Bengals make another massive move to upgrade offensive line
The Cincinnati Bengals knew they had to upgrade the offensive line in free agency, and they have done exactly that. They made another huge move.
The Cincinnati Bengals had one primary objective in the 2022 offseason — protect Joe Burrow at all costs.
Well, they are literally putting their money where their mouth is this offseason so far, making a number of notable additions to the offensive line to help protect their potential MVP candidate in 2022.
On Sunday, they made another huge upgrade to the offensive line, signing Dallas Cowboys free agent right tackle La’El Collins to a contract.
Cincinnati Bengals land La’El Collins in free agency
The #Bengals are finalizing an agreement with OT La’el Collins, sources tell me and @RapSheet. He was supposed to leave town today for another visit but Cincy didn’t let him go.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 20, 2022
Collins is now the third major addition the Bengals have made to their shaky offensive line so far in the 2022 offseason.
One of the first signings announced when the legal negotiating period opened up was the Bengals signing offensive guard Alex Cappa, formerly of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He signed on with a pretty team-friendly four-year, $35 million deal.
After that, they were able to add veteran center Ted Karras to a three-year deal worth $18 million.
Now, the Bengals have given a new deal to recently released right tackle La’El Collins, who has spent the last handful of years as the primary starting right tackle of the vaunted Dallas Cowboys offensive line.
Collins’ release was purely due to cap issues the Cowboys were having, and losing him wasn’t easy. Dallas tried to trade him but nobody was willing to take on his contract in its previous state.
A new bodyguard is in town! pic.twitter.com/OngcQjIFb5
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) March 20, 2022
The Cowboys’ loss is now the Cincinnati Bengals’ gain. From left to right, their line now looks like this:
LT: Jonah Williams
LG: Quenton Spain
C: Ted Karras
RG: Alex Cappa
RT: La’El Collins
Entering the second wave of free agency, the Bengals are clearly off to a phenomenal start when it comes to addressing the biggest area of need on the roster.
This is a team that also has 2021 second-round pick Jackson Carman waiting in the wings as a potential starter at the left guard position whenever he is ready.
It will be fascinating to see how the Bengals address the NFL Draft in 2022. They undoubtedly have few glaring needs but this team still needs depth.
For the time being, they have the kind of offensive line to make a deep playoff run in 2022 yet again.