Bengals should absolutely explore a trade for RT Morgan Moses

The Cincinnati Bengals went into the offseason knowing that they needed to upgrade their offensive line in a big way. And even in late May, the opportunity has presented itself to continue the offseason overhaul in the form of Morgan Moses.

The Washington Football Team granted their longtime starting right tackle permission to seek a trade this week after the team signed former Chicago Bears tackle Charles Leno Jr.

Moses has been an excellent, durable starter for Washington for the past half-decade, but his time with the team is clearly coming to an end.

The Bengals should look to capitalize and land an above-average starter for what will likely be a cheap price at this stage of the offseason.

The Bengals should make an honest effort to acquire Morgan Moses

After striking out on star guard Joe Thuney in free agency, the Bengals added a marginal upgrade in veteran tackle Riley Reiff. Reiff is expected to assume the starting right tackle role, but the addition of Moses would change that.

Moses wouldn’t be a long-term option as the veteran tackle is already 30-years-old and will be entering the penultimate year of his contract in 2021. But his play over the last few seasons makes him worth the gamble.

Moses finished the 2020 season with an exceptional 79.9 Pro Football Focus grade that ranked 18th out of all offensive tackles in football. And his 84.7 run-block grade was the seventh-best at his position.

He’s been an average-to-above-average starter in every season since he took over as Washington’s starting right tackle in 2015.

And given that he likely won’t cost much of anything to acquire, the Bengals should definitely make an honest effort to trade for him.

Cincinnati could shift Reiff inside to right guard giving the team a projected starting five of Jonah Williams, rookie Jackson Carman, Trey Hopkins (once he recovers from his ACL injury), Reiff, and Moses.

It’s safe to say that Moses would be an upgrade over the likes of Quinton Spain or Xavier Su’a-Filo in the starting lineup.

The Bengals could roll with the starting rive that they have now. They could hope that Carman is more NFL-ready than many analysts have projected. They could hope that Hopkins returns to his pre-injury form. And they could hope that the duo of Spain and Su’a-Filo gets the job done at right guard.

There is a feasible path to the Bengals having a decent offensive line in 2021. But they could eliminate one of the many variables by acquiring a rock-solid starter in Moses for the price of what will likely be a Day 3 pick.

This should be a no-brainer. The Bengals must make an effort to trade for Morgan Moses.