Assessing the Bengals' path after losing Jessie Bates and Vonn Bell
A massive hole on the Bengals’ roster was created Monday afternoon.
The dark day Cincinnati Bengals defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo feared arrived Monday afternoon just a few hours after legal tampering of NFL free agency began.
In a matter of just 65 minutes, Anarumo lost both Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates III, coincidentally both to the NFC South.
Bell took a three-year deal to join the Carolina Panthers, while Bates expectedly jettisoned for the Atlanta Falcons.
The two safeties Anarumo has leaned on for the past three years were out the door, leaving nothing but uncertainty with them.
Cincinnati believed it would lose out on Bates. They tried on several occasions over the past 18 months to extend the former Second-Team All-Pro. Bates was always going to get a better offer on the open market.
Losing Bell, however, was not as foreseeable. The Bengals spent the early hours of legal tampering working on a new deal for the 28-year old defensive back, but Bell opted for the Panthers' three-year, $22.5 million deal with the first two seasons fully guaranteed.
"Vonn and Jessie, they do a lot of things that people don't see," Anarumo said at the NFL Scouting Combine. "You know, they organize meetings on their own. So yeah, I'd rather not think about that dark day."
Well, at least it's already the next day?
The Bengals have plenty of work to do now. They cannot afford to enter the NFL Draft with just Dax Hill locked into a starting safety spot. This was not the plan entering free agency, it won't turn into the course of action now.
There are still valuable safeties remaining on the market who figure to sign a deal similar to what Bell received. Players such as Julian Love, Juan Thornhill, and Taylor Rapp all make sense for the Bengals as they try to pair Hill with a known commodity.
Cincinnati has capitalized on free agency over the past three years, using it as an avenue to fill key roster spots with undervalued players. They'll need to implement the same course of action now.
