Sunday, December 03, 2000
LeBeau's job rides on today's game
By Mark Curnutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
If the Bengals can find a way not to lose today against Arizona, the near future of the franchise could begin to come into focus this week.
A Cincinnati victory would give Bengals president Mike Brown the reason to do what he wants to do, bring back coach Dick LeBeau.
But a loss would drop Cincinnati to 2-11 and, with three quality opponents remaining after the Cardinals, put the Bengals in a position to have their first 14-loss season.
A finish with eight losses in a row would make it more difficult for Brown to hire LeBeau and further cloud an already challenging offseason.
After missing the playoffs for the 10th year in a row, the Bengals will face these offseason questions: Who is the coach? Who do they pick in the draft? Who are the unrestricted free agents they'll try to keep, let go and hope to sign.
Head coach
LeBeau enters today's game with a 2-7 record since taking over for Bruce Coslet, who resigned Sept. 25.
LeBeau, who has said he would like to return, was asked Monday what is the team's primary offseason need.
“My No. 1 offseason priority is to make Dick LeBeau a better head coach than he was, when he knows darn good and well he's going to be the head coach,” he said. “I think I'm learning every day. I hope I don't have quite as much to learn next year.”
Brown won't discuss whether he's going to rehire LeBeau, but Brown has liked what he has seen from the 63-year-old rookie head coach.
If LeBeau isn't the hire, the favorite to get the job from the current staff is linebackers coach Mark Duffner, who reportedly was offered the job after Coslet quit.
The draft
Cincinnati has had a top-five draft choice in five of the past eight drafts. Next year will make it 6-of-9.
NFL scouts and draft experts say Cincinnati's biggest needs are on the defensive and offensive lines and in the secondary.
Here are some of the possible ways the Bengals could go:
• Leonard Davis, an offensive tackle from Texas, is 6-foot-6 and 365 pounds.
• The top cornerbacks are Gary Baxter of Baylor and Fred Smoot of Mississippi State. One of the Bengals' starting corners, rookie Robert Bean, played alongside Smoot last season in college.
• And with the defensive line getting only six of the Bengals' 20 sacks, the team needs a pass-rushing end. Two of the best DE prospects are Jamal Reynolds of Florida State and Karon Riley of Minnesota.
Free agents
The Bengals have five offensive starters who will be unrestricted free agents.
Most notable among them are running back Corey Dillon, who will command a $10 million bonus to sign and a multi-year deal worth $6-$8 million a season.
Brown has said he wants to resign Dillon and that Dillon has nothing left to prove as one of the league's elite running backs.
The line could be hard hit. Left guard Matt O'Dwyer, left tackle John Jackson and center Rich Braham all are free agents.
O'Dwyer, who made $1 million this season, suffered a season-ending broken ankle in New England. Jackson is 35, but his play has been more consistent than Rod Jones', who was makes $3 million.
Brown likes Jackson and would like to bring him back, but Jackson will want considerably more than he's getting this season. Braham, who's recovering from knee surgery, makes an estimated $2 million and, like O'Dwyer, could be a salary move.
Cener Brock Gutierrez, who started seven games, would come cheaper than Braham.
The team's other unrestricted free agents are quarterback Scott Mitchell, who looks like a lock to return because Brown wants him to compete with Akili Smith, defensive end Michael Bankston, tight end Steve Bush and linebacker Billy Granville.
The Bengals have indicated their top priorities are Dillon, Mitchell and Jackson.
But the Bengals have the most salary-cap money available of any team for 2001, say several NFL management sources. Based on this year's cap figure of $62.2 million, and figuring the cap will rise by a few million dollars, the Bengals should be an estimated $16 million under the cap next season.
There are some good players available as free agents at positions where the Bengals are weakest. Among them are wide receiver Eric Moulds of Buffalo, offensive tackle Bob Whitfield of Atlanta, defensive end Kevin Carter of St. Louis, defensive tackle Mark Smith of Arizona and his Cardinals' teammate, cornerback Aeneas Williams.
But 10 years of constant losing has affixed a stigma to Cincinnati for free agents. The Bengals have not been successful signing big-name free agents -- they wanted both linebacker Kevin Greene and defensive back Rod Woodson -- and have only one Pro Bowler out of their 29 signees since free agency began in 1993. That player was cornerback Ashley Ambrose in 1996.
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LeBeau's job rides on today's game