This year we are seeing the big names getting signed, with the Bengals idly sitting by.

The Bills go after Mario Williams, while Cincy goes after losers like Jacob Bell - frustrating!

There were many posts last year lamenting the inactivity of the Bengals during free agency.

But....

....sometimes the best moves are the ones that are not made.

Here is a recap of some of the bigger free agent signings from 2011.

$ is per season

Looking back, i'm very happy that we didn't make some of these moves, which many of us wanted last year.

R Seymour DT...$15.0 mil...29 tackles & 6 sacks (not much for $15 mil)

C Johnson DE...$12.7 mil ...tackles dropped by 34% & sacks dropped by 25%

C Bailey CB...$10.8 mil ...tackles & sacks dropped. 2 int's

S Routt CB...$10.5 mil ...tackles fell. did have 4 int's.

L Woodley LB...$10.3 mil ...39 tackles, that's $264 k per tackle - ouch!

R Edwards DE...$6.0 mil...33 tackles, 3.5 sacks, sacks dropped by over 56%

S Holmes WR...$10.0 mil ...51 rec, 654 yards

D Williams RB...$8.6 mil ...decent season, but only 836 yards rushing

M Lewis TE...$7.0 mil ...receptions dropped to 39, and had 0 TD's

Of course not everybody sucked. T Hali, Asomugah, etc... had good seasons.

But the point being that a lot of the high end free agents (guys equivalent to who are getting signed presently) didn't pan out to be worth the $. So just a little perspective before we decry the season as already lost.