The Cincinnati Bengals enter the offseason with one main goal: Upgrade the offensive line.
Director of player personnel Duke Tobin spent last year improving the defense and attempting to find solutions on the line. Many of the moves on defense worked out. Most on the O-line didn’t.
The expectation entering this offseason is that the Bengals will be players for the top offensive lineman available from the likes of tackle Terron Armstead to guard Brandon Scherff and everyone down the line. Tobin’s job is to make sure he hits on his big swings.
“If you do spend the big money, it better be worth it,” Tobin said this week from the NFL Scouting Combine, via The Athletic. “It better be worth it. That better be reflective of what he is going to give you. Trey Hendrickson. If you are going to pay him that much, make sure he is worth it or at least he has the ability to be worth it. He was.”
The Bengals signed Hendrickson to a four-year, $60 million deal last offseason that worked out splendidly as the pass rusher boosted the entire defense. It’s early in the pact, but Hendrickson is in line to be the best free-agent signing in Cincinnati history.
Hitting another home run like that on the O-line would be huge for the Bengals. With Super Bowl potential, a star quarterback and money to spend, Cincy should be a destination for free agents this offseason.
Joe Burrow was sacked 51 times in the regular season and another 19 in the postseason. Of course, not every sack was on the O-line, but there were also times Burrow avoided getting taken down after a blocker got burned off the snap.
The enduring image of the Bengals' Super Bowl run was Aaron Donald rag-dolling Burrow on a fourth-and-1 play that sealed the Rams' championship win. The goal in Cincy is to get the players in the trenches, so that doesn’t happen again.