BB in the old PB.
A football historian, Bill Belichick has been quite vociferous in his praise of Paul Brown. While the Cincinnati Bengals may not seem like the most obvious landing place for Belichick if Zac Taylor were to be shockingly let go, helping to rebuild Brown’s legacy could be pretty motivating for the future Hall of Fame coach.
We all know what he can do on the field, but this article is not about Belichick taking over as the head coach: It is about Belichick taking over the front office.
Here is what Belichick can do for the front office.
Know Who to Pay and When
In theory, replacing Jessie Bates with a younger, cheaper option to save money for offensive contracts made sense. If Dax Hill had transitioned well to the position, we may not be having this conversation. But he didn’t, and we are.
Belichick isn’t afraid to pay his players regardless of their position. He gave Devin McCourty a bag as a free safety, and I’d like to think he would have done the same with Bates.
This is a problem that the Bengals seem to have.
They let Bates walk, and they seem poised to do the same with Tee Higgins. Why let your best players get away?
Know When It’s Time to Move On
It was understood during Bill Belichick’s time in New England that he would move on from a player a year too soon rather than a year too late,
This is an area where the Bengals struggle. They don’t project how their own players will age and regress. On the surface, it seems like loyalty, but it is misguided. It tarnishes the player’s legacy. Just think of how Geno Atkins ended his time in Cincinnati. Do you not want to? Neither do I.
Belichick is not afraid to move on from players, even those who are playing well when he could see a regression coming.
Have A Succession Plan
Patriots fans tended to get over the loss of key players pretty quickly because Belichick had a plan to replace them.
Lawyer Malloy was a good player, but replacing him with Rodney Harrison was a win. Adam Vinatieri may be a Hall of Fame kicker, but Stephen Gostkowski was a very good kicker for 13 years when he took over in New England.
It’s not letting guys go that gets teams in trouble; it’s failing to replace them properly.
Until Tom Brady headed to Tampa Bay, this wasn’t much of an issue for Belichick. He wouldn’t try to replace DJ Reader with a 3-tech, and the Jessie Bates affair certainly wouldn’t have gone down the same way under his watch.
Make Trades
Maybe bringing Higgins back is unrealistic, but we all see where this is going. It is the Jessie Bates script all over again. One year on the tag, then they let him walk.
Belichick traded 29-year-old Richard Seymour for a first-round pick. He got a first-round pick for Deion Branch as well.
He also acquired Corey Dillion for a second-round pick and Randy Moss for a 4th rounder.
Branch declined steadily after leaving New England. Seymour had two good years left. Dillon and Moss had a lot of good football left in them.
The Bengals are notorious for taking the Austin Powers blackjack strategy when it comes to trades, saying “I’ll stay.” Belichick would certainly bring a new development to their roster building.
