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The Cincinnati Bengals announced that offensive tackle Marshall Newhouse has signed with the team Friday.
An unrestricted free agent who played 47 games with 31 starts for Green Bay over the last four seasons, Newhouse (6-4, 319; Texas Christian) is a fifth-year NFL player for 2014. He saw action in 14 games with two starts for Green Bay last season. Over 2011-12, he played in every game, with 29 starts.
The Packers won the NFC North Division title in each of the last three years, and Newhouse played in all four Green Bay postseason games, with two starts.
"Marshall has played a lot of football for Green Bay; he’ll be a quality addition to our line," said Paul Alexander, Bengals assistant head coach/offensive line coach. "He’s played left tackle and right tackle and has experience in big games."
Newhouse was Bengals QB Andy Dalton’s left tackle for Dalton’s first three seasons (2007-09) at Texas Christian. The team went to a bowl game in each of those seasons, and in 2009, when Newhouse was a senior and Dalton a junior, the Horned Frogs posted TCU’s first undefeated regular season in 71 years.
He completed his visit with the team on Tuesday. The scheduled visit had been reported late Monday afternoon by NFL Insider Adam Caplan.
Newhouse had a ranking near the bottom of 2014 free agent offensive tackles by Pro Football Focus. His -9.7 brings some concern, but his 250 snaps played shows he was never put in a position to be much more than a emergency guy off the bench.
Paul Alexander has routinely taken young guys like Newhouse (25 years old) and developed them into quality starters. Last year, Mike Pollak was signed after an up-and-down career, only to become a quality starter in 2013.
This could end up being a quality signing, but we won't know until at least the preseason begins and we see Newhouse in action after working with Alexander this offseason.