A Fun Time to be a Bengals Fan

I know that title seems oxymoronic, but it's true.  The old Bungals have really turned the corner as of late and are acting and performing like a legit NFL team (in the 1990's they had a difficult time acting like a legit NCAA division II team!).

Yesterday they came to terms with their first round pick, TE Tyler Eifert, who will figure prominently in offensive coordinator Jay Gruden's offense this season.  Even more importantly, he'll give the Bengals an effective underneath target to help out promising (and frustrating) quarter Andy Dalton, who does not have great arm strength, so having another play maker on underneath routes is vital.

Before the new NFL rookie wage scale came in to play, signing first round picks was horrendous.  Eifer signed for four years and just under 9 million.  Gone, rightfully so, are the days of top five picks signing multi-year deals worth tens of millions of dollars.  That money was almost always wasted (just look at all the wasted money Cincy dumped into contracts for Ka Jana Carter and Akili Smith).

So the Bengals are heading into training camp with all their rookies signed.  This is great because three are expected to contribute right away (TE Eifert, RB Giovanni Bernard, and SS Shawn Williams).

In addition to signing their top pick, they also managed to sign one of the stars on their defensive line.  The Bengals have three superstars on their defensive line: DE Michael Johnson (who received their franchise tag this season and will make a nice 11 million), DE Carlos Dunlap (entering his final year of his contract), and all world DT Geno Atkins (also entering his final year).

It was vital for the Bengals to sign one of those before the season.  Dunlap made the most sense because he's younger than Johnson, and this still gives them time to sign Johnson to a contract during the year (though it's unlike to happen.  That's why they draft Margus Hunt in the second round this year).

So if they lose Johnson after the season, they at least have Dunlap signed and can franchise Atkins (though they would rather sign him to a long-term deal, but he'll be one of the top three highest paid defensive players in the league).

With training camp a few days away, the Bengals won't have to worry about contract issues with Hard Knocks coming to town to cover them for HBO.  In 2009, one main story line was how Andre Smith was the last rookie to sign that year.

But that season was the end of the old Bungals franchise.