The Bengals are looking at Drew Bledsoe, which is interesting. Rules prevent them from saying anything about him, such as, “If we get Bledsoe, we might have that breakout 7-9 season we've been waiting for.” But they are looking.

        Mike Brown loves quarterbacks. Brown looks for QBs the way ants seek picnics. Ironic, then, that when it comes to quarterbacks, the Bengals have wandered the desert for a decade, hunting the Lost Dutchman Mine.

        In perpetually seeking a star, Brown has acquired a generation of backups: Don Hollas, Jeff Blake, Scott Mitchell, Jon Kitna. Bledsoe would not be that. He might be a large-target, stationary, Ahab-man needing a SWAT team playing left tackle. But he's a legit star. Trading for Bledsoe would bring the Bengals credibility they've lacked since Paul Brown Ickey-Shuffled at the Super Bowl.

        It might persuade other big, fast, rich guys to consider playing here. Because at the moment, in the NFL's peculiar mating dance between teams and unattached players, the Bengals are the skinny, loner kid holding up the gym wall, staring at his shoes. The Bengals claim they're improving. In the free agent game, they're still leading the You Gotta Be Kidding Me division.

        Good free agents play the Bengals for leverage elsewhere. Average free agents like the attention and the free food and lodging they get when they visit. Older, last-leg guys see the Bengals as Sunnyvale Rest Home for millionaires, one last stop on the money train.

Instant credibility

               Bledsoe is not a free agent. But everyone knows he won't be a Patriot much longer. There are teams — the Bears, Washington — that might be more attractive. Bledsoe might have veto power as part of the 10-year, $103 million deal he signed after last season. His agent, David Dunn, couldn't be reached Friday.

The Patriots' Drew Bledsoe might be lookin' for a job soon. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        It's a long shot, but one worth taking. Cincinnati could get a strong arm and instant credibility. All it would cost would be a star linebacker it probably would lose after next year, anyway.

        Takeo Spikes and Brian Simmons can walk after next fall. One probably will be franchised. The other will make a pile of money somewhere else. Trade one now, while you still can.

        Would Mike Brown do it? He'll spend $3.5 million on Kitna and Akili Smith next year. Could he stomach a third high-priced quarterback?

        Smith's contract has Brown around the neck. If the Bengals cut Smith, they'd owe $1.54 million against next year's salary cap, and nearly $5 million in 2003. They won't cut him. And given that Smith has flopped to this point, they can't trade him. And who'd want Kitna?

        The last time the Bengals acquired a very good player in his prime was ... was ... James Brooks, I think. In 1984.

Go ahead, be bold

               You wonder, too, if Cincinnati's public pursuit of Bledsoe isn't just a ploy to keep fans from leaping off the ticketwagon. We don't want to be cynical when it comes to the Cincinnati Bengals, but really ... what else is there?

        The Bengals also might make a run at free agent Trent Dilfer. But Dilfer would not move the turnstiles or gloss the team's image the way Bledsoe would. Brown might claim Bledsoe's cap number — $5million next fall — would prevent him from re-signing Artrell Hawkins and Reinard Wilson. But really, so what?

        It would a be a bold move, trading for Drew Bledsoe. The Bengals aren't known for those. Maybe it's time they were. The alternative hasn't exactly worked.

        Contact Paul Daugherty at 768-8454; fax: 768-8550; e-mail: pdaugherty@enquirer.com.

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