When the Bengals and Darqueze Dennard essentially parted ways this week in free agency -- which I documented in Sunday's Bengals Xtra -- it marked the end of an era. An era the organization would rather forget.

The 2014 and ’15 draft classes can officially be put to rest and called what they were: A disaster that set the franchise back years.

Of the 17 players selected over those two seasons, only tight end C.J. Uzomah managed to score a second contract from the Bengals.

For many teams across the league not finding long-term success in the draft would be one piece of an equation of roster success or failure. The draft, develop and retain Bengals who for the most part stay out of free agency can’t afford years like these.

I wrote about this at the end of the 2017 season. This concept being that draft classes can build up and tear down playoff windows. The 2014 and '15 classes tore down the Bengals run of five straight playoff berths. Their hope is the 2016-18 classes which showed quality early returns are the window this team is stepping through right now.

Here's a reminder of the full drafts

2014

1. Darqueze Dennard

2. Jeremy Hill

3. Will Clarke

4. Russell Bodine

5. AJ McCarron

6. Marquis Flowers

7. James Wright

7b. Lavelle Westbrooks

2015

1. Cedric Ogbuehi

2. Jake Fisher

3. Tyler Kroft

3b. Paul Dawson

4. Josh Shaw

4b. Marcus Hardison

5. C.J. Uzomah

6. Derron Smith

7. Mario Alford

Considering Uzomah was the only from the class to survive with a second deal, I wanted to look around at the rest of the league during that same time period. How rare is that? What are the comps?

Here's what it showed. This is actually a fairly common occurrence in the fleeting NFL.

Of the 512 players drafted in 2014-15, only 71 signed a second contract with the team that selected them (as of Saturday). That's 14 percent.

Ten teams retained one or zero players from those draft classes, the Bengals included.

The most was a tie between Atlanta and Minnesota with five.

Think about that number for a second while we take a trip down memory lane.

From 2011-13, the Bengals handed second contracts to nine of 28 draft picks. That is 34 percent hit rate over that time span, more than double the league average.

And that doesn't include names like Marvin Jones, Mohamed Sanu, Kevin Zeitler and Rex Burkhead, who inked notable deals elsewhere.

The NFL works like that. Finding two players worth giving big second contracts then convincing them to stay is a hell of a draft. You can see a line of second contracts likely coming from the current crop.

2016: William Jackson III and Tyler Boyd, for sure. Maybe Nick Vigil.

William Jackson III and Tyler Boyd, for sure. Maybe Nick Vigil. 2017: Joe Mixon and Carl Lawson top the list. Ryan Glasgow a sleeper, as well.

Bad drafts happen to everyone, the timing of these two just stick out considering what happened around them. Hard not to feel beat over the head by those drafts last week as free agency unfolded.

Signed Bobby Hart one year after trading for Cordy Glenn, while Cedric Ogbuehi takes a life raft from the Jags and Jake Fisher tries to play tight end. We hear about how Dennard wasn't good enough and never lived up to his outside corner potential.

Third-round pick Tyler Kroft landed in Buffalo, but was beat out here by fifth-rounder Uzomah.

But hey, Derron Smith had a pick-6 in the AAF! And maybe somewhere Paul Dawson showed up to a thing on time. Maybe.

This free agency period officially ushers out the 2015 draft and the Bengals are now mostly comprised of a more promising collection of recent draft picks. Or so they hope.

THE WEEK AHEAD

The second wave of free agency continues. The Bengals could still make a few moves, but after a busy weekend inking John Miller and Tyler Eifert, we'll see how many more they have left in the tank.

Otherwise, the league is mostly on the Pro Day tour. Coaches and scouts will be out and about this week getting up close and personal with potential picks. Notable schools will be Alabama on Tuesday then on Wednesday, Ohio State, Notre Dame and Georgia. Josh Allen and Kentucky round out the list on Friday.

TWITTER QUESTION OF THE DAY

All five contracts players signed with the Bengals -- prior to Eifert's one-year deal on Saturday -- were three-year contracts. All with different structure, of course, but it did lead to a few questions like this one. And thanks for asking, Christian.

The truth is the three-year thing has nothing to do with the Bengals front office or any grand plan of any sort. Most of it comes from the NFLPA side of things. There's a stress on signing shorter contracts. You are seeing more of that across the league and it was the case here. A potential lockout following the 2020 season is always looming as part of the reason the union is pushing for certain philosophies.

ICYMI

BX this week on how the Bengals moved from Dennard to BW Webb. Looking at the behind the scenes of what was offered and how this turned into a game of chicken where the cars crash.

Tyler Eifert is back. Once more unto the breach.

A closer look at your new starting right guard John Miller.

Keep track of all the signings in our free agency tracker.

THROWBACK PHOTO

With Eifert's return, I'll drop in this photo from his draft day in 2013. I remember thinking that day, how many buttons is too many left unbuttoned for a draft presser. Tyler was toeing the line.

AROUND THE DIVISION

Steelers: Pittsburgh continues to try and replace Ryan Shazier. Looks like the latest effort comes in signing Mark Barron.

Browns: You might have heard they had a big week. Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com takes you inside how the Beckham deal happened.

Ravens: Eric Weddle walked, but Baltimore inked Earl Thomas to play safety.

DEGENERATE CORNER

There is no greater time of year for degenerates than this one. For the gamblers, this is like a breath of fresh oxygen pumping out of a casino vent.

As for the non-bracketed wagering, the Browns' odds to win the Super Bowl moved from 25-1 to 14-1 after the Beckham trade.

Bovada has them at 12-1 as of Monday morning. As for the rest of the AFC North.

Steelers: 22-1

Ravens: 35-1

Bengals: 125-1

Noteworthy, only Washington has worse Super Bowl odds than the Bengals right now, who are tied with the Dolphins.

TWITTER POST OF THE DAY

Eifert using his beer shotgunning celebration to point out he signed his contract on St. Patrick's Day weekend is very much on brand.

BBP SHOUTOUT

This goes along with Eifert's post. He was far from the only one drinking in the honor of his contract this weekend. The Coast To Coast was flowing. At it should.

RANDOMNESS

Love any game Bill Walton is doing these days. The latest involved him taking a bathroom break between regulation and overtime and wandering back in past the referee as the game was going on.

The history of bracketing.

The iRobot people have moved from vacuum to mop. I'm intrigued. And it would definitely change my life for the better. I feel it would also set off a world war with my dog the likes of which cannot be spoken.

AND FINALLY

I went out to pick up pizza on Thursday right as the tornado sirens started going off. Quite a juxtaposition weighing how much you really want that pizza. I went. Pizza acquired. It was delicious. Meanwhile, something like this happened was playing through my head the entire time.