Cincinnati Bengals left tackle Jonah Williams has requested a trade following the team’s signing of Orlando Brown in free agency.
It comes as something of a mild surprise. Cincinnati’s plan was to use Williams at right tackle, especially with La’el Collins still rehabbing an injury.
But on the final year of his rookie deal, Williams and his reps have decided staying at left tackle would be best. And looking at the state of offensive tackle play around the NFL, it makes sense.
Cincinnati doesn’t have to play ball with the trade request from their former first-round pick, but netting a draft pick or player and clearing his $12.6 million cap hit from the books might make some sense.
Here are the best reactions from the breaking news.
Alrighty then, let’s see what happens with this
I expect 3rd/4th round compensation
Will give the Bengals some movement ability on draft day to maneuver and add some competition to the RT spot https://t.co/deVd6YCfoy
— Draft Guy Jared (@DraftGuyJared) March 17, 2023
Mike Brown and FO do what they want. No pressure on the Bengals side.
— Lindsay Patterson (@LndsPatterson) March 17, 2023
My gut says 3rd on Jonah Williams. Still young, lots of starting experience, average play.
If said team likes him and can workout a deal before hand, might get a 2nd…but big maybe.
But I’m terrible at the trade market, so take this with a grain of salt.
— Andrew Russell (@Andrew_Russell7) March 17, 2023
I would also think the #Bengals could wait until after the draft to move on from Williams, or at least until after the first round.
Teams who strike out on a tackle they want in the first could come back around and view Williams as the best option availible.
— Willie Lutz (@willie_lutz) March 17, 2023
Do the Bengals force teams to pay a high price and try to turn this into a “win-win” in the FO?
— Parker Blake (@ParkerBlake60) March 17, 2023
Jonah and his agent likely want to get ahead of the curve here and don’t want to entertain Jonah at RT heading into a contract year.
RT market continually lags behind the LT market, and Jonah and his agent want no part of that when negotiating his next deal. https://t.co/ZY7fmdeyQo
— Andre Perrotta (@andreperrotta13) March 17, 2023
Jonah Williams has been about an average LT so far, which…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Bengals Wire…