Did Bengals get it right swapping Alex Redmond for Shaq Calhoun?

One day after announcing their initial 53-man roster, the Cincinnati Bengals made a pair of moves along the offensive line.

It came when the team claimed guard Shaq Calhoun off waivers from the Miami Dolphins, then subsequently terminated the contract of guard Alex Redmond.

Calhoun, a second-year player out of Mississippi State, originally was a college free agent signee of the Dolphins in 2019. He played in 10 games (7 starts) for Miami as a rookie last season.

Redmond, a fourth-year player out of UCLA, had played in 23 games (17 starts) for the Bengals since joining the team as a college free agent in 2016. Calhoun is a year younger than Redmond with two fewer seasons of experience in the pros,

The embattled Redmond drew a lot of scrutiny during his time in Cincinnati (finished 2019 with a 50.6 PFF grade), and with a $2.1 million cap hit for 2020, it was a surprise he even made the initial 53-man roster.

Now he’s gone, and the Bengals will get some of the cap back to hopefully use for extensions for other players going into the 2021 offseason (A.J. Green, John Ross, William Jackson, Mackensie Alexander, Shawn Williams and Carl Lawson to name a few).

However, Calhoun wasn’t exactly more effective in his first year in the NFL, as he finished 2019 with a 44.7 PFF grade and was part of one of the league’s worst offensive lines in Miami. It seemed odd that Calhoun was the offensive lineman the Bengals felt would help them the most when guys like Prince Tega Wanogho, Trey Adams, Greg Mancz and Daryl Williams were sitting out there.

While it remains to be seen what Calhoun can do in Cincinnati, he will be a lot cheaper than Redmond. Calhoun is set to make just $675,000 this season and is signed for two more seasons (becomes a restricted free agent in 2022). That nearly $1.5 million the Bengals are saving by swapping Redmond for Calhoun alone is a big positive from this move.

So, what do you think of the decision to cut Redmond and sign Calhoun? Vote below and let us know in the comments section!