Bengals Talk Up Their Compensatory Picks

The Cincinnati Bengals have issued a press release boasting about their compensatory draft picks. Titled “Bengals’ Four Compensatory Picks Hold Potential for High Value,” the Bengals point out that they’ve recently used compensatory selections to secure safety Chinedum Ndukwe with a seventh-round pick in 2007 and receiver Andre Caldwell as a third-round pick in 2008. But this is a door that the Bengals shouldn’t open, in our view. For starters, the only reason that they have compensatory picks is because they choose not to pay the draft picks and veterans who have performed well for them, and likewise to spend limited amounts on other people’s free agents. Indeed, this year’s crop of four compensatory picks (a third-rounder, a sixth-rounder, and two in the seventh) comes from the fact that the Bengals lost via free agency in 2008 the following players: Landon Johnson, Bryan Robinson, Justin Smith, Alex Stepanovich, and Madieu Williams. The Bengals replaced that five-man exodus by signing only Antwan Odom. So, in this case, cheapness equals more draft picks. Yippee? Also, the Bengals shouldn’t boast about their periodic hits via the draft, because they have had more than their fair share of misses over the years, too.