Interesting View of Rudi's Future in Cincy

[Bengal Mania]

From Cincy Enquirer Sports Columnist

 

Not the popular opinion around here, but still an interesting one.

[Bengal Mania]

There is a part of me that's been thinking this, too.

 

I love Rudi. All of Cincy loves Rudi, I believe. But to pay him what his agent and the market are gonna demand is gonna mean there will be, most likely, NO OTHER FA signings of any significance.

 

I look at like the value-based analogy at FFL draft time. It's not that you don't want Rudi. It's not that you don't think he deserves it. You've just got to decide how to spend the 6-8 mill. Do you take Rudi and nothing else? Or do you spend it all on a stud DEF lineman? Do you get another couple mid-range players to buy into the Marvin mystique? Do you spend it all on an outstanding middle OL, thereby making the Bengals OL one of the best, thereby making the ability to replace Rudi even easier? Do you offer Rudi to the Rams to try and get Stephen Jackson? (that would be irony, wouldn't it?)

 

Not an easy answer in my opinion, esp since Perry has been hurt most of the year. I'm not saying I agree, but I think this article raises some good points.

[The Irish Doggy]

I despise Daugherty's column usually, but he's right on here. They need a consistant pass rush in the worst way. Clemons and Smith are nice DEs, but nobody is afraid of them. I hope they go heavy on defense this offseason.

 

If they really thought Rudi was the future, they would have signed him by now. Perry can't seem to stay healthy so I doubt they're banking on him for much. I wouldn't be suprised to see them go after a bigger name (Alexander) or even go into this RB rich draft and use another pick. They will have a lot of cap room this coming year so their options are wide open.

 

But if it comes down to Rudi or better defense, I'd take the defense.

[steeler]

I tried to read the article but got an "Internal Server Error" message or something from the Cincy Enquirer web site... I guess six huddlers is too much for their server to handle

 

 

Anyway, if they do let Rudi go I've assumed all year that Perry would have the inside track to take his spot... I have Perry in one keeper league and hoped to be able to keep him if Rudi is let go..... but maybe not

[dug]

I have Perry in one keeper league and hoped to be able to keep him if Rudi is let go..... but maybe not

 

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yeah- i remember letting you trade up to get him.....

[steeler]

yeah- i remember letting you trade up to get him.....

 

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Yeah, but it was pretty late in the draft.... and it still might work out for me

 

 

BTW, I'm still kicking myself for not keeping McGahee in the 10th round :bawling: so I'll probably end up overcompensating and keeping Perry for like 5 years or something

[Bill Swerski]

Anyway, if they do let Rudi go I've assumed all year that Perry would have the inside track to take his spot...  I have Perry in one keeper league and hoped to be able to keep him if Rudi is let go..... but maybe not

 

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I only saw a handful of Michigan games last year, but was not terribly impressed with Perry. He didn't have incredible speed, power, or elusiveness and, IMO, Michigan's OL made him look better than he really was. The only thing that he's proven this year is that he has difficulty staying healthy in limited action.

 

I agree that Cincy might be better off spending on defense and signing a decent FA back like A-Train.

[Lonestar39]

I couldn't get to the article either. I wish I had a good view of contract and cap structure for Cinci to get a better idea. It was somewhat puzzling that Cinci didn't try to work a deal prior to this season and one would think the Chris Perry pick had some implication to future options at least. Cinci is one of those teams and orgs that continues to puzzle me. Half the NFL teams could use an effective DE and the market just isn't bubbling over with them. With Rudi I would guess they know what they have in him and what to expect. I doubt his agent is going to get him a stud type contract and if anything availability of serviceable running backs in next years free agent period will decrease his value substantially. It would be in the best interest for Cinci to work out a reasonable contract for Rudi and work with mid-level free agents and the draft to shore up their defense. No running game with a young QB at the helm can be counter productive. Rudi gives them a solid threat of a running game.

[Bengal Mania]

Here you go:

 

Bengals would be wise to let Rudi walk

 

By Paul Daugherty

Enquirer staff writer

 

You can't open the vault for Rudi Johnson. You can't declare the Bengals Bank & Trust a Rudi subsidiary. Wallets are not made to be lived in. Not even by Rudi, the hardest-working man in show business. If Rudi wants $6 million a year, the Bengals should drive him to the airport and wish him well.

