Bengals defense vs. Bears, Colts defenses

MIAMI -- Studying defenses the likes of the Bears' and Colts' and comparing them to the Bengals, one major point stands out: The Bengals do not have a difference maker that offenses have to account for on every play.

There's no Brian Urlacher, the Bears middle linebacker. There's not even any Bob Sanders, Indianapolis' hard-hitting safety.

So the question becomes do the Bengals re-sign free agent defensive end Justin Smith? Why? They haven't done much with him in six seasons, one playoff game, one playoff loss, a defense that could never match its No. 9 ranking of Smith's rookie season in 2001.

So you look around at defensive free agents the likes of Bears outside linebacker Lance Briggs, Baltimore free agent end/linebacker Adalius Thomas or New England cornerback Asanti Samuel. Samuel might be the single best player in free agency this year. He doesn't want to re-sign with the Patriots. He could come in and fit any system. The Bengals might want to consider breaking the bank to sign the best cornerback of this class.

Never mind the excuses leaking out of the Bengals' front office onto various Web sites that they don't have the money or salary cap space to re-sign Smith or go after an A-list free agent. They have plenty of both. What might be lacking is the will. I get a message through the Bengals PR staff once in a while that the front office is unhappy with and thinks my analysis of their cap room is inaccurate. Yet they are reluctant to offer any proof that I can print.

The Bengals could do whatever they want to financially. If I were a fan of the Bengals, I wouldn't be happy with their efforts in free agency. They keep signing players who have little impact or are four, five or six years past the point when they could have made a big difference.

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis likes to talk about how a defense plays with 11 players. OK. So did the Baltimore defenses he coordinated. But he had 11 great players when the Ravens won the Super Bowl, including safety Rod Woodson, a younger and more mobile Sam Adams at defensive tackle and Ray Lewis in his prime as an inside linebacker.