The Cincinnati Bengals historically have not been a team to make splashy moves in free agency, by the nature of their ownership. Mike Brown has not been one to open his purse strings easily. But he has taken a different course in recent years, in fact, even beginning before the drafting of Joe Burrow as their quarterback, coinciding with the departure of Marvin Lewis as head coach and the hiring of Zac Taylor.
Whether or not that change had anything to do with his willingness to spend, the Bengals’ first big foray into free-agency spending could have gone a lot better—and their past couple of rounds have done exactly that.