Bengals make move for Bills tackle
The Cincinnati Bengals made a surprising move Monday afternoon to acquire Buffalo Bills left tackle Cordy Glenn and improve their offensive line.
The Cincinnati Bengals surprised everyone by making a move for a veteran lineman days before free agency opened. According to Peter Schrager of NFL Network, the teams will swap first-round picks, Bills moving to 11th overall and Bengals moving to 21st overall. The Bills will also acquire the Bengals sixth-round pick and the Bengals receive a fifth. The biggest piece of the trade is left tackle Cordy Glenn.
Glenn was hurt for much of last season with the Bills and one of the reasons that the team wanted to move on from him. Cincinnati feels that he will be healthy come 2018 and ready to make an immediate impact on an offensive line that has struggled the last two seasons resulting in 80 sacks on quarterback Andy Dalton and almost no run game. There is no doubt that Glenn will start come 2018 at the left tackle position.
Cincinnati will pick up the existing contract with Glenn paying him $11,250,000 in 2018. The contract while paying Glenn top tackle money is low risk in the sense that the Bengals would not be shelling out dead cap money if they decided to move on from Glenn. In fact, if the team wanted to dump him this season they would only owe him $1,500,000. The franchise pays more money but has an easy out if the outcome isn’t beneficial for the team.
More from Stripe Hype
- 6 Bengals whose stock significantly rose in preseason game vs Cardinals
- 7 winners and 7 losers from Bengals preseason opener vs. Cardinals
- Jackson Carman winning LG job isn’t a given after Bengals preseason opener
- How to watch the Cincinnati Bengals in 2022
- Denzel Ward wants to flex on Bengals WRs in 2022
The Bengals drafted a pair of tackles in the 2015 NFL Draft in first-rounder Cedric Ogbuehi and second-rounder Jake Fisher. Ogbuehi has proven that he is not NFL material at the left tackle position and one of the multiple pieces needing to be replaced along the offensive line if the Bengals offense is to improve in 2018. What the Bengals hoped would be a replacement for tackle Andrew Whitworth who was let walk in free agency turnout out to be a bust.
This move allows the Bengals to stay in the first round of the draft and select another offensive lineman or another position needed filling. Cincinnati still has 11 picks in the upcoming draft and could combine some of those picks to either move up in the draft for a player they like or as trade value for another veteran lineman who can be an immediate impact.
The Bills will no hold the 12th and 22nd overall picks in the first round along with multiple second and third round picks in the 2018 Draft. A team that looked like was tanking before the 2017 season by holding a fire sale ending up actually making the playoffs now has plenty to work with for 2018. Buffalo also traded their starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor on Friday to the Cleveland Browns. This trade allows them more valuable picks to move up in the first round and find their quarterback of the future.
Next: Recent mock draft has Bengals making interesting pick
This trade gives both teams some room to make moves this offseason. The Bills will be able to move further up in the first round to select the quarterback of their future and the Bengals get a veteran left tackle and are able to focus on the rest of the line moving forward. The money in 2018 is high for Glenn, but the ability to cut all ties if he doesn’t work out after one year brings some comfort as well.