The last Bengals restricted free agent left to sign sparked an interesting idea that it could directly influence the team's decision during Thursday's NFL Draft. The idea was simple. Since the team lacked numbers at guard, they could easily decide to go long-term, as well as short-term, by drafting a guard on Thursday. Granted, the team has never drafted a guard in the first round. Interesting discussion, nonetheless.
And pointless.
On Tuesday, Bengals.com announced that Evan Mathis signed his one-year tender. Not only does this bring back the team's left guard, who started seven games, it also completes their restricted free agency period with all players signed. The tender Mathis signed is reportedly worth $1.226 million.