Monday, April 1, 2002

Bledsoe bound for Bengals?

It makes no sense for the QB to nix a deal that would send him to Cincinnati

By Keith Schleiden, Managing editor

In the NFL, lying is an accepted practice. It’s in a team’s best interest to play things close to the vest, and if that means speaking the occasional mistruth, so be it. It happens all the time, whether it be around draft time or in contract negotiations or in trade talks.

The last of which is what I’m about to focus on. There has been a lot of talk in New England recently about the future of Drew Bledsoe, who played the role of good soldier as the Patriots marched to a Super Bowl title. Will he be traded now that Tom Brady has proved he can win at this level? Will he be cut so that the Patriots don’t have a multimillion-dollar backup? Will he be retained on the roster and be given a chance to compete for the starting job in training camp?

Belichick isn’t saying. The head coach has said the situation will play itself out. He has said it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to have both Brady and Bledsoe back next season, and that the team could handle that from a salary-cap standpoint.

The smart money, though, is that Bledsoe will be traded in the next few weeks. If I were a betting man, I would wager a C-note that a deal will be worked out before the April 20-21 draft.

Where is Bledsoe heading? Two teams that have been prominently mentioned as potential Bledsoe suitors are the Bills and the Bengals. There are a couple of minor problems with those teams landing the veteran quarterback, though. First, even after realignment, the Bills remain in the same division as the Patriots. In the NFL, there’s a nearly universal rule that you don’t make deals within the division. The reason I say "nearly universal" is that sometimes, especially in the case of the Patriots, that rule gets tossed. While there haven’t been straight-up trades involving the Patriots within the AFC East, there is a history of sending draft choices to division mates. The Patriots had to give the Jets compensation when they hired Belichick. The Jets had to give the Patriots compensation when they hired Bill Parcells and signed RB Curtis Martin as a restricted free agent. Still, the conventional wisdom suggests that Belichick would balk at sending Bledsoe, who has a bit of a chip on his shoulder, to a team that the head coach has to face twice a year.

That leaves the QB-challenged Bengals. But the problem here is that Bledsoe reportedly told his agent to let the folks in Cincinnati know that he isn’t interested in donning a tiger-striped helmet in 2002. The reason I say "reportedly" is because I don’t think that is entirely accurate. From what I’ve heard, Bledsoe has been interested in seeing all of his options. He wanted his agent to cool the Bengals’ talk so that a deal didn’t get done too quickly. He wanted to bide his time and see if a better option comes along. However, if nothing materializes, Bledsoe would likely accept a trade to Cincinnati.

And that’s the move that makes the most sense. The Bengals are an ascending, young team. Many people — myself included — believe that the Bengals are just a quarterback away from being a playoff team that could make some postseason waves next season. Cincinnati features a decent defense that could be on the verge of getting much better. It ranked ninth overall last season. The Bengals have a pretty good offensive line, which allowed just 28 sacks last season, something that should interest Bledsoe. With young receivers like Peter Warrick and Chad Johnson, along with proven veteran Darnay Scott, the Bengals have some talented pass catchers. And then there is the presence of Corey Dillon, who is capable of being a monster running back. If the Bengals could just develop a passing attack, Dillon would be even more dangerous.

It makes perfect sense, Bledsoe in Cincinnati. In time, I’m sure he will see it, too.

Just think, if the Patriots could win it all last season, why couldn’t the Bengals do so in 2002? They could — if they get Bledsoe.

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