It’s a good time to take a step back and revaluate free agents the Cincinnati Bengals should target.
With projected franchise tags going out and things like projected monetary markets for free agents starting to crystalize, we now have a more realistic look at names the Bengals could end up targeting.
Graham Glasgow
It’s becoming clearer that guys like Brandon Scherff — if they make it to market at all — are going to be too costly for the Bengals. Ditto for Joe Thuney. But Glasgow could be a great consolation prize if the Bengals can woo him while other teams focus on the big names — he graded at 74.1 last year at Pro Football Focus and would be an upgrade.
Logan Ryan
The market is going to pay massive money to guys like Byron Jones and James Bradberry, which might leave Ryan in an interesting spot. He’s 29, solid from the slot and would make for a quality Darqueze Dennard replacement.
Nick Kwiatkoski
At linebacker, Corey Littleton and Joe Schobert are the heavyweights in likely excess of $10 million per year. Kwiatkoski won’t demand that but has some promise as a 27-year-old linebacker with potential upside after a breakout last year. He might have a big market for bargain hunters but the Bengals can’t afford to skimp at the position if the value is right, which is should be.
Derek Wolfe
Wolfe remains an obvious buy for the Bengals. He played for the Bearcats locally and just posted a career-high in sacks. But the latter won’t outweigh his age (30) for some teams. He’s not the biggest name on a market that could include Arik Armstead and Chris Jones, either. He’d be a perfect fit with the Bengals as a versatile player who could work all over.
Shelby Harris
If the Bengals are value hunting for a guy with some upside, Harris comes to mind. He’s far from a big name but is only a little-while removed from posting a 90-plus grade at PFF (2018). He dipped last year but let’s just say the 28-year-old defensive lineman could always experience a resurgence playing on the same line as Geno Atkins, Carlos Dunlap, Carl Lawson and Sam Hubbard.
Kendall Fuller
Fuller seems to be flying under the radar a bit, at least compared to top-of-market guys like even Trae Waynes. But Fuller is a 25-year-old corner who has experience at most corner spots and even played some safety. If the Bengals are cutting Dre Kirkpatrick and letting Dennard walk, he’s a smart buy.
Shaq Lawson
Is Lawson going to make big money? He’s not the first name to come to mind among edge rushers this offseason thanks to Yannick Ngakoue, Matt Judon, Jadeveon Clowney and Bud Dupree, to name just a few. That could leave an opening for the Bengals to get a former first-round pick who is only 25 and has 6.5 sacks last year — never mind he can play all over the place.
Michael Pierce
Pierce has somewhat gone forgotten as a defender this offseason given the depth of the line class — but Bengals fans should know all about the Ravens star. He’s 27 and an elite 345-pound presence who would make one incredible two-down run-stopper for the Bengals. Those aren’t worth paying up too much for…but Piece might be available at a good price.
Karl Joseph
Joseph never stood much of a chance at standing out on the free-agent market given some of the names headed there. But he’s intriguing nonetheless. He’s not a ballhawk but he usually grades well and gets a ton of stops. And it helps he’s another first-round product who is only 26 years old. He’d be an interesting weapon to deploy with Jessie Bates and others.
Andrew Whitworth
We can’t not list Whitworth at this point. Unless he gets another deal from the Rams, he could be looking at a longer stay on the market considering his age and the fact his old team didn’t want him back. But he’d still have value in Cincinnati as a guard (or perhaps as a short stay on the left edge) if the two parties could put the past behind them and make it work. To say the fans would live it would be an understatement.
