Most of the chatter around the Cincinnati Bengals right now focuses on the rebuilding of the defense and the fate of Tee Higgins.
But not far behind those things is the importance of the offensive line in front of Joe Burrow.
There, the Bengals could stand to upgrade at least two guard spots after the struggles of Cordell Volson and Alex Cappa.
The Bengals do just that in recent free agency projections too, signing Dallas Cowboys star Zack Martin, via Sportsnaut’s Andrew Buller-Russ:
The Bengals need to address a defense that ranked 25th in points allowed, but reinforcing the offensive line is also important. As Joe Burrow recently said, the Bengals should be able to get creative enough to carve out enough space to re-sign Tee Higgins, make Trey Hendrickson happy and still add an upgrade along the offensive line like future Hall of Famer Zack Martin.
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There’s a risk baked in with Martin, considering he’s 34 years old and just posted a 65.6 PFF grade last year, hence his projected as being available.
Even so, it’s pretty hard to scoff at the idea of adding a seven-time first-team All-Pro, nine-time Bowler and member of the 2010s All-Decade Team.
Martin made it into 10 games last year. But if he becomes available, he’s in that range of free agents the team might consider while it also weighs drafting early for the long-term future of the interior offensive line, too.