Russell Bodine turned down long-term contract offer from Bengals

The Bengals may have been saved from themselves in regards to Russell Bodine.

On Monday, the embattled center signed a two-year contract with the Buffalo Bills. It had already appeared like the Bengals were moving on from Bodine, primarily due to the other acquisitions and re-signings they made.

But as it turns out, the Bengals did offer Bodine a long-term deal that he ultimately passed on, according to Ian Rapoport.

The deal the Bengals offered is said to have been for five-years with little guarantees but far more potential earnings than the two-year, $5 million deal he signed with Buffalo. Bodine turned down the Bengals’ offer and took a gamble on himself in Buffalo.

With that said, we were this close to having Bodine at center for the foreseeable future. The pain of that thought is scary enough, but thankfully, the Bengals were finally saved from a mistake thanks to someone else taking the bullet.

After all, Buffalo owes Cincinnati this much after the latter helped the former break its playoff drought this past season.

Still, having Bodine at center is a tall price to pay for ending a 17-year playoff drought. We can only hope it was worth it for Bills Mafia’s sake.