Question of the Day: Should the Bengals re-sign tight end Reggie Kelly?
by Josh Kirkendall on Jan 27, 2010 12:13 PM EST
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PrintOne of the unfortunate early storylines during HBO's Hard Knocks (how long ago was that?) was losing Reggie Kelly to a season-ending injury. Soon afterwards, the Bengals lost Ben Utecht to a nasty concussion that eventually forced the Bengals to negotiate an injury settlement, releasing him as a free agent. With Kelly soon to become an unrestricted free agent and Utecht's question if he'll play again, the Bengals, as it stands, have Chase Coffman, Darius Hill and Clark Harris under contract for 2010. Daniel Coats and J.P. Foschi are both restricted free agents and very easily could return.
But as it stands, that's how the Bengals tight end prospects appear right now. Words like bleak, dim, grim, desolate, dreary, gaunt, bare, gloomy, somber, funereal, depressing come to mind.
One of our offseason questions this year is: Will the Bengals bring Reggie Kelly back, who is a leader, great character and lockerroom presence or will they move on with unproven youth? Geoff Hobson writes that the Bengals haven't contacted Kelly's agent, but his agent expects there to be contact at some point. Kelly has played in ten seasons in the NFL, six of them with the Bengals (excluding 2009, obviously). In those six seasons with Cincinnati, Kelly has caught 184 passes for 1,718 yards and five touchdowns.
Your question of the day. If you were the general manager, based on where the team is at and what you know, would you bring Reggie Kelly back?
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Bring him back
I would resign him if he is willing to come back for a small bonus and heavy incentives based on games started, with a team option for more years with higher salary or annual roster bonuses. At his age, coming off that injury, he will have little other interest, so he would be likely to agree.
I would resign him, and get rid of Coats
This year we have had a number of problems with tight ends dropping passes and with thier blocking assignments. Bring back Kelly and get rid of Coats.
by Greener's eyes on Jan 27, 2010 12:38 PM EST reply actions
Please God no more Daniel Coats......
…..I can’t watch another wide open dropped pass from him……
First time I shot her, shot her in the side.
Hard to watch her suffer, but with the second shot she died...
The article said he was a leader and that he had high character. For these reasons I believe the Cincinasti bungles will NOT bring this player back to their clubhouse, er, locker room. What, all the tight ends with rap sheets are unavailable? Don’t worry bungles fans, I’m sure someone with questionable character will show up in the draft.
Someone certainly already has in these comments…
by Todd G on Jan 27, 2010 1:17 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
see, i like foschi.
the dude dropped some easy ones, but he made some really clutch catches down the stretch. plus he blocked well.
Sonny my pitched my wild
Why wouldn't they?
He can’t be asking for much and it’s not like he would be taking a roster spot from anyone except Coats.We either end up with Kelley, Coffman, Foshi or Kelly, Coffman and a rook. He has the experience and leadership that we need.
if he's healthy, Why not?
I would like to see the trainning camp depth chart at TE look something like this.
in no order…
JP Foschi
Reggie Kelley
Chase Coffman
Some Rookie (not a real name)
Darius Hill
"Ghiaciuc's play was a distraction"
I like it
and if Some Rookie turns out to be Tony Moeaki or Jake Ballard, I would like it more.
I really don’t want to see a TE be the first round pick unless it is a guy who can catch, block, and has some wheels to stretch coverage.
by Cedric Benson Boat Party on Jan 27, 2010 3:49 PM EST up reply actions
If they don’t bring him back to play / start, then they should bring him back to help coach / provide depth. Either way, this guy had better be on the sidelines next fall if the front office has any sense whatsoever.
Which they probably don’t.
Absolutely re-sign him if he's healthy.
That way we don’t have to spend a a draft pick on a TE. Kelly, Coffman and Foschi should be a great trio.
If you don't live like you wanna, you live like you shouldn't
a heck of a blocker
don´t forget, as it was mentioned on hard knocks, that he is one of the best block TEs in the league.
besides that he is a leader of a lot of young players… giveseverything to the team. AND is the lockerneighboor of carson and probably his best friend on the team…
so letting him go would not delight palmer…
by tim-from-germany on Jan 27, 2010 4:33 PM EST reply actions
Absolutely
He’s practically an extra tackle that can catch short yardage passes. I’d like to say that not having that outlet hurt Palmer this year, but he hasn’t actually gone through a progression of targets in a couple years, so it’s “in theory” at best.
