Bengals: 6 offensive linemen to consider with Austin Reiter visit

Offensive Linemen for Bengals to Sign – No. 2: Mitchell Schwartz

The Bengals are already planning on chatting with one former Chief, so why not add another one? Mitchell Schwartz spent the past five years as the right tackle of the Kansas City Chiefs and the first four years of his Chiefs tenure couldn’t have gone better.

Heck, Schwartz’s career was one for the record books up until this past year, as he didn’t miss a single start until the 2020 season, which was his ninth NFL season. The guy was as durable as they come but a back injury took him out from Week 6 on and the Chiefs cut ties with him despite how rock solid he was prior to that.

Last month, I discussed that it was worth a shot for the Bengals to sign Schwartz and nothing has swayed me from that stance. In that article, I wrote:

"The Bengals could sign Schwartz to a multi-year deal, let Reiff be the starter at right tackle, and then, hopefully, if healthy in 2022, Schwartz could be the guy there moving forward. This is certainly a risk, as Schwartz might not be the same player he was in Kansas City but it’s worth a shot."

This is an option but furthermore, if Jonah Williams gets injured once again, Reiff could shift back to his preferred position of left tackle and that could allow Schwartz to slide in at right tackle.

Maybe Schwartz isn’t the same lockdown right tackle he once was, but why not take a flier on him? He was banged up last year but before that, he was one of the best in the league at his position. The Bengals don’t have to throw him into action right away but not even talking to him would be foolish. He could be a force for this team and for a fraction of the cost.