Were Bengals right to cut Preston Brown now?

The Bengals released veteran linebacker Preston Brown. He had just signed a three-year deal in the offseason after playing through a one-year deal last year.

Brown hasn’t had the best 2019 season. He has been a huge liability in coverage, and slowly but surely rookie Germaine Pratt has been taking his snaps. He had started all eight games of the season until Pratt started in his place last week. We also saw Jordan Evans get more run at linebacker last week as well. Brown had 54 tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery this season.

Brown is also a Cincinnati native and has been a Bengals fan since a young age. He was seen at the very least as a huge morale boost and leader in the locker room. Unfortunately, it is hard to ignore stats like this.

Overall, Brown had value beyond his play to this team. It isn’t clear if he wanted an opportunity to move on after being benched of the Bengals cut him. Either way, Cincinnati isn’t losing much in the linebacker department, but they are losing quite a bit in the leadership department.