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One of the biggest offseason focuses for the 2021 Cincinnati Bengals will be fixing the offensive line.
Unfortunately, that daunting task just got even more challenging, as starting center Trey Hopkins tore his ACL in Sunday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Head coach Zac Taylor announced the news during his Monday press conference.
Hopkins, who just finished his seventh season with the Bengals, has been the team’s full-time starting center since 2018. He was the team’s starting right guard prior to that.
This was actually the first year of Hopkins’ three-year extension signed in December of 2019. He had a cap hit of $5.5 million in 2020, and that number jumps to $6.5 million in 2021 and $7.1 million in 2022.
Hopkins wasn’t a world-beater by any means, but he’s been a solid starting center for the Bengals, who now have to consider other options at the position next season depending on how his recovery goes.
This means Hopkins will spend his offseason recovering with the man he snaps to, as Joe Burrow will also be rehabbing from an ACL tear leading into the 2021 season.