FanHouse Justin Smith

Although the Titans and the Bengals cleaned up more than anyone else when the NFL announced their compensatory picks for next month's draft, the Patriots are the team that appear set to dominate the draft.

New England already had nine picks, including two extra second-round picks picked up in trades. They added an extra third rounder, an extra fifth and an extra sixth after losing Asante Samuel, Donte Stallworth and Randall Gay. While they can't trade the compensatory picks, New England has the trade ammunition now to move up or down to target whatever players they want.

The Titans and Bengals were the only two teams to land four compensatory picks. Tennessee picked up a fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh while Cincinnati received a third, sixth and two sevenths.

The NFL has never released the formula that it uses to determine compensatory picks, but it hs something to do with the player's new salary, how much he plays and his productivity. In the case of Pro Bowlers like Samuel that makes a lot of sense, but it doesn't explain how solid but unspectacular Justin Smith (who the Bengals lost) also was worth a third-round pick.

With each pick of the FanHouse mock draft, we get into the head of an NFL general manager and let you know who he'll pick and why.

Well, it has been a very interesting offseason for the Cincinnati Bengals. The team has had to deal with Chad Johnson's nonsense, they've cut Chris Henry after an arrest for assault and last night, word came out that Domata Peko and Chris Perry were involved in trashing a nightclub. Needless to say, Cincy needs something to feel good about right now.

Sedrick Ellis is a guy they can feel good about. He's one of those rare guys that is a playmaker at the defensive tackle spot. He's also a prime guy to play the nose guard position if Cincinnati does decide to transition to a 3-4 defense.

Ellis brings something that the Bengals don't have ... a pass rushing defensive tackle. This alone will help the entire defense so much. Sure, the defense isn't very good, but they are talented and very, very young. Adding a guy who can get pressure up the middle helps the coverage teams and makes the secondaries job so much easier (the Bengals were starting three rookies and a 2nd-year guy in the secondary at the end of last year).

All Friday afternoon there was glee over the Bengals acquiring Shaun Rogers from the Lions for a 3rd and 5th round pick. I live in the 'Nati area and fans were shocked ... completely shocked ... that the team did anything this drastic to improve the roster. Sure, it is only Shaun Rogers, but that was quite a move for a team that really takes the word "free" in "free agency" to heart.

Of course, a few hours later came word that the trade was voided by the league and that Rogers would be sent to the rival Cleveland Browns. Ouch! Not only did the trade not go through, but he got dealt inside the division.

It is par for the course in Cincinnati. It has been about 24 hours later and no one in the Bengals organization has said much of anything about any of this. Local radio host Lance McAlister was a little bent about the silence from the organization:

A Bengals trade dominates the airwaves Friday...and has the fanbase excited. Then it all falls apart and the player goes to a division rival. Fans wonder. Fans fume. Fans blame the Bengals for botching it. It's noon Saturday and the Bengals have yet to say anything? Hey Bengals, way to get out in front of the story and frame it to your advantage. Typical.

No one knows what in the world happened to screw up the deal. Something about wording in the deal and salary cap or something. Cincy has a ton of salary cap room ... so this makes no sense.

A word of advice: don't trust San Francisco 49ers general manager Scot McCloughlan. Here's Scot two days ago, hours before the free agency free-for-all broke out (via the Sacramento Bee's Matthew Barrows):

Just got off a pre-free agency conference call with Scot McCloughan, who began the session by managing expectations. The 49ers, of course, made a huge splash last year with the first-day signing of Nate Clements, Michael Lewis and Aubrayo Franklin. McCloughan seemed to suggest that this year won't be as flashy. "We want to do most of our damage through the draft," McCloughan said.

Hmm, let's see: in the last 48 hours the 49ers have signed Isaac Bruce, allegedly tampered with and then signed Justin Smith, and re-signed defensive lineman Isaac Sopoaga. So, yeah, it's not like the first days of the 2007 free-agency season, but I wouldn't exactly call it slow either.

Whether McCloughlan was smokescreening or Barrows just misinterpreted his remarks, the point's the same: for the second consecutive off-season, San Francisco has been pretty active in free agency (maybe McCloughlan meant things would quiet down in 2009).

The San Francisco 49ers have signed defensive end Justin Smith to a six-year, $45 million contract with $20 million guaranteed, several media outlets are reporting.

Smith is a good, reliable player who has started every game of the last six years for the Cincinnati Bengals. But there are questions remaining about whether he's the right fit in 49ers coach Mike Nolan's 3-4 defense. He has spent his entire career as a 4-3 defensive end.

There are also questions remaining about whether Smith has lost a step. He's coming off a two-sack season, by far his least productive year in the NFL. Smith will turn 29 in September and may no longer be in his athletic prime.

And finally, there are the questions about whether the 49ers tampered with Smith. Considering how quickly this deal got done, and how much talk there was that Smith would join the 49ers before free agency started, it stands to reason that the 49ers might have been talking to Smith before they were allowed to. Of course, the NFL never does anything about it when teams break the tampering rules.

Last week FanHouse's Josh Alper wrote that the 49ers were being accused of tampering with Bears linebacker Lance Briggs. And now the 49ers may have done it again.

The Bengals' official web site is carrying an item (via PFT) that quotes an unnamed source saying the 49ers and Bengals defensive end Justin Smith are close to a contract agreement and were "working on the deal last night." That, of course, would be tampering, as Smith is under contract to the Bengals for another four days.

The NFL almost always looks the other way at such violations of the tampering rules and almost certainly will again in this case. But if the 49ers and Smith come to an agreement at the end of this week, there won't be much doubt that they broke the rules.

There will be doubt about one thing: What position does Smith play in coach Mike Nolan's 3-4 defense? Smith is a classic 4-3 defensive end, but the report says, "Nolan is going to make Smith a 3-4 end, as well as drop him in coverage." That doesn't sound to me like the best use of Smith's skill set.

The fact that the Bengals have franchised offensive lineman Stacy Andrews instead of defensive end Justin Smith is telling. It sends the message that long term, Cincinnati thinks Andrews has more upside than Smith (assuming, of course, that the team can sign Andrews to a new deal). Even though there's a chance Andrews might not start next season.

The Cincinnati Enquirer's Mark Curnutte writes that if tackles Willie Anderson and Levi Jones are healthy there's a chance Andrews could be the offensive line's sixth man. And apparently, Andrews is cool with that.

I'm not worried about that at all," Andrews said ... "They have something in store for me, whether it's at guard or tackle. Whatever is going to help the team I'll do."

I suspect making $7.5 million next year makes it a little easier to be a backup, although I'd be surprised if the Bengals don't find a way to get him on the field.

And while I can't recall a team franchising a guy who wasn't guaranteed a starting job, this news has to make soon-to-be free agents Alan Faneca and Max Starks pretty happy. With Andrews and Carolina's Jordan Gross now off the market, their prices just went up. Even though I'm pretty sure their games didn't improve over the last week. Yea, capitalism.

Earlier today I mentioned that the Bengals had plenty of personnel housekeeping to take care of before heading to Indianapolis for the NFL Combine. In addition to deciding on restricted free-agent tenders for a handful of players, the club would need to choose whether to franchise defensive end Justin Smith or offensive lineman Stacy Andrews.

Well, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer's Mark Curnutte, Andrews is the big winner. Which means he's get a one-year deal worth $7.5 million. or the average of the top five offensive lineman salaries last season. This is obviously good news for Carson Palmer, who was sacked just 17 times in 2007, second only to the Saints' Drew Brees.

The news could be less rosy for the Bengals' defense, however. A unit that has ranked in the bottom half of the league against the run and the pass in each of Marvin Lewis' five seasons, could continue to struggle in both areas if the team doesn't re-sign Smith.

Or maybe the Bengals think that Andrews is more important to its long-term future than Smith, who has been inconsistent during his seven-year career. The former first round pick had just two sacks in 2007, the lowest total of his career.

If Smith leaves for free agency, he shouldn't have any trouble finding work; defensive ends are forever in demand, even underachieving ones.

The NFL Combine starts on Thursday and the Bengals have plenty to take care of before heading to Indianapolis to scout college players for the upcoming draft. For starters, the team must decide whether to slap the franchise tag on defensive end Justin Smith or offensive lineman Stacey Andrews.

Cincinnati will also need to designate tenders to a handful of restricted free agents. And once the combine begins, the Bengals will be looking to fill needs on both sides of the ball.

Coach Marvin Lewis described the Bengals' primary offseason areas of need as the defensive line, offensive line and running back. Smith and Andrews, eligible for unrestricted free agency Feb. 29, are key players in those areas.

"We have to take a hard look at rushers on defense," Lewis said. "That has to be a priority. You've got to be able to affect the football game by knocking the quarterback around and pressuring the quarterback."

The Bengals managed just 22 sacks last season (by comparison, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was sacked 47 times all by himself), and as has been the case since Lewis was hired five years ago, the run defense could stand to get better.

Adding a big-play tight end is also on the to-do list, but it'll probably come through the draft. Which means Alge Crumpler is likely destined for Seattle or Tampa Bay ... or anywhere but Cincinnati.

It looks like Bengals' defensive end Justin Smith is headed for free agency. Cincinnati franchised their fourth-overall selection of the 2001 draft last season -- at a cost of $8.6 million -- but doesn't seem likely to do so again. For starters, that's a lot of money to devote to one position, particularly when the Bengals' defense has plenty of holes.

So now the question becomes: where will Smith sign this off-season? The Dayton Daily News' Carlos Holmes thinks the Steelers could be a potential destination:

Smith would draw some interest on the open market and the one team who could come calling is Pittsburgh Steelers. I'm told that Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau is a big fan of Smith and has always thought that he would be a better pass-rusher in a 3-4 defense which they run in Blitzburgh.

I'm not surprised LeBeau's a fan -- he drafted the guy -- but I'm pretty certain it still ain't happening. First, Smith is going to want to be paid like one of the league's best defensive ends. Second, the Steelers don't need a starter along the defensive line; they need depth.