Bengals should pry Bradley Bozeman away from Ravens

The Cincinnati Bengals need to hit the offensive line hard this offseason. One name that they could add who could help their o-line out tremendously is Bradley Bozeman.

Bengals fans are all too familiar with Bozeman, as he’s spent the entirety of his four-year career with division rival Baltimore. The Ravens selected Bozeman in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft out of Alabama and he became quite the steal.

Throughout his time in Baltimore, Bozeman spent time at guard and then was moved to center when the Ravens had injury after injury on their o-line this past season. He thrived in his new role, earning career-high grades from PFF and now looking to be too expensive for the Ravens to retain.

Pro Football Focus projects that Bozeman will receive a three-year deal worth $21 million with an annual salary of $7 million while receiving $10 million in guarantees. Baltimore isn’t in the red when it comes to cap space like several teams are but they’re not swimming in dough either, sitting with just a little over $8 million, per Over the Cap.

Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic likely priced himself out of the Ravens’ rangenoted awhile back how Bozeman had, so it doesn’t appear that Baltimore is expecting to retain him. What would be better than the Bengals signing him and the Ravens having to see him across from them in black and orange stripes twