While many NFL teams are wheeling-and-dealing, recruiting new faces to their roster, the Cincinnati Bengals and their fans are dealing with a myriad of emotions. While signing two valuable veterans that helped out on both sides of the ball a year ago, the team also saw two talented starting offensive linemen bolt for big money elsewhere on the first day of free agency.
While Andrew Whitworth’s departure stings because of his overall value to the Bengals for the past 11 seasons, Kevin Zeitler signing with the Browns is particularly frustrating because he’s bolting for a division rival. Eric Steinbach deja-vu, anyone?
Keeping Brandon LaFell, while not flashy, at least ensures that some help will be retained for Andy Dalton. Dre Kirkpatrick was one of the team’s highest-priorities to re-sign this offseason and the team inked him to a mega-five-year deal.
We took to Facebook live to update our followers on the happenings with the club on the first day of free agency, as well as answer some of their burning questions. Most centered around disappointment in the losses of valuable personnel and Cincinnati’s usual inactivity with outside free agents in the early part of the frenzy.
On the session, we also talked about the team’s plans with their 11 draft selections, the preference of amassing compensatory picks and what the options may be for the team on the offensive line. Should we trust Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher to plug the holes left by Zeitler and Whitworth, or will the Bengals need to adjust their free agency strategy?
We’ll be doing more Facebook Live Q&As during the course of free agency and if you have any questions, be sure to leave them in the comments and we’ll get to them in a future video or article. Make sure to follow us there, as it’s a great place to get live updates and continual access to our articles.