Last season, Denver was the latest team to prove that any old Olandis Gary can run well if his line is making big enough creases. And after two seasons of Takeo Spikes- and Brian Simmons-fueled promise, it's past time for the Bengals to do better than last in the league in points allowed.

When Corey Dillon posed on the site of Paul Brown Stadium shortly after groundbreaking in 1998, he figured to be the Bengals' foundation for years to come. (Saed Hindash photo) | ZOOM |

        The Dillon story makes great headlines. But with Dillon, the Bengals can expect to win five or six games; without him, they'll probably win four or five.

        Is Dillon worth that?

        Mike Brown has decided to buff his organization's image by putting gag rules, er, loyalty clauses, in player contracts. For spin control, he hired a former Enquirer football writer to work the team's Web site.

        Brown rewarded Carl Pickens' anti-organizational rants with a five-year deal, then released him for the same reason. Dillon hasn't exactly been the president of the Up with Cincinnati Fan Club.

New year, new image
        The Bengals are desperate to project a new-attitude image. Dillon is strictly old attitude. Yet the Bengals offered Dillon a deal that, with incentives, would give him the $5 million a year he asked for originally. Dillon, for reasons known only to Dillon, rejected it.

        I'm not sure, day to day, what Dillon wants. I'm not sure the Bengals are, either.

        So why persist?

        “We think we're a better team with him,” Brown says.

        Not really. In three years with Dillon, the Bengals are 14-34. In the three years before Dillon, they were 18-30. The Lost Decade pretty much rolled on unabated, whether Dillon was around or not.

        I don't know if Dillon is worth what he wants, or what the Bengals want him to have. What a player is “worth” is the most shallow debate in pro sports. Dillon is worth what someone is willing to pay him. Rhetoric aside, other teams didn't exactly beat down his door.

        Dillon is a ramming-speed runner, who will move the chains on third-and-1. He'd have gotten the yard in Buffalo on Friday that Sedric Shaw did not, in three tries from the Bills' 3. Dillon would be Akili Smith's security blanket. Giving him the money he wants would be perceived as a good-faith gesture from management.

He's no Eddie George
        But Dillon is a below-average blocker and receiver, with a wobbly knee. He isn't fast. He wants Eddie George money. But he's not Eddie George.

        And what of the loyalty clause, or the “Pickens clause,” as Brown calls it? You slap it on other players, then reward Dillon for his free speech to the tune of $4.5 million a year? I guess it all depends on who's doing the speaking.

        If Dillon signed a one-year deal, it wouldn't have a Pickens Clause. He could torch the organization whenever he felt the urge. He could also showcase himself to the rest of the league.

        Dillon doesn't want to play here. Why force him? The Bengals claim to want to build from scratch, with players who want to help with the heavy lifting. Dillon wants the first train out. It would seem both sides want the same thing. Don't they?

        Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at (513) 768-8454.

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