Bengals sign five players to offseason roster; Jason Shirley the heir to Bobbie Williams?

by Josh Kirkendall on Jan 11, 2010 4:44 PM EST in Analysis

Once an NFL team hits the that lonely offseason after the regular season or after being one-and-done in the playoffs, that team sees their offseason roster increase from a 53-man roster limit to an 80-man limit. There is no designation on how many players at each position must be signed -- as far as I know, a team can have no signed players at all.

On Monday, the Bengals signed five guys from their practice squad.

The one player that you might want to take note on is Shirley. Not to mention that he completely redefined the world "manhandle" during the preseason during his offensive transition, Shirley has the size to replace Bobbie Williams at right guard, who will become an unrestricted free agent this offseason. A more likely scenario is that the Bengals hang onto Williams another season to continue mentoring Shirley. And if that's the scenario, that's something I'm completely on board with.

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Length of Contract

Bobbie may be unwilling to sign a one year deal. Often older players want more security than that.

Negotiations with Reggie Kelly could be similar. He is an older player coming off injury who (if I am not mistaken) is an unrestricted FA. How much should the team invest in him?

by jim0ijk on Jan 11, 2010 5:35 PM EST reply actions

Why can't Shirley

play LG? That’s assuming preseason workouts meaning something, which is a gigantic if.

A bit bummed they didn’t sign Mickens… had hopes he would pan out.

by occams_tiger_teeth on Jan 11, 2010 5:38 PM EST reply actions

I want to hear Chris Berman say:

“Jason ‘call me’ Shirley with the pancake block on Ray Lewis!”

by Evil Monkey on Jan 12, 2010 12:36 PM EST up reply actions

Livings

I think Mathis should be the future LG, and Livings could be the future RG.

I also like the idea of Andre Smith moving over to RG, but from Lewis’s press conference, it sounds like he wants to keep continuity in the line.

by R.F. Mehl on Jan 11, 2010 6:31 PM EST reply actions

play on playor

Gnight, Slim

by supergrover on Jan 11, 2010 9:28 PM EST reply actions

We can finally say the season is over when.....

we get posts about Jason Shirley’s potential at guard on CincyJungle.com

by FSUBENGAL on Jan 12, 2010 2:15 AM EST reply actions

Collins could be nice trade bait

by FSUBENGAL on Jan 12, 2010 2:16 AM EST up reply actions

So true!

It’s hilarious how teams’ fans always fall in love with the practice squad guys as if they’re going to pan out, when one in one thousand actually do.

Chances are most likely Shirley will never play a down except in some disastrous injury circumstance.

The sad thing is 2nd round draft pick Jerome Simpson also now falls into that category…

by occams_tiger_teeth on Jan 12, 2010 1:17 PM EST up reply actions

You never know, look at Rico Murray and his ridiculous 23 yard punt return on Saturday….

by Todd G on Jan 12, 2010 2:27 PM EST up reply actions

On most teams you would be right. But the Bengals of late seem to put a lot of stock in the concept of using the practice squad as more than extra bodies for practice during the week. So here it’s probably more like one in ten.

by FriarBob on Jan 12, 2010 8:07 PM EST up reply actions

we're lucky to be in this situation...

we have a lot of good, young talent on o-line. i feel confident that we’re not going to re-sign bobbie, but we should try for the right price…

collins, luigs, roland, mathis, shirley, and livings will all compete for one spot, but i think collins is the right guy to replace bobbie if he goes.

by GrooveLeg on Jan 12, 2010 10:40 AM EST reply actions