This week last year, just before the beginning of free agency, we ranked former defensive tackle John Thornton as the Bengals’ third best free-agent signing of all-time behind only right guard Bobbie Williams and cornerback Terence Newman.
Then two weeks later, Thornton the agent negotiated one of the more remarkable reunions in Bengals history with a four-year deal for right end Michael Johnson that can max out at $24 million after his one-year exile in Tampa Bay.
So who better to take the pulse of free agency then and now, an enterprise with a salary cap of $62 million when the Bengals moved into Paul Brown Stadium in 2000?