I think that we can all agree the biggest problem for the 2019 Bengals was the offensive line. It wasn’t until the return of Andy Dalton and the resulting personnel changes that we saw any improvement, and by Week 17 they at least looked like professional blockers. All season it was a patch-work of people and all season they did not get it right. So what can change in 2020 that would protect their most valuable asset? It starts with the LT position, and in my opinion, that should be a trade for Trent Williams from the Washington Redskins. It was clear in the 2019 season that something had to give between Trent and the Skins. Ownership was not going to trade him because they turned down Cleveland’s supposed offer of a first round pick. Ownership and the now-fired GM thought that they could will him back to the field as his game day checks stopped rolling in. Trent held steady and sat out the entire season. When the story broke about his brush with death you couldn’t help but feel terrible for the man and think less of the Washington Redskins organization. Trent still has a year left on his deal. Even with the training staff changes, if he decides that he wants out, then engineering a trade could be in the cards. Cincinnati is a nice landing spot because it is the AFC and the Skins will not face the Bengals. Cincinnati also has high draft picks in every round since they went 2-14.
What is Trent worth? He is a Top 5 LT in the league. I would expect that we would give a 2 (33 overall) and a 5 (161 overall) and get Trent and a 7th rounder back. Can we afford it? Trent costs $13.6M in 2020 and his contract expires next year. Andy Dalton makes $16M in 2020 and AJ Green makes $15M. I believe that Dalton will not be back and we will have Joe Burrow on a cheap rookie contract. Do we re-sign Trent? That will depend on how Jonah looks as LG and if he is ready to make the switch to LT in 2021. If not, you either franchise (probably too expensive) or sign Trent to a 3 year deal and come up with a better offensive line plan.
Why would we want a LT when we drafted Jonah Williams? Let us not make the mistake again with Whitworth and Cedric Ogbuehi. Let’s play Jonah….at LG. What about our current starting LT Cordy Glenn? The plan was always to start Jonah until his injury and move Glenn to RT. I can’t believe that Bobby Hart is a better option. Hopkins will stay at Center and now we have a fight for the RG position between Michael Jordan, Billy Price, Bobby Hart and John Jerry. That starting linup then looks like this: LT – Trent Williams, LG – Jonah Williams, C – Trey Hopkins, RG – Michael Jordan, RT – Cordy Glenn. Putting a rookie QB behind that line doesn’t look so bad does it?