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

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.

  • Jason Shirley
  • Maurice Purify
  • Clinton McDonald
  • Freddie Brown
  • Antonio Smith

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.