 

It's not about Rudi. I like Rudi. Who doesn't?

 

The man is 220 pounds of purpose. When he's not working, he's working. If anybody else starts riding that stationary bike behind the Bengals bench, I get a little ticked off. That's Rudi's bike.

 

But it's business. And business says NFL running backs are easily replaced. Look at the Bengals for the past 20 years:

 

Lose Pete Johnson, add James Brooks. Lose Brooks, add Ickey Woods. Lose Woods, add Harold Green. Lose Green, add Corey Dillon. Lose Dillon, add Rudi. Rudi's a 1,000-yard back. When it comes to winning, that's as useful as an 8-track tape player.

 

The Bengals have had 10 1,000-yard rushing seasons, by four different backs, since the Super year of 1988. What has it gotten them?

 

Out of the playoffs. Worst team in the league. In Dillon's three best years, '00, '01 and '02, the Bengals won a total of 12 games.

 

(The common thread in all of Cincinnati's running success is assistant coach Jim Anderson. He has coached 1,000-yarders here since 1984. Maybe he should be getting the $6 mil a year.)

 

Like any sport, the NFL has its cherished myths. A good one is, you have to run the ball to be successful. Really? The Eagles are 10-1. Name me their "feature" back. That'd be Brian Westbrook, the 19th-best runner in the league.

 

Shaun Alexander leads the NFL in rushing yards. His Seattle Seahawks are 6-5 and sinking fast. Name New England's feature back in its two Super Bowl runs, win fabulous prizes.

 

How many championships did Barry Sanders win? Eric Dickerson? Earl Campbell, Gale Sayers, O.J.? Walter Payton got one, on a team celebrated for its defense. Clinton Portis might be a horse, but his Washington Redskins are nags. And so on.

 

It was interesting, after Rudi's 202-yard game Sunday, to listen to Willie Anderson. The right tackle did everything but say, "If the Bengals don't keep this guy, they're crazy." Anderson said he talked to Johnson early last week, saying, "We've got to get you some long runs, let everybody know you're one of the elite backs in the league."

 

Anderson might have added, "So you can cash in big after this year."

 

"I want the guy to be here as long as I'm here," Anderson said.

 

That's doubtful, unless the Bengals choose to ignore other spots where prime talent is harder to find, namely the defensive line. Unlike some teams, the Bengals will not go "cash over cap." They won't give a player a seven-year signing bonus to ease the salary cap headache unless they're almost certain the guy will play seven years.

 

That means less wiggle room for players like Rudi. The lesson is and always has been: Spend your wiggle on linemen. Or cornerbacks. They're much harder to come by.

 

This assumes the Bengals take Rudi's would-be cash pile and spend it wisely, always a risky assumption.

 

If Rudi leaves, don't curse the ballclub. The Bengals will find someone else who can run. They always have. And remember this:

 

Rudi Johnson was a fourth-round draft pick.

End of Article

 

I suppose a good argument could be made either way, but I honestly think I'd rather let Rudi go and spend the money elsewhere. Of course I realize that would come with the deafening berating that the Bengals don't want to spend to win, don't want to pay for good players, blah, blah, blah. Not an easy predicament.

Edited December 1, 2004 by Bengal Mania

[Double Reverse]

You just never know what a FA will actually command on the open market. Keep in mind, there will be other prominent FAs (Edge, Travis Henry, Lamont Jordan, perhaps Ricky Williams, Najeh Davenport (?), and others I'm sure I'm forgetting). And MOST teams are set at RB (or at least have a lot invested in their current RBs), with the notable possible exceptions of:

 

Oakland (could see any of the above listed backs in Norv's scheme, but is Rudi that much different/better for all that $$ than Wheatley?)

 

AZ (they have some young guys they want to look at and have other needs to address as well)

 

MIA

 

possibly TB (depends how far they think Pittman can take them)

 

There may be other teams interested in upgrading, but that means either eating what they've sunk into their current guys or finding someone else to offload them. Teams like ATL, HOU, SF, CAR come to mind.

 

Bottom line, there really aren't that many places where a back like Rudi can go and command all that jack. Sure, someone may decide they have to have him and pay up, but just as good a chance that him wanting $6m a yr and him getting it may be two very different things.