Bengals eye next QB move By GEOFF HOBSON
March 13, 2006
Posted: 6 a.m.
<TABLE width=185 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD>
St. Louis QB Jamie Martin is on the Bengals radar. (Elsa/Getty Images)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The Bengals, who haven’t heard from Jon Kitna since free agency opened Saturday, are operating like they always have and are assuming he won’t return. That may happen as soon as Monday when he completes his visit with the Jets.
The Bengals’ first visit with a quarterback comes Tuesday when long-time NFL backup Jamie Martin arrives, a trip confirmed Sunday night by his agent. The Bengals hosted three safeties Sunday and continue their visit with Tampa Bay safety Dexter Jackson on Monday, when they plan to get more specific with their agents and set a strategy with the reported signing of restricted free agent Kevin Walter in Houston.
What is already clear is that despite an extra $8.5 million to spend in free agency that came courtesy of last week’s new collective bargaining agreement ($7.5 million) and the release of defensive end Duane Clemons ($1 million), the Bengals are continuing their agenda of not getting into bidding wars early in the game when the market is at its highest.
When the Texans went to $6.4 million over four years for Dolphins backup Sage Rosenfels on Saturday night, the Bengals canceled his visit Sunday and told him to take the Houston deal that averaged $1.6 million per year. It’s believed that’s what the Bengals offered Kitna back in October, which they felt would have made him one of the three highest-paid backups in the league.
After negotiating Saturday with the Bengals, Rosenfels agent Rick Smith indicated that the club’s position is it’s not going to get into the top echelon of backups since extending Carson Palmer back in December to the tune of $16 million per six seasons. Even if it’s unknown when he can return this season after reconstructive knee surgery.
The Bengals believe they have to pursue a certain type of backup because very few players are going to be willing to sit behind a Pro Bowler, even if they might play early in the season. The club is acting as if Palmer won’t miss many regular-season games, if any, and doesn’t look to be willing to spend on a high-powered stop-gap with Doug Johnson and Craig Krenzel already in the fold.
Although Martin, 36, has played sparingly in his 11 seasons, he has usually played well when he has the ball. Ironically, word out of St. Louis earlier this year is that Martin had been contemplating retirement after the most active season of his career. In the four games he started and finished, the Rams were 3-1. He got knocked out of another start after a shot to the head, but rookie Ryan Fitzpatrick got the win in relief.
Martin completed 70 percent of his 177 passes for 7.2 yards per attempt with five touchdowns and seven interceptions for an 83.5 passer rating in 2005. He has just eight NFL starts, but the thumbnail scouting report is that he’s smart and reliable with arm strength that has been described as average by one source that saw him play last season. His tie to the Bengals is that he worked with quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese in St. Louis.
<TABLE width=90 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD>
Walter </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Now it’s unknown if Walter, the Bengals’ fourth receiver, is going to be around to catch balls from the new guy. A league source said Sunday that the Texans had signed him to a four-year deal averaging $1.5 million, an offer the Bengals have a week to match once they receive it.
If they do match, they would have to allow for Walter counting at least $500,000 more on this year’s cap and maybe more after tendering him at $712,000 for this season. Would they pay that much for a No. 4 guy who has caught 30 balls in three seasons? But he’s also one of their special teams’ top players and a guy that caught 19 balls this past season, many in big situations in the wins in Cleveland and Tennessee.
Plus, wide receiver Kelley Washington is also a restricted free agent and the Bengals don’t really have a No. 3 receiver because Chris Henry is facing possible jail time and a league suspension after a Florida gun incident.
Washington isn’t getting the interest early because a club has to give a third-round pick if the Bengals decide not to match. The Texans have to give the Bengals a seventh-rounder if they get Walter.
Walter had one more catch last season than Matt Schobel, lost Saturday in a five-year, $7.5 million deal to Philadelphia confirmed Sunday by agent Jeff Nalley. Although the Eagles already have a top pass catcher at that spot in L.J. Smith, Nalley said the Eagles informed Schobel they are going to use more two tight-end formations.
