.

[Rich]

Bryant's knee will be fine. My theory is that TO's price dropped as the summer went on. Mike Brown likes to look through the bargain bin of humanity. That's as much a reason why he picked TO, Matt Jones and Pacman Jones as anything. He views opportunities for cheap and talented players differently than other owners.

[blesterov]

This is just another perfect example of the ignorance of the mass media. They hyper-inflate stories to make things more dramatic, and never broadcast anything with substance. In Cincy, the narrative is the Bengals can never do anything right, and they stick with that. If the Bengals were to make a significant roster move that benefits the team, the media will find a way to twist it into a negative. The mass media does the same crap with politics whether its Obama or Bush, and the sports media has tuned into this formula as well b/c it sells and gets people fired up. This is why I stick to NPR, the BBC, Joe Reedy, and WDR as my trusted new sources to avoid this BS. I still read PFT, but it is a shell of what it used to be: it is more TMZ than football these days.

Remember when Marvin made the decision back in 2004 to make Palmer the starter over Kitna? It was the correct decision b/c Kitna was never going to take this team anywhere; the media tore that decision to shreds. I think it was even debated to death on PTR, and Marvin was probably ruled an idiot.

Bien, I agree with the second paragraph that they did this to load the team up with weapons and take a shot to win it all this year. Marvin and/or Mike knew that the 5 million asking price TO was asking would drop as the offseason wore on. They basically got both of the guys they targeted for a good price. Great job on their part. If I was Brat, I would use TO in the slot to try to get him matched up on a nickel or dime CB or in some cases a LB; it would be like shooting ducks in a barrel. Unfortunately, I am not Brat and who knows what he is going to do.

Bien, do you have that post from this offseason where you created an offseason needs list? I bet the team would grade out an A in filling those needs. The only hole I don't think they filled that was on that list is LG, and we better hope that Livings has developed so Palmer can confidentially sit back in the pocket like 2005 and pick opponents apart.

I said from day one of the offseason, that if they make the right moves they have a very good chance to become contenders this year. I believe Marvin knew this as well and they did their best to load this team up with talent and filled all of their major holes that they needed to fill. I am surprised Vegas missed this and has them so far down in the odds (below the Steelers even). Now that the team has talent, we should try to advocate for Mike to sign Marvin to another 3 years.

[Michael]

Kind of off the subject.

Just saw that the Commish will announce today that Vince Young will not be suspended for his strip club fight. This is his first incident. Wondering if Ced will get just as lucky. I know this is not Ced's first incident of getting in trouble, but I am keeping my fingers crossed. Is it his first bar fight?

I can not wait to the Thanksgiving game against the J-E-T-S. With the amount of Pro-Bowlers and Pro-Bowl talent the Jets and the Bengals have it is going to be like a Mini-Pro-Bowl. Revenge is ours!!!!

[Wyatt]

@Michael,

This is Cedric's first violent offense. He had two separate Boating While Intoxicated charges that were dropped. Based on that, plus the fact that this occurred in a bar, I'd say that Goodell will likely suspend Cedric for the entire season. If he played for any other team, he'd have to do counseling but wouldn't miss any games.

[blesterov]

Wyatt,

I am afraid that you may be correct on this. The commish has a bad track record at being "fair":
Chris Henry: 8 games.
Ben Ben rapes a girl: 4 games.
Joey Porter and his gang jumps an injured Rod Jones at Vegas blackjack table and its caught on tape: we'll let that one slide since he is a Pro Bowler.

That is the only thing helping Ced right now, is that he is a potential All Pro. The NFL does not like bad PR with its stars; hence the attempted coverup of the Plaxico incident by NFL security officials.

Realistically, Benson gets no suspension or a slap on the wrist, but with Goddell you never know.

[Wyatt]

@Blester

Levi Jones, buddy. And Porter didn't get a slap on the wrist because he was a Pro Bowler - he got a slap on the wrist because he was a Pro Bowl former Steeler. Goodell and the Rooneys are tight, so the Steelers don't get disciplined.

[williamsburg]

looks like everything is okay for benson now.

is it just me or does anybody else see a turning of the tides, so to speak, about the perception around the league regarding the bengals front office? Basically, people finally buying in to what mike brown of all people is selling?

“He’s got my back,” said Benson of Bengals president Mike Brown. “When I got arrested, I was nervous. I thought I was going to get the same kind of reaction from this team that I got in Chicago. I was just amazed at how different it was. They took the time to look into the facts. Just took more of an initiative. We’re not just invested for what the type of player you are. What you can give us on the football field? But, we are invested in you as a person. That’s the impression I got. You can’t ask for more than that.”

Chris Henry, Adam Jones, Tank Johnson, Ced Benson, Antonio Bryant, Roy Williams, Rey Rey...now terrell owens. Who knows maybe we pick up somebody else off the street during the season like the last 2 years with crocker and d. jones and benson and l. johnson.

Is this idea of a team built on the motivational principle of redemption starting to work?

Are we the 2010 version of the 80's raiders or are we the 2010 version of the recent Pats?

Maybe we are just the 2010 Bengals.

I think if we are successful this season at all, we can finally leave the nickname "bungles" behind forever.

My final question is if this whole "giving players a 2nd, 3rd, fif, 8th chance" works out for us this season, do you think other teams will start following the "bengal's formula" for player acquisition?