Come on guys, give the guy a deal. Somebody explain to me again why any Free Agent would ever have any interest in playing for this franchise?

http://www.bengals.com/press/news.as...0&news_id=2722

You see this is what Im talking about. Phic said before that the Bengals arent bush and that they have changed but that they still shouldnt give rudi a contract. Bullshit. They havent changed unless they start keeping their top producers. And shit if you have to overpay a little then do it. Fact is the Bengals have a reputation of drafting guys, having them get good then they leave. You cannot run an organization where players dont want to go there because the ownership sucks. If the Bengals want to change they need to treat their players right, jerk them off a little, make them feel loved and try in good faith to sign them. dont offer them piece of shit contracts.

Thing is, Rudi isnt looking to be overpaid, he simply wants a multi-year contract. In todays era of football, I dont think that is too much to ask for.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, lets step back here. First I NEVER said the Bengals don't make really stupid mistakes on some players. NEVER. Just look at SOME of their drafts before the last 2 or 3 years. What I said was, I don't think Rudi deserves to make over 6 million a year. I still don't. That is alot of money on a one dimensional back. Sorry, but thats the way it is. Yes, I would LOVE to see Rudi back. I think with him running, and Carson Palmer's continued growth, they could have an extremely potent offense for years to come. Still, you can't overlook other issues on this team. First, you have WR issues. Warrick may or may not be able to return to form, TJ is a UFA in March, and Washington is still an unknown. Tie that into MAJOR needs on defense and at C and you have alot of holes you can fill with that 6million a year. I am all for Rudi, but look at the offense. The fact is, it is slowly changing into more of a passing offense. I happen to think Perry will end up doing very well in this offense. However, he has been hurt and you just don't know. Still, he was a #1 pick(a mistake in my mind as a CB would have been better or DT...but I digress...) and you can't pay that much money(Perry AND Rudi) to ONE position.

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Expert on nothing, opinionated on everything...

Where did you get this? According to his agent, he is worth the same as any top 5 if not top 10 back. Don't let this ONE argument fool you.

ITs all perception dude. And the perception is that the BEngals organization suck. They dont take care of their players and because of that they won't ever be able to land any siginificant FA's. Yeah Rudi may not be worth over 6 mil a year on paper but he is worth it if you factor in the message it would send to players. Instead you have rudi pissed off for some reason, probably because the org didnt do a good job at sucking up which is their job to do....and now you have that continued perception...same old bungles. Cincy is not a place where you want to go live anyway...dont compound the problem by being a bush league organization.

Fact is, they want to franchise him with a one year deal. That is a slap in the face.

Sure... but here's the question... do they think they can go into battle on the shoulders of Chris Perry. If so, then they may be trying to do the franchise thing in order to use Johnson as trade bait. We've learned already this season that the whole issue of runningback depth is very important. I don't think he'll be as highly sought after as say, Travis Henry or Shaun Alexander, but there might be a market for Rudi Johnson that would make the Bengals think they could get something for him.

Franchising him makes his price too high to trade.

What they should do is trade him to someone that is willing to offer him a contract, otherwise, pay the man.

If they can't franchise him, then they can't trade him... really. They could sign him to a short contract and give almost no signing bonus, but that's not likely. So, my guess is that they lose him, whether through Free Agency or through him holding out next season.

my bad, I was thinking this would be the last year of his contract. Forgot he was UFA

Again, you are missing the point. IF they sign him, especially to the size contract he wants, they can't go get the big FA. They don't have cap room. Yeah, in hind sight they could have signed Rudi last year, and got him much, much cheaper. I can't argue that. Although, I would have argued if he deserved a long term contract after only ONE year of production. By franchising him, they have ONE year to confirm if Perry is the guy, or they can then trade him for compensation.

Perhaps. But like it or not, the NFL is a business. By tagging him they either get one year to verify Perry is the man, or they can then trade him and get compensation.

Sucks for the player, but its obvious the Bengals are gonna be as cheap about this as possible.

Heres to hoping the Rudi plays and dominates and Perry sucks. Then toward the end of the year when the Bungals want to re-sign Rudi long term, hopefully he has a legitimate team offering him money.

Sign the big FA? Really who the hell is going to want to play in a hell hole like Cincy and for an organization that doesn't treat it's players right? I mean you talk about Perry but even if he does end up being good all they will end up doing is pissing him off by not showing him any respect and then let him go because they are too damn cheap to keep any talent that they have.

As far as giving rudi a long term contract...im sure, considering the money he was making then, that they couldve extended his contract a couple years maybe 3 and pay him a lot more but a lot less than what hes asking now. At least attempt to keep the players you develop for crying out loud.

You know, you keep saying all they do is get good players, and then let them go. Okay, I can think of Boomer, but other than that(and he came back) I am stumped. Okay, put up or shut up. Who have they let go for nothing?
Now then, Don't bring up Corey. He did it to himself by pissing off Lewis. Lewis was the driver there to get rid of him. Who else? If anything, this franchise has the stupid act of signing people who have been with the team regardless if they deserved it or not. So...speak up. Who?

Just off the top of my head Takeo Spikes, Corey Dillon (and yes he counts no matter how much you want to exclude him), Garrison Hearst, Darryl Williams.

I put up so you shut up.

I WILL give you Spikes. That loss, especially this year, was huge. Hearst WANTED to leave, he was coming off a great season, and he wanted to go elsewhere after proving he was back from injury. Dillon I am sorry isn't legitimate. He was given everything he ever wanted on a silver spoon. He was a malcontent that was adamant about leaving. It doesn't fit your argument. Williams?....hmmm.....I don't think he was THAT big a deal.

Still, it doesn't change the argument. The argument is they draft this talent and keep no one. They just let them go. That is obviously NOT the case. Again, if anything, they have a history of overpaying to keep players, and not getting the help they need. That was why Takeo was such a big deal in Cincy. Everyone knew his price was too high, by letting him go, they instead kept the other LB who is starting and signed other key FA's including one of their starting CB's.

Hearst wanted to leave? Hell who of the guys that I mentioned wanted to stay? That is the problem Im talking about and that EVERY player in the NFL knows about...that the Bengals suck as an organization thats why good player after good player eventually wants to leave that pit of hell.

Pro Bowler
It most definately is the case that the Bengals dont keep their good players. How can you say its not the case when I just rattled off 4 names, 3 of whom are studs, who not only didn't come back but didn't WANT to come back. That should be troubling for any well run organization which the Bengals most definately are not. The only reason they don't have a lot more of these cases is because their organization is so horrible that even with high draft picks year in and year out they still can't draft good players.

This is the same old cheap incompetent Bungles team.

He wanted out because was stuck on at team with no committment to winning.