The Bungels Tag Rudi.

[Dr. Duran Duran]

I think tagging Rudi was the only option the Bengals had. They haven't seen whether Perry can be the guy in Cincy yet or not and they don't want to spend another pick on a RB. So paying Rudi at that price for 1 year allows them to evaluate Perry and to see whether they need to sign Rudi long term or not. It's not a bad move, it's the only move they can make. As far as the Bengals management, it's been terrible from the time they fired Wyche to the time they hired Lewis. Lewis has done an excellent job and the only criticism i have under his tenure is the drafting of Perry.

I'm forced to agree with chaindog here. It's not a bad move on the Bengals part. They get an opportunity to see if Rudi is worth signing to a long-term deal here with the option to give him the boot at the end of 2005 if things don't work out. Perry never really had a fair shot last season being injured for virtually all of the season, so the Bengals really don't know what they have in Chris Perry. Placing the franchise tag on Rudi for one year will give the Bengals the opportunity they need to evaluate their future at running back without sacrificing a big money contract right away.