Bengals surprising signing labeled their best move of free agency
Nobody saw it coming, and that's a good thing sometimes. The Cincinnati Bengals brought in Orlando Brown Jr. on a four-year deal to play left tackle for the foreseeable future. This is an immediate upgrade from frustrated veteran Jonah Williams and gives the Bengals a four-time Pro Bowler to protect the blind side of quarterback […]
Nobody saw it coming, and that's a good thing sometimes. The Cincinnati Bengals brought in Orlando Brown Jr. on a four-year deal to play left tackle for the foreseeable future.
This is an immediate upgrade from frustrated veteran Jonah Williams and gives the Bengals a four-time Pro Bowler to protect the blind side of quarterback Joe Burrow. The move was so clutch that Pro Football Focus labeled it their favorite move by Cincinnati so far in free agency.
While teams across the league have clearly made a statement that they don’t view Brown as an elite left tackle, Cincinnati gets great value on a very good player here. Brown has five straight seasons with a 73.5-plus pass-blocking grade and has played more than 1,000 snaps in four straight years.
Houston Texans tackle Laremy Tunsil reset the market with a three-year, $75 million extension a few days after Brown joined the Bengals. Brown is set to earn roughly $50 million in cash over the next three years, and Tunsil is due to rake in $72.15 million. Brown is also two years younger than Tunsil. This was maybe the heist of the offseason from Cincinnati, with the added bonus that Brown no longer plays for the Chiefs.
Brown logged 769 pass-blocking snaps last season and allowed four sacks, seven quarterback hits, and 47 pressures. Williams on the other hand struggled with 12 sacks given up. The Bengals have given up 99 sacks over the last two seasons, and although last season was better than 2021, they need to be better so getting Brown should help with that.
Williams will now compete for snaps at right tackle if his trade demands aren't met. Regardless, it's a new day at left tackle in Cincinnati with Brown at the helm, and how he plays will be critical for the Bengals' success going forward.
