An old adage says where there’s smoke, there’s probably fire, and that’s one that seems to be increasingly notable for the Cincinnati Bengals and star free agent Ryan Jensen.
The Bengals signing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers center in free agency didn’t need a ton of buzz to make sense before the market opened. He’s an athletic veteran presence who would make the entire Cincinnati line better.
But one set of notable predictions got the buzz started by saying Jensen would sign with the Bengals. Then Adam “Pacman” Jones came out of left field by suggesting it’s going to happen. Then an actual report said the Bengals will have big interest.
And now there’s this, with Jeff Hathhorn of 93.7 The Fan saying other team’s fans can basically forget about Jensen:
Steelers insider @jhathhorn on @937theFan on free agency: "I think you can put the Ryan Jensen rumor to bed. 95% he ends up in Cincinnati."
What should the Steelers do at center?
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) March 9, 2022
It’s worth pointing out that a new report says the Buccaneers are going to go hard in an effort to get Jensen back due to other happenings around their team.
But if the Bengals want to lure a top-flight center with big money, Jensen’s the guy. He’d be an immediate boost to both guard spots surrounding the center position and increase the likelihood the team saves roughly $6 million by cutting current starting center Trey Hopkins.
We’ll likely find out if Jensen-Bengals buzz is legit when the legal tampering window opens on Monday.
