A big name left in FA is LT Jason Peters. The 38 year old 9x Pro Bowler says that he still has a lot left in the tank and if Tom Brady, the GOAT, can do it so can he. Peters was not brought back by the Eagles likely for them to get younger in the OL and go with Andre Dillard (age: 24) as the starting LT. So why would the Bengals, a team destined to get younger want a 38 year old who has a history of torn ACL, MCL and some on-field issues, want Peters? Here are a few reasons:
1) $$$$$ Peters I still a starting caliber player in this league and might have a season or two left on the tread. In 2019 the Eagles paid him $6M. Wait, that is less than Warford who is only a guard! Yes, yes it is.
2) The Bengals have Peters play RT and not LT. Wait a second, he is a LT you say!! Technically Peters is a TE and was drafted as the Bills to be one. Then they saw he was awesome at blocking and moved him to RT where he wont the job. After that they had to switch the line around because of injury and he played LT ever since. The good fellas at cincyjungle.com had a good article on making Jonah Williams our RT because more pressure came from that side and moving Fred Johnson to LT. What if instead we handle pressure from both sides with a starting caliber LT.
3) Bobby Hart is cut. This is worth it not just because it was a foolish re-sign but he is not expendable since we would have Fred Johnson as the swing man. This alone would make Bengals fans happy.
4) Our offensive line would look like this: Williams – Johnson – Hopkins – Su’a-Filo – Peters. That doesn’t look all so bad now does it.
5) It buys us time to get a real RT. If we can sign Peters to a two-year deal if gives us a year to protect Burrow and a year to draft someone and develop them under Peters. If Peters still has wear left and can play to a high enough level we kick him into LG or RG and get him a bit cheaper to finish out his career as well as stays on to mentor the tackles.
We have passed on some linemen in this free agency. Perhaps Peters is the right fit for this team since Trent Williams, DJ Fluker, Justin Britt, Larry Warford and Joe Thuney were not.