Cincinnati Bengals: When it comes to tough choices, don’t count on Mike Brown to make one

Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown might want to win. The problem is he doesn’t seem to have the courage to make the hard choices in order to do so.

It’s hard to know what’s in a sports owner’s heart. I won’t sit here and pretend to understand why Mike Brown makes the choices he makes, or why one choice, A.J. Green is one he won’t. But at some point, it becomes a reasonable question to ask. In 2019, with a clearly undermanned Cincinnati Bengals team, it’s hard to understand the position he too often takes.

Brown may be the single greatest hindrance to the Bengals. In a 26-23 loss at home to the Arizona Cardinals, Cincinnati looked every bit the old and tired team it has long been. Even the addition of rookie head coach Zac Taylor looks to have seen its best days this season. As 2019 wears on, better and deeper talent is likely to be on the opposing sideline more often than not.

For Brown, it just doesn’t seem to bother him. In trading a player like Green, the Bengals benefit. For fans who lament such a scenario, I ask why? As currently constructed, this team with Green in the starting lineup wins how many games? The holes in the Cincinnati roster don’t go away if Green is playing.

The problem for Bengals fans is that Mike Brown is always Mike Brown. He’s an owner perfectly contented to watch his team try with little chance of winning more games than losing.

It’s not just Green. The Bengals are quiet in free agency. He hired a would-be offensive wizard in Taylor but gave him just enough talent to challenge for little more than what fans settle for now. The potential for Taylor and the future is written in the failure of Brown in the past.

Hey, he is who he is.

He’s comfortable being an NFL owner. The problem for fans and players is he’s just not an owner with the courage to be something more, which is why the Bengals won’t be either.