So I’m just sitting here, watching a rare occurance of the Reds smacking the life out of a team – and all the sudden.. Bengals safety George Iloka gets cut.
As a shitstorm starts to take place over Twitter and Instagram, I step back and try to look at the logic behind it. And believe it or not, it actually makes some sense.
I won’t say whether this is a good or bad move, because it’s a business move. Why would we cut Iloka?
Money. Money. Money.
That’s right. It’s actually pretty simple, this was a financial move. Bengals need money to re-sign both Geno Atkins AND Carlos Dunlap. In releasing Iloka, the Bengals free up $5.3 million in cap.
Sure, Iloka was a reliable starter for us. He’s a strong safety that was playing free safety, so he wasn’t as productive. Drafting Bates seemed like they’d move back Iloka back to strong safety, and they’d use a 3 safety set. Obviously not the case anymore.
Now, Iloka is a much better strong safety than Shawn Williams, but Iloka saves more cap. This also means they have a lot of trust in rookie Jessie Bates… and you know how Marvin is with rookies. We have to trust that the Bengals wouldn’t make this move unless they have full faith in Bates. So Bates must be ready.
To recap, let’s look at the pros and cons…
Cons:
- Lose a reliable safety
- Lose a good leader in secondary
- Last time he played strong safety, he was above average
Pros:
- Opens up cap to re-sign both Geno Atkins and Dunlap
- Opens up playing time for Jessie Bates
- Means they have rare full trust in a rookie(Jessie Bates)
- We’ll 100% have a true free safety playing free safety
When you look at this move unbiased, it will either pay off or blow up in our faces. Only time will tell. It’s also possible that the Bengals did not think Iloka was worth it, as he has struggled tremendously in the 1st and 2nd preseason games.
It’s a weird thing to type… but I’m going to trust the Bengals on this one.
