Mark Curnutte

The one-two punch of missing out on Troy Vincent and possibly Bobby Taylor is almost too much for some fans to bear. But word came late Tuesday that the Bengals had rekindled Taylor's interest and were chasing an even bigger fish, Tampa Bay defensive tackle Warren Sapp.

Question, from Mike in Evendale: So much for the Bengals revamping their defense - Vincent spurning the Bengals' offer, being a player who really wanted to come here, just shows that this is the same old Bengals franchise that refuses to spend the money necessary to obtain talented free agents.

The Marvin (Lewis) hiring was just a smokescreen to appease the public. As long as the Brown family nepotism remains, no championship will come to the Queen City.

Q, from John in Mount Washington: Too expensive. Isn't this the same thing we've heard forever with the Bengals? Sad.

Q, from Mike in Edgewood: With losing out on both Taylor and Vincent, have the Bengals proven that they are still too cheap? It has become another offseason where the organization has missed out on proven upper-tier starters and went with "could be" free agents. I love what Marvin has brought to the team, but his name alone cant buy free agents without dollars to back it up.

Q, from David in the West End: Free agent negotiations seem to have stalled. Can it be that Mike Brown is getting involved and screwing things up again?

Answer: It's not known whether the Bengals offered Vincent as much as the Bills - but probably not. But the word among agents is that Vincent was disappointed by how low the offers were across the board.

Jason Medlock, Vincent's agent, said on Monday that the Bengals wanted to pay Taylor like a backup, not a starter. The Bengals changed their approach and possibly their offer on Tuesday, and Taylor is back on the radar screen.

Whatever happens in free agency, Lewis has earned the benefit of the doubt. He has a plan, and he and Bengals vice president Tory Blackburn are said to be at the controls. Lewis has said his goal is to build a consistently winning team without sacrificing the future by back-loading contracts.

So far, the players who have signed and re-signed are keys in the team's fortunes in 2004: Kim Herring will be a starting safety. Nate Webster will start at middle linebacker and should make a difference in the run defense. Center Rich Braham will be invaluable to first-year starting quarterback Carson Palmer, and kicker Shayne Graham has added to the special teams' stability.

If Lewis and the Bengals do somehow manage to bring in either or both Sapp and Taylor, free agency will be viewed as a success this year.

Then there's the draft, where Lewis believes in building his team.

Q, from Erik in Lima: I agree with Marvin Lewis saying he won't overpay for any player. It seems as though everyone who gets a shut-down corner overpays. Corners are mostly overpaid. Someone will always pay what a cornerback wants, no matter how absurd the price. Is it not about time that the Bengals just take a chance and overpay for a proven corner?

Answer: Taylor might end up being that cornerback.

Q, from Fred in New Market, Tenn.: I agree with Marvin Lewis' decision to go with Palmer as the starting quarterback, but I wonder how it has affected our ability to sign top free agents. Everyone wants to go to a winning team. The Bengals will have an inexperienced quarterback and a brutally tough schedule next year. It appears that money was the problem with Vincent and Taylor, but do you think we would have had a better shot of signing them (or others) if Jon Kitna was still the starter.

I know Marvin wanted to announce the starter early, but couldn't he have waited until we signed a couple of studs?

Answer: Maybe the announcement of Palmer as the starting quarterback was an attraction for free agents? Who knows? In any line of work, a boss who is honest with employees is more appealing than a deceitful one.

Lewis said he wanted the decision made so the organization could go forward in attracting the type of players it needed to place around an inexperienced quarterback.

Q, from Doug in Cambridge: Without any competing offers, I think a third-round pick is all we will get for Corey Dillon. I'm fairly pleased with that. Is there a chance any other team might make an offer?

Answer: The only other team mentioned at all is Denver. There might be others, but they have not surfaced. Oakland appears to be the team that wants Dillon most.

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E-mail mcurnutte@enquirer.com

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