The Cincinnati Bengals could be looking at another major change at cornerback this offseason with William Jackson headed for free agency.
Could Houston Texans cornerback Bradley Roby be the solution via trade?
This idea comes about a little randomly but is proposed by Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus, who notes just how cheap the transaction could end up being for the Bengals:
“However, this could be a great opportunity for a discounted trade given Roby’s situation in Houston, and perhaps a fifth-round pick wouldn’t be necessary to get this deal done, with Houston taking a sixth-rounder just to get anything back.”
Roby, 28, is going into the second year of a three-year extension at a $10.3 million cap hit (there’s an out built into it after the season). He had a weird falling-out with the rebuilding Texans last season before getting suspended for six games for violating the league’s PEDs policy, meaning he’ll miss Week 1 of next season.
The 2014 first-round pick posted a solid 71.6 PFF grade last year, allowing 23 catches on 37 targets and has 10 interceptions on his career.
This is one of many potential fallback ideas for the Bengals if the team can’t get Jackson back under contract. Considering WJ3 is one of the very top corners set to hit the open market, it’s always a possibility the team has to look for help opposite Trae Waynes — who didn’t play a down last year after signing.
Still, Roby’s contract is big, he’d be joining his third pro team already and will miss the first game of the season. There are plenty of other trades, stop-gap free agents or even draft picks the team could make to offset the loss of WJ3.
As always, Cincinnati’s best course of action is probably doing whatever it takes to keep WJ3 and edge-rusher Carl Lawson.
