Bengals must spend, Adrian Peterson tweets and Tony Romo’s market

The Cincinnati Bengals have long been known as a thrifty franchise. If they want to win a Super Bowl, that needs to change.

Cincinnati finally saw its playoff streak broken in 2016. Not the streak that has the Bengals without a postseason win since 1991, but of reaching the second season in five consecutive campaigns.

For Marvin Lewis and his team, the 6-9-1 season was a significant step in the wrong direction. The Bengals played a difficult schedule and wilted, only beating the Ravens, Eagles, Jets, Dolphins and Browns twice. With Miami being the outlier, Cincinnati couldn’t beat anybody of substance.

Now, the franchise enters a critical offseason. Lewis is entering his 15th season at the helm with Andy Dalton suddenly reaching a tipping point at age 29. The Bengals either have to sign their key free agents and add a few from the outside, using their $43 million of cap space, or tear it to the ground.

Going off recent history, owner/general manager Mike Brown will allow his stars to leave, save the money for his widening wallet, and hope the draft works out.

The Bengals have made a habit of letting ample free agents walk. While Brown has kept Dalton, Geno Atkins and A.J. Green in the fold, too many quality starters have walked. In the last few years, we’ve seen Reggie Nelson, Michael Johnson, Mohamed Sanu, Johnathan Joseph, Marvin Jones and others. It’s eroded the roster, putting Cincinnati in a position where it’s both easier to defend, and unable to withstand injuries.

In the coming weeks, the Bengals will have Kevin Zeitler, Andrew Whitworth and Domata Peko hitting the market. The first two players in particular will be drawing substantial interest, forcing Cincinnati to either open the checkbook or lose two critical pieces of the offensive line. In Zeitler’s case, he was a first-round selection and has become a top-notch guard in the league.

Letting him walk sends a clear, unmistakable message. The Bengals are not about winning.

For an organization that put its fans through the 1990s and early 2000s, it should be desperate to win. The idea of allowing top, young players to go from draft pick to compensation pick is unacceptable. The Bengals have been famously cheap for years, keeping only select players while rarely bringing in outside help.

It’s impossible to win a championship without superior drafts. Winning starts with drafts and coaching, facilitated by a quarterback and augmented with free agency. Cincinnati has failed to acquire a single high-impact free agent throughout its history, dating back to the advent of NFL player movement in 1993.

The New England Patriots drafted Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Malcolm Butler and Dont’a Hightower, but traded for Martellus Bennett, and signed Chris Hogan, Jabaal Sheard, Chris Long and Danny Amendola. The drafted stars should always outweigh the imports, but there needs to be heft on both sides. Cincinnati has woefully failed in this regard.

After being one-and-done in the Wild Card round five times before missing the postseason entirely in 2016, the Bengals face a crossroads. It’s time to get serious about chasing a Lombardi Trophy, or continue to stack one disappointing year onto the next.

Power rankings

Top 10 coaching matchups in Super Bowl history

1. Super Bowl XIX: Don Shula/Bill Walsh (1984)
2. Super Bowl X and XIII: Chuck Noll/Tom Landry (1975 & ’78)
3. Super Bowl XVII: Don Shula/Joe Gibbs (1982)
4. Super Bowl III: Don Shula/Weeb Ewbank (1968)
5. Super Bowl I: Vince Lombardi/Hank Stram (1966)
6. Super Bowl VIII: Don Shula/Bud Grant (1973)
7.  Super Bowl XLII and XLVI: Bill Belichick/Tom Coughlin (2008 & ’11)
8. Super Bowl XXXIX: Bill Belichick/Andy Reid (2004)
9. Super Bowl XXXI: Mike Holmgren/Bill Parcells (1996)
10. Super Bowl XXVII: Marv Levy/Jimmy Johnson (1992)

Quotable

Predictably, this tweet from the Minnesota Vikings star sent off some shockwaves. Most expect Peterson to be released this offseason, saving Minnesota $19 million in cap space. Should that happen, a host of teams will be going after him, perhaps including the back-needy Giants.

Peterson would be a good fit in the Big Apple, but don’t count out other potential landing spots. The Detroit Lions desperately need a back. How about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Peterson would get warm weather and an ascending team. Stay tuned.

Random stat

Doug Williams made history in 1988, becoming the first black quarterback to start in and win a Super Bowl. Russell Wilson has since joined that elite company, while Donovan McNabb and Cam Newton made appearances but lost.

Info learned this week

1. Tony Romo could see huge market for services

On Thursday, Ed Werder of ESPN reported that Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is expected a release instead of a trade. Should this happen, expect the market for his services to be robust, with teams likely engaging in a bidding war.

