Who Stays and Who Goes for Who Dey – Part V

We just finished Valentine’s Day, and love is still in the air. When your favorite pro football team has free agents who may be staying or leaving, the question invariably comes up … how much do you love them?

That’s the question the Cincinnati Bengals organization is asking itself. We’ve already discussed names like Andrew Whitworth and Dre Kirkpatrick and how we think Cincinnati will try to hold onto them tightly. Others on the free agent list, though, may get the ‘just-friend’ treatment come contract time.

Here are the next two guys on the Cincinnati Bengals’ free agency block. Is Cincy ever gonna give them up, or ever gonna let them down?

10. Rex Burkhead (running back) – Burkhead was a 2013 6th-round draft choice out of Nebraska. He logged, by far, the most activity of his 3-year Cincinnati career in 2016 with 74 rushes for 344 yards and 2 rushing TDs. Add to that 17 receptions for 145 yards. Burkhead runs hard and plays hard. The question isn’t whether he’s capable (he is), but whether the Cincinnati Bengals have someone better, or can get them in a running-back rich NFL draft. Since the team still has Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill under contract (and more money invested there), we doubt they bring Rex back. But he’ll land somewhere, get a nice raise, and make the most of the opportunity. Re-sign (yep or nope): Nope

11. Chykie Brown (cornerback) – Brown spent his first 3.5 seasons in Baltimore and had a cameo appearance for the New York Giants before suiting up for Cincinnati in 2016. This 5th-round pick out of Texas was only active for 5 games for the Bengals and made 2 tackles. Not head-turning numbers, but with the possibility of losing Dre Kirkpatrick to another team and Adam Jones to the prison shower room (don’t drop the soap), the Bengals might want to have some depth on their roster, at least for this year.  Re-sign (yep or nope): Yep