The Bengals made the biggest free agency splash in recent memory at 10:30pm last Wednesday night. The fans that were still awake were alerted of Orlando Brown, the mountain of a left tackle, coming to town. The response was shock and awe, sending ripples through the NFL world. Why did Brown leave the Chiefs? Why did he take less money than anticipated to join an AFC rival? What’s next for the Bengals? Let’s take a look.
How We Got Here
The Chicago Bears had the most cap space and were the presumed front runners while the Chiefs just won a championship without giving up a sack. KC wanted to move him to the right side and eventually brought in Jawan Taylor as his replacement; giving the former Jaguar an $80 million contract that was thought to be Browns. His deal with the Bengals is for 4 years $64 million with a $31 million signing bonus; the biggest ever signing bonus for an offensive lineman. Amazing deal for Cincinnati considering Brown declined a six year, $139 million contract that included a $30.25 million signing bonus from the Chiefs just last year (Dehner, 2023).
Cincy being willing to play him at left tackle was a major piece of the puzzle as following in his hall of fame father’s footsteps means a lot to him. For Brown, it came down to wanting to honor his father and play for a contender. The Bengals offered both.
Allowing him to play his preferred position is great for Orlando (and Joe Burrow) but created an issue of what to do with Jonah Williams. The team drafted Williams 11th overall in 2019 and recommitted to him by picking up his 5th-year option after last season. The team gave him every opportunity to lock the position down and clearly never expected this situation but when a super bowl champion and 4-time pro bowler falls into your lap, it’s hard to turn down. They got a call out of the blue asking if they were interested and everything changed.
How Much of an Upgrade is it?
Cincinnati’s o-line struggles are well documented as they’ve allowed 153 sacks since drafting Burrow in 2020. 70 during the 2021 Super Bowl run alone. This past year was comparatively better allowing 44; 11th most in the league but obviously improvement was not out of the question (Statmuse, 2023).
Brown’s pass block win rate last season was 91.8%, 18th out of 64 qualified tackles. Jonah Williams ranked 55 out of 64. Brown sported a run block win rate of 81.2%, 11th among tackles while Williams ranked 44th. All in an offense that passes the ball 62% of the time with that number very likely going up.
Brown has never missed a game in his career while Williams missed his entire rookie season, only played 10 in 2020 after season ending knee surgery then missed the playoff push last year after hurting his knee again. All serious injuries but availability hasn’t been as strong as Brown’s. Williams has been good; Brown has been better.
Next Moves
The Bengals have had a spectacular free agency period so far.
- Losses – Jessie Bates, Vonn Bell, Hayden Hurst, Samaje Perine, Tre Flowers
- Additions – Orlando Brown Jr., Nick Scott, Sidney Jones, Cody Ford, Irv Smith Jr., Tarell Basham
- Retained – Germaine Pratt, Max Scharping, Trayveon Williams, Trent Taylor, Michael Thomas, Joe Bachie
Losing Jessie Bates was expected, and the replacement is in house (Dax Hill). They expected to keep Samaje Perine, Hayden Hurst, and Vonn Bell but Hurst and Bell received much higher contracts then the team would touch and Perine chose to go to Denver freeing up enough space to bring back Pratt.
The Orlando Brown signing speaks for itself, but I also love the Nick Scott signing to replace Bell. Cody Ford is a great fit as a depth piece. Sidney Jones is an underrated signing and will play at a similar level as Eli Apple who is likely on his way out of town. Irv Smith for $1.75 million is great value and newly signed Tarell Basham brings a much-needed boost to the pass rush which ranked 16th in pressure rate and 29th in sack percentage (NFL, 2023).
The Bengals have now positioned themselves to take best player available with the 28th pick. O-line is never a bad move, corner back could make a lot of sense but so would a tight end in this historically good class.
A few players I think they could target:
- Offensive linemen – Darnell Wright, Dawand Jones, Anton Harrison.
- Tight Ends – Darnell Washington, Dalton Kincaid, Michael Mayer, Sam LaPorta, Luke Musgrave
- Cornerback – Deonte Banks, Tyrique Stevenson, Emmanuel Forbes
Final Thoughts
Signing Orlando Brown for the same money as Jessie Bates is a massive W and bringing in comparable players for cheaper contracts while figuring out extensions for the star players seems like the right move. As for how the offensive line shakes out, best-case scenario is moving Jonah to the right side where he could be great and finally solidify the line. However, he’s a starting caliber player and bringing him back is far from a guarantee. Can’t blame him, go get your money big boy.
In the end, reallocating money to premium positions is the intent of the front office and they’ve done an outstanding job thus far.
Check out my Twitter @BrodysBlog and my article about Tee Higgins>> https://brodywilsonblog.com/2023/03/14/everyone-stop-tee-higgins-isnt-going-anywhere/
Citations
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Cincinnati Bengals Free Agent tracker 2023: Cincinnati Bengals. The Official Site of the Cincinnati Bengals. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://www.bengals.com/team/free-agent-tracker
ESPN names Orlando Brown Jr.. deal second-best NFL FA signing of 2023. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://www.si.com/nfl/bengals/allbengals-insiders-plus/espn-names-orlando-brown-jr-deal-second-best-nfl-fa-signing-of-2023
Football Outsiders. (n.d.). Bengals sign chiefs t Orlando Brown Jr.. Football Outsiders. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://www.footballoutsiders.com/extra-points/2023/bengals-sign-chiefs-t-orlando-brown-jr
Holder, L. (n.d.). NFL pass rush rankings update: Cowboys still lead way, Titans and Patriots rising. The Athletic. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://theathletic.com/3903484/2022/11/19/nfl-pass-rush-stats-rankings/
Jonah Williams (OT): Bio, news, stats & more. The Official Site of the Cincinnati Bengals. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://www.bengals.com/team/players-roster/jonah-williams/career
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Jonah Williams – Cincinnati bengals – news and analysis, statistics, game logs, depth charts, contracts, injuries. NBC Sports EDGE. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://www.nbcsportsedge.com/football/nfl/player/51545/jonah-williams
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Jr., P. D. (n.d.). How the Bengals landed a franchise left tackle from ‘out of nowhere’. The Athletic. Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://theathletic.com/4321963/2023/03/19/orlando-brown-jr-bengals-free-agent-zac-taylor/
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NFL team passing play percentage. NFL Football Stats – NFL Team Passing Play Percentage | TeamRankings.com. (n.d.). Retrieved April 1, 2023, from https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/passing-play-pct
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