The Cincinnati Bengals could cut a starter
The Cincinnati Bengals come into the 2023 offseason in good shape. The team appears to be a perennial AFC contender after making the AFC Championship Game two years in a row. According to Over The Cap, the team has over $35 million in cap space for free agency. However, one insider thinks the team might cut a starting offensive lineman and add more to their war chest.
According to Paul Dehner Jr. with The Athletic, La’el Collins is a “prime” player the Bengals can cut this offseason. Dehner thinks Collins’ potential isn’t worth the expense after a disappointing 2022 season:
“Signing Collins after his release from Dallas last year was thought to be a coup. Instead, it more resembled every other failed fix at right tackle. Collins missed the majority of camp with a back injury, was at the center of a ferocious donnybrook with the Rams during joint practices, struggled mightily out of the gate, didn’t practice Wednesdays during the season and eventually saw his year end with a torn ACL and MCL suffered on Christmas Eve in New England.
He’ll turn 30 just before camp begins. Cutting him would save $6.1 million against this year’s cap with $3.3 million in dead money. If the cut came with a post-June 1 designation, it would save $7.7 million and cost just $1.7 million in dead money.
Along with performance, his age, injuries and finances make him a prime candidate to be let go.”
Could the Cincinnati Bengals draft a replacement
The Bengals could try and draft or sign a replacement. They’ll have plenty of cash to bid for help at the right tackle spot in free agency. At pick 29 in the first round, the Bengals might not be able to land the best tackle in the draft, but they can get someone who can be a reliable starter. That consistency is what the team needs more than anything. The offensive line as a group had trouble with that in the postseason.
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