For what Kelly brings on the field alone he’s certainly worth signing. Throw in what he does in the locker room and on the practice field and it’s a slam dunk.
Ah...the old Sean Casey argument...
that somehow great clubhouse personalities are indispensable, despite mediocre play.
How about this? We were a better team without Reggie(and Thornton) and we ran the ball better without Reggie. Let’s move on and start expecting more out of our tight ends than 300-400 yards a year? Do what you can to draft Gresham in the 1st and also sign a free agent. Wipe the slate clean.
Ah, the halcyon days of slightly-above-average Tony McGee.
mediocre play? you do realize there’s a difference between tight ends and wide receivers, right? Name 4 TEs in the league that are better blockers than Reggie Kelly.
And how many Pro Bowls has he been to? You’ve been told Reggie Kelly is an outstanding blocker, but if we couldn’t run the ball and he had a very minimal role in the passing game, what value great value was he to us? And before you say “Great lockerroom guy!”, he and John Thornton were around during the rash of arrests and Chad Johnson punching a coach at halftime. The team still had shitty chemistry from 2006 on. Call me nuts, but I like to see results on the field, rather than go bananas over a guy because he’s “our guy”. Trust me, Bengals fans love him, but Reggie Kelly has never been considered a top tight end by anyone outside of Cincinnati. Take your homer goggles off and move on.
Pro bowl's are largely political
Does Champ Baily deserve a probowl over Joseph or Hall? Dhani Jones has no chance at a Probowl while he was possibly our team MVP.
I still would sign him, though cheaply or not at all, but I would also bring in a high draft pick (1st 3 rounds).
Political or not, Reggie was never in the discussion. Joseph and Hall legitimately got shafted. While solid year in and year out, I guess Dhani doesn’t have the “Wow” factor to earn that type of recognition. We start making the playoffs on a regular basis and our guys will be in there.
I don’t disagree with any other point in your post. I just don’t see pro-bowls as a true recognition of talent/impact.
I am still on the side of “sign him if it is very cheap and let him compete for time” I also think he would be cheaper than Coats. I also think we should go after Ben Watson before Kelly in Free Agency.
I really really wish
That Bengals management knew how close this team is to contending for a Super Bowl. Spending some money on a TE and another WR would make this team something SERIOUS to deal with.
Knowing Brown’s history, Im sure they will roll out the same undersized WR crew and one of the recycled TE’s on our roster, but I cant help but dream
Ball handling and dribbling are my strongest weaknesses."—David Thompson
Probably not
I’d be much more interested in trying to sign a veteran free agent who’s a little younger and hasn’t had the kind of injury that makes Kelly’s future questionable.
He’s a great blocker, true, but for the most part we achieved the same thing this year with the unbalanced line / Roland lining up as an extra tackle. What we really need is someone who can be a reliable target for passes over the middle, who’s ready to play at the NFL level (as Coffman apparently wasn’t this year).
My preferred depth chart:
1. free agent signing
2. Chase Coffman: keep trying to develop him.
3. J.P. Foschi: the guy earned a spot with his play this year.
This has to be the end of the line for Coats… doesn’t it?
Heck Yeah!
To be honest if Kelly’s knees are healthy the Bengals are in a similar position as at the begining of last season. Smith got some experience this last year, but will still be rather rough around the edges. Give him Kelly’s ability to block and mentor, and I believe he has a better chance of becoming an All Pro Tackle.
Coffman will be better next year with a spring of practicing with the team (he was unable to practice last year) and a better understanding of what is expected of a Pro football tightend.
The question for me is what to do about the third tightend?
Do we draft and develop? Do we trade (possibly with Dallas)? Do we explore free agency? Do we stick with Foschi?
Each of these has plusses and minusses. It will be interesting to see what direction the Bengals’ go.
The money would be better spent on a different player
but Mike Brown will probably just pocket it.
by occams_tiger_teeth on Jan 28, 2010 2:43 PM EST reply actions
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