The crew at ESPN (Bill Polian, Louis Riddick, Matt Williamson and Field Yates) applied an offseason grade for each team, heavily weighing free agency and the NFL draft into a comprehensive (though extremely arbitrary) grade. They weren't impressed with the Bengals, giving Cincinnati a "C+".
If you ask Bengals fans or the media, there's a lukewarm feeling about the team's overall production during the offseason -- free agency brought Michael Johnson and Pat Sims home to the Bengals, reunited A.J. Hawk with the state of Ohio and introduced role players, with precarious "bubble" identities, into an offseason roster that's loaded with "win now" talent.