The Cincinnati Bengals are one of the more interesting teams in free agency this year.
And after nearly a week’s worth of action (counting the so-called legal-tampering window), those Bengals seem like a pretty divisive team.
After all, while the Bengals got the huge win with Orlando Brown, they did lose starting safeties Vonn Bell and Jessie Bates and have yet to replace starting tight end Hayden Hurst.
So how do the Bengals grade so far? Over at Pro Football Focus, the Bengals currently have an A- and the writeup noted the following positive on the Brown signing:
While the league has 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 pass-block grade of 73.5 or better and has played over 1,000 snaps in four straight years.
Good luck figuring out how things go from here, though. The Bengals still project to sign a tight end, especially after expressing interest in Foster Moreau. And the Brown signing could be viewed as a two-for-one if Jonah Williams goes over and upgrades right tackle, too — but he’s since asked for a trade.
For now, the Bengals have a really positive grade. With some smart, cost-effective moves, it might even get better. And if that’s the case, the draft remains wide open, too.