Cincinnati, already thought to be poised to take a pass catcher in next month’s draft, now has to after losing Schobel’s 90 career catches over four seasons. But as if to show how the Bengals turned away more and more from throwing to the tight end, Schobel’s catches dropped each year after topping out at 27 as a rookie in 2002.
Playing it safe-ty
The free-agent market is at its most rollicking as teams soak up the extra money, and the three safeties the Bengals brought in this weekend have to be looking to catch the lightning. Lawyer Milloy went to Atlanta and Will Demps is headed to the Giants after huddling with Bengals coaches, and Jackson is set to head to Minnesota.
Jackson agent Peter Schaffer reported that his client spent Sunday night "hanging out" with another Schaffer client in running back Rudi Johnson.
According to ESPN.com, Carolina's Marlon McCree hauled in $16 million for five years from San Diego and Minnesota's Corey Chavous went for $4 million per year in St. Louis, with the Rams’ Adam Archuleta figuring to break the bank in Washington.
When the Bengals talk with agents Monday, they may have to decide if they want to strike on one of the three, or wait a week or two to go to the next tier. They also figure to draft a first-day safety.
As expected, the Bengals stayed out of the first foray into the defensive line, where the money got supersonic in a hurry. To top it off, they will be looking at ageless tackle Ted Washington for two more years after agent Angelo Wright negotiated a $7 million deal in Cleveland.
No doubt Wright is looking for at least that for Sam Adams, and he’s not certain the Bengals are going to go to $3.5 million a year for him.
“We’ll see what happens in Miami after they sign the quarterback and that should be Monday,” Wright said of the Dolphins. “Sam would love to go to Cincinnati, but the market is the market.” Wright said the Bengals have also expressed interest in another one of his run-stuffers, Green Bay’s Grady Jackson.<SCRIPT> <!-- var FiltersEnabled = 1 // if your not going to use transitions or filters in any of the tips set this to 0 applyCssFilter() var link_text=[]; //--> </SCRIPT>
March 13, 2006
Posted: 6 a.m.
<TABLE width=185 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD>
St. Louis QB Jamie Martin is on the Bengals radar. (Elsa/Getty Images)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>The Bengals, who haven’t heard from Jon Kitna since free agency opened Saturday, are operating like they always have and are assuming he won’t return. That may happen as soon as Monday when he completes his visit with the Jets.
The Bengals’ first visit with a quarterback comes Tuesday when long-time NFL backup Jamie Martin arrives, a trip confirmed Sunday night by his agent. The Bengals hosted three safeties Sunday and continue their visit with Tampa Bay safety Dexter Jackson on Monday, when they plan to get more specific with their agents and set a strategy with the reported signing of restricted free agent Kevin Walter in Houston.
What is already clear is that despite an extra $8.5 million to spend in free agency that came courtesy of last week’s new collective bargaining agreement ($7.5 million) and the release of defensive end Duane Clemons ($1 million), the Bengals are continuing their agenda of not getting into bidding wars early in the game when the market is at its highest.
When the Texans went to $6.4 million over four years for Dolphins backup Sage Rosenfels on Saturday night, the Bengals canceled his visit Sunday and told him to take the Houston deal that averaged $1.6 million per year. It’s believed that’s what the Bengals offered Kitna back in October, which they felt would have made him one of the three highest-paid backups in the league.
After negotiating Saturday with the Bengals, Rosenfels agent Rick Smith indicated that the club’s position is it’s not going to get into the top echelon of backups since extending Carson Palmer back in December to the tune of $16 million per six seasons. Even if it’s unknown when he can return this season after reconstructive knee surgery.
The Bengals believe they have to pursue a certain type of backup because very few players are going to be willing to sit behind a Pro Bowler, even if they might play early in the season. The club is acting as if Palmer won’t miss many regular-season games, if any, and doesn’t look to be willing to spend on a high-powered stop-gap with Doug Johnson and Craig Krenzel already in the fold.
Although Martin, 36, has played sparingly in his 11 seasons, he has usually played well when he has the ball. Ironically, word out of St. Louis earlier this year is that Martin had been contemplating retirement after the most active season of his career. In the four games he started and finished, the Rams were 3-1. He got knocked out of another start after a shot to the head, but rookie Ryan Fitzpatrick got the win in relief.
Martin completed 70 percent of his 177 passes for 7.2 yards per attempt with five touchdowns and seven interceptions for an 83.5 passer rating in 2005. He has just eight NFL starts, but the thumbnail scouting report is that he’s smart and reliable with arm strength that has been described as average by one source that saw him play last season. His tie to the Bengals is that he worked with quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese in St. Louis.
<TABLE width=90 align=right><TBODY><TR><TD>
Walter </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Now it’s unknown if Walter, the Bengals’ fourth receiver, is going to be around to catch balls from the new guy. A league source said Sunday that the Texans had signed him to a four-year deal averaging $1.5 million, an offer the Bengals have a week to match once they receive it.
If they do match, they would have to allow for Walter counting at least $500,000 more on this year’s cap and maybe more after tendering him at $712,000 for this season. Would they pay that much for a No. 4 guy who has caught 30 balls in three seasons? But he’s also one of their special teams’ top players and a guy that caught 19 balls this past season, many in big situations in the wins in Cleveland and Tennessee.
Plus, wide receiver Kelley Washington is also a restricted free agent and the Bengals don’t really have a No. 3 receiver because Chris Henry is facing possible jail time and a league suspension after a Florida gun incident.
Washington isn’t getting the interest early because a club has to give a third-round pick if the Bengals decide not to match. The Texans have to give the Bengals a seventh-rounder if they get Walter.
Walter had one more catch last season than Matt Schobel, lost Saturday in a five-year, $7.5 million deal to Philadelphia confirmed Sunday by agent Jeff Nalley. Although the Eagles already have a top pass catcher at that spot in L.J. Smith, Nalley said the Eagles informed Schobel they are going to use more two tight-end formations.
Cincinnati, already thought to be poised to take a pass catcher in next month’s draft, now has to after losing Schobel’s 90 career catches over four seasons. But as if to show how the Bengals turned away more and more from throwing to the tight end, Schobel’s catches dropped each year after topping out at 27 as a rookie in 2002.
Playing it safe-ty
The free-agent market is at its most rollicking as teams soak up the extra money, and the three safeties the Bengals brought in this weekend have to be looking to catch the lightning. Lawyer Milloy went to Atlanta and Will Demps is headed to the Giants after huddling with Bengals coaches, and Jackson is set to head to Minnesota.
Jackson agent Peter Schaffer reported that his client spent Sunday night "hanging out" with another Schaffer client in running back Rudi Johnson.
According to ESPN.com, Carolina's Marlon McCree hauled in $16 million for five years from San Diego and Minnesota's Corey Chavous went for $4 million per year in St. Louis, with the Rams’ Adam Archuleta figuring to break the bank in Washington.
When the Bengals talk with agents Monday, they may have to decide if they want to strike on one of the three, or wait a week or two to go to the next tier. They also figure to draft a first-day safety.
As expected, the Bengals stayed out of the first foray into the defensive line, where the money got supersonic in a hurry. To top it off, they will be looking at ageless tackle Ted Washington for two more years after agent Angelo Wright negotiated a $7 million deal in Cleveland.
No doubt Wright is looking for at least that for Sam Adams, and he’s not certain the Bengals are going to go to $3.5 million a year for him.
“We’ll see what happens in Miami after they sign the quarterback and that should be Monday,” Wright said of the Dolphins. “Sam would love to go to Cincinnati, but the market is the market.” Wright said the Bengals have also expressed interest in another one of his run-stuffers, Green Bay’s Grady Jackson.<SCRIPT> <!-- var FiltersEnabled = 1 // if your not going to use transitions or filters in any of the tips set this to 0 applyCssFilter() var link_text=[]; //--> </SCRIPT>
Upvote
0
...I know what you mean. I feel the same way about TE. I know they need one to count on in the red zone and they just lost Schobel, but they just haven't utlized the position since McGee (and I have mixed feelings on him) and haven't had a real stud since Holman. And I'm so sick of spending a first of second round pick on the position and getting next to nothing from the pick. 
