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Chick Ludwig covers the Cincinnati Bengals. He also writes about his other passions: college football, basketball and golf.Home > Blogs > Chick Ludwig At Large > Archives > 2008 > March > 13 > Entry
Tale of 2 tackles (Stacy & Willie), and parting shots
Cincinnati Bengals offensive lineman Stacy Andrews needs to step forward and have a big 2008 season for the O-line to succeed.
Just as importantly, Andrews needs to sign a long-term contract BEFORE THE APRIL 26-27 NFL DRAFT in order to give the team some cap relief.
As the club’s franchise-tagged player, Andrew is owed a one-year salary of $7.455 million. That’s a paralyzing cap hit to a team still hunting for delicious leftovers at defensive tackle — Larry Tripplett comes to mind — in free agency.
Last season, it was defensive end Justin Smith smothering the club’s offseason plans in the form of an $8.6 million boulder. Now it’s Andrews’ $7.455 million anchor weighing down the Bengals.
“I’m disappointed we haven’t gotten anything done long-term with Stacy,” head coach Marvin Lewis told Bengals beat writers during an informal “State of the Bengals” laid-back, sit-down at the recent NFL Combine in Indianapolis. “This has been an ongoing thing for a couple of years now. In these situations, it’s up to both parties to come together. For whatever reason, we haven’t been able to get this one to come to an end.”
Andrews’ agent, Richard Moran, has his reasons for holding off. He sees his client as a front-line, top-drawer performer at a spot — right tackle — that has emerged as a “skill position.” Naturally, Moran wants to see Andrews get compensated for his ability to step in for Willie Anderson not only last season, but out into the future.
Here’s Andrews’ dilemma: If he signs the one-year tender, he doesn’t start drawing his monster salary until the Monday AFTER the season opener.
If he agrees to a long-term deal in the near future, Andrews will get a hefty signing bonus IMMEDIATELY to go with his cap-friendly base.
The last thing the Bengals want is to go through the same situation again next season with Andrews. Signing Andrews now gives him financial security and helps the team because his 2008 cap number will be far below that $7.455 stranglehold.
If he signs the one-year tender and either gets injured or performs poorly this fall, his value in 2009 plummets.
Andrews and Moran face this decision: Either go to the pay window NOW or roll the dice for LATER and hope that a bigger payday comes next year when he becomes an unrestricted free agent again.
“We’ve been more than fair with him,” Lewis said. “I really feel good about that. A couple years ago when we were facing this with Levi (Jones) and Willie, these guys got signed. It’s up to the player, too, at times to say, ‘OK this is what I want to do. This is where things are.’ It’s not much difference to push forward and get the thing finished because it should be done that way.
“It’s really a maturation that a football team needs to have at times. You can always sit around and possibly make a dollar more somewhere else. But that’s the case you don’t want to go through. So I’m disappointed in that process.”
Bengals fans need to know that, yes, Andrews will be a starter in 2008. Either at right tackle or left guard. I envision right tackle, where he started 11 times in 2007.
“What I’m excited about is we continue to retain Stacy’s services,” Lewis said. “Stacy has done everything we’ve asked of him on the football field and off the football field. We maintain a guy who continues to play at a high level every chance he gets.
“We’ve got to give him every opportunity to start and play,” Lewis added. “We’ve committed ourselves to him to be a starting player. But we’re not going to give him a job. He’s done a pretty good job of earning his spot or else we wouldn’t have put him in the situation that he’s in.”
What does all this mean for Big Willie Anderson? The man I call “Mother Gibraltar” — because he’s as big as the Rock of Gibraltar and he has the leadership of 1979 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mother Teresa — deserves to stay in Cincy as a $3.15 million backup in ‘08.
The Bengals need Big Willie in the locker room to show young players the way and keep the veteran Hollywood egos in check.
Just as Mother Teresa was the “Saint of the Gutters,” Big Willie is a “Saint of the Bengals.”
PARTING SHOTS
Xavier’s 74-65 victory over Dayton in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament was really no surprise. Armed with three wins over the Flyers this season, XU’s program serves as a benchmark—-the kind of program UD is striving to be.
Here’s hoping the NIT committee has a sense of humor and matches the Flyers against the Wright State Raiders in “The Greatest Game Never Played.”
I shudder to think about UD’s chances in the A-10 next season without the services of senior sensation Brian Roberts. Some UD fans think the unthinkable, that the Flyers will actually be better in 2008-09 without Roberts because the team won’t have to rely on him as much.
That’s wishful thinking.
Marcus Johnson performed superbly this season, but he made his living off Brian Roberts’ double-teams. Everybody else did, too.
The Flyers’ show must go on, but BRob is as irreplaceable as they come.
Frank Lickliter II is off to a solid start with a 1-under 69 at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Fla.
Hopefully, Frank won’t fold like last week at the PODS when he finished T-69 (68-73-75-80) and earned $10,653.
The object is to improve each round, not get worse.
Kevin Hoyng and his agent, Ron Todd, will be live in studio at WONE-AM (980) on Friday, March 14, at 7 p.m. “The Chickster” will also be there for all the fun with sports-talk-show host Mark Schlemmer as we discuss Hoyng’s NFL chances.
email cludwig@daytondailynews.com
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Bengals
Comments
By d-town guru
March 14, 2008 12:01 PM | Link to this
I think Roberts success was a product of his help early in the season. Id like to see his stats after Wright and Little went down. Little was never the same all season. I think Perry will step up and with the addition of Benson to help a timid Huelsman, they will compete for a tourney birth once again. This is only the beginning for UD.