s Cheap Tracy Walker Jersey from liuyt's blog

The Cincinnati Bengals firmly put the negative “Bungles” past of the 1990s through early-2000s behind them under the leadership of Marvin Lewis. The franchise not only began to experience some success, but was considered by many to be one of the league’s most talented teams during a good portion of this decade.

After a 4-12 season in 2010, the Bengals all of a sudden embarked upon a streak of five-straight seasons reaching the playoffs. Those campaigns all ended earlier than hoped (0-5 in those Wild Card contests), but it could be argued that most of those results could easily have turned the other way with slightly different circumstances.

Going into 2016, it seemed the team would likely return to the playoffs again, but instead dropped off in multiple areas to fall to 6-9-1. Looking back, that fall shouldn’t be as surprising, however. And the factors which played a part in that dip in the standings could prove to be even more impactful in 2017.

Combine them with other factors occurring since the end of last season Authentic Breeland Speaks Jersey , and there is a sizeable list of reasons that indicate those 2016 struggles could be more that just a one-season blip. Let’s take a look at five of the biggest reasons why the Cincinnati Bengals will continue to falter.

Feb 5, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Mohamed Sanu (12) against the New England Patriots during Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Philosophically, Cincinnati shares common ground with a team like the Green Bay Packers. Each of these teams mainly builds the talent of their teams through the draft and are reluctant to spend money on players they did not develop themselves.

This can be a successful plan — Cincinnati did make the playoffs in six of the seven years prior to 2016, and Green Bay hasn’t missed the postseason since 2008. But a problem inherent to this model is what happens when those players you draft don’t develop as quickly or as well as planned. If they don’t develop to be as good as you hope when you need them to http://www.newenglandpatriotsteamonline.com/jason-mccourty-jersey , your team suffers, and usually your record will follow suit.

• 2017 NFL Draft: Debating The Top 5 Overall Picks18m ago
• Washington Redskins: Christian McCaffrey Would Be Good Pick At No. 1742m ago
• Miami Dolphins: 4 Positions To Still Target In Free Agency1 h ago
• Buffalo Bills: Should They Trade Down In 2017 NFL Draft?1 h ago
• Seattle Seahawks: 3 Defensive Tackle Targets In 2017 NFL Draft1 h ago

More damaging than simply not developing, though, is when a team allows talent to leave. Often this is somewhat inevitable. You cannot keep everyone, especially when realizing just how much more players cost on second contracts compared to the price tag on rookies. Even considering that issue, what has happened with the Bengals in recent years has been more damaging than in the average situation.

Going back through recent offseasons, we can see numerous key players for this team which have been allowed to leave in free agency. After the 2014 season, Terence Newman and Jermaine Gresham left for Minnesota and Arizona http://www.seattleseahawksteamonline.com/barkevious-mingo-jersey , respectively. With that, Cincinnati lost one of their better corners and decent insurance for Tyler Eifert’s injury issues (which were already showing up back then). Post-2015 saw Leon Hall, Reggie Nelson, Marvin Jones, and Mohamed Sanu leave. That took another two solid veteran performers from the secondary, as well as massively depleting the talented weaponry of the offense.

In a vacuum, each of those moves makes sense. Many of those players were either aging or set for high-market contracts (if not both). In multiple instances, the team also had drafted players to eventually take over. But this is a team that tends to have plenty of money to burn on their cap due to the lack of big-money outside signings.

Strategically Authentic Marquez Valdes-Scantling Jersey , what is the point of keeping that money if they never really push up on the cap? Outside of being excessively frugal, there isn’t much of one. Even considering their meager spendings in free agency and extensions for players they do keep long-term, there has consistently been enough to fit in at least one of these key players each season without crippling their future. What’s worse, in many cases those moves have failed to prevent a notable drop-off in production.

Granted, it should be noted that many of these players did go on to perform at lower levels elsewhere. Again, in a vacuum, most are pro.