Despite the Cincinnati Bengals‘ need for depth along the offensive line, recently released guard David DeCastro is not someone the team should go after now that he’s a free agent.
DeCastro was released after the Steelers agreed to a deal with Trai Turner, a player that I wanted the Bengals to bring in. DeCastro revealed that he’s had problems with bone spurs and will need to have surgery on his ankle for a third time, per Joe Starkey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Injuries with offensive linemen aren’t anything to scoff at and while yes, the Bengals need help at the guard position, DeCastro’s injuries paired with him contemplating retirement make him a player Cincinnati should stay away from.
We’re all aware of the Bengals’ o-line situation. The unit was so bad last year that it led to Joe Burrow getting beat up and eventually injured, forcing him to miss the final six games of what looked to be a promising rookie campaign. That can’t happen again.
The Bengals haven’t sat back and ignored the offensive line though. They signed Riley Reiff to be their right tackle and drafted Jackson Carman in the second round and he’ll likely play right guard, which was DeCastro’s position during his nine-year career with the Steelers.
Signing David DeCastro would be a risky move for the Cincinnati Bengals.
I’m all for the Bengals bringing in help along the o-line but DeCastro’s injuries make me nervous. Three surgeries on an ankle is concerning and the fact that he said he’d be fine calling it a career shows he might already be checking out mentally.
The Bengals already have an injury-prone player on their offensive line and while DeCastro has six Pro Bowls and two All-Pro nods to his name, once the injuries pile up for an offensive lineman, they’re hard to escape from. He was released by the Steelers for a reason and the Bengals might need help at the position but DeCastro isn’t the solution.
For now, Cincinnati will continue to roll with Carman as their right guard and hope that he transitions to his new position flawlessly. Turner is off the market now, so it’s looking more and more likely that Carman is going to be the guy at right guard and we don’t know yet if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.