Romo will be 37 years old in March and has been injured over the last two years, but he’s prolific when healthy. In this age of quarterback-centric football, Romo is tantalizing for any contender. In addition, Romo would no longer cost a draft pick, and could be signed to a more palatable contract.

The list of interested parties has to begin with contenders. Romo will want to have a shot at winning, making the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans the most-likely destinations. The Buffalo Bills would be on the periphery, but as more of a second-tier option.

On sleeper? The Chicago Bears, who have cap space to burn. Romo played at Eastern Illinois, so going home could have some allure if the contenders don’t pony up.

2. Giants making bevy of moves

The New York Giants are not waiting for March to make decisions on veterans. General manager Jerry Reese released wide receiver Victor Cruz and running back Rashad Jennings, saving $10 million against the cap. New York might need that money with defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul set to hit free agency.

After missing 26 games with a torn patellar tendon in 2014 and 2015, Cruz came back as a third option for the Giants last year. He caught 39 passes but didn’t have explosiveness, making the decision easy for Reese. At 30 years old, Cruz will catch on elsewhere, but likely on an incentive-laden deal.

3. Vince Young wants back in

It was announced this week that former NFL quarterback Vince Young wants back in the league, signing with super-agent Leigh Steinberg. Young, 33, played with the Tennessee Titans before watching his career fizzle, going to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011. He has not played in a game since.

Young might earn a tryout this summer, but even that would be aggressive. At his age, Young would be viewed as nothing more than a safety net. Having been out of the league for so long, it’s unlikely he ever plays another snap.

4. Tackles hitting the market in droves

As teams prepare for the new league year, the cap casualties are starting. Offensive tackles are being cut one after the next, with three big names already on the market. On Wednesday, the New York Jets released Ryan Clady, while the Jacksonville Jaguars moved on from Kelvin Beachum. The following morning, the Miami Dolphins gave Branden Albert his walking papers.

All will find work in the coming weeks and months, although likely on short-term deals. Of the three, Beachum is the most attractive option. He’s the youngest at 27 years old, and before tearing his ACL in 2015, was one of the elite tackles in the NFL.

5. Roddy White lashes out at Kyle Shanahan

Former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White was highly critical of offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan for his play-calling in Super Bowl LI. White stated he would’ve tried to fight the current San Francisco 49ers head coach, blaming him for Atlanta giving up a 25-point lead.

White was a great player, but this is idiotic. The Falcons allowed 31 straight points, something Shanahan had no bearing on. Matt Ryan also took a brutal sack on Atlanta’s penultimate possession, before Jake Matthews was called for holding on the following play. Shanahan deserves his share of blame, but he was merely one man in a comedy of errors.

The Falcons will wear that loss forever. As for White, he was part of blowing a 17-0 lead in the NFC Championship Game to the 49ers back in 2012. Maybe he should have fought himself after that mess.

History lesson

The Los Angeles Rams were trailblazers in helmet art. They were the first with logos on the headgear, applying rams horns in 1948. It was running back Fred Gehrke who painted the horns on each helmet, giving birth to the colorful creations we have today.

The only team without a logo on their helmets are the Cleveland Browns, who briefly experimented with numbers on them in the late 1950s. The Pittsburgh Steelers only a logo on the left side, due to an experiment and a little superstition.

Parting shot

The Oakland Raiders are trying to figure out their eventual relocation to Las Vegas, and it’s been both ugly and clumsy. This disaster, in conjuncture with the San Diego Chargers moving to Los Angeles, should be setting alarm bells at 80 Park Avenue in New York.

Major North American sports have not seen much relocation since 1990. In the last 27 years, the NBA, NHL and MLB have combined for eight moves. The NFL, the most successful and powerful league of all, has six.

There has been far too much jostling for new stadiums to be financed by public dollars, holding cities and fans hostage. It’s been a disgrace to cities such as Cleveland, St. Louis, Houston, San Diego and now Oakland, all dealing with the same nonsense in slightly different situations.

The NFL knows most of these cities can and will support a team. After the Browns moved to Baltimore in 1996 (Baltimore lost its team, the Colts, to Indianapolis back in 1984), Cleveland was awarded the modern-day Browns in 1999. The Houston Oilers left Texas in 1996, only for the league to give it the Texans in 2002. Los Angeles watched the Rams and Raiders leave in 1994, only to regain the Rams in 2016 from St. Louis (which had the Cardinals ripped away for Arizona in 1988).

At some point, commissioner Roger Goodell needs to come up with a new, better strategy for keeping teams in their rightful cities. While some situations can’t be rectified, most can. In these cases, the NFL is left with egg on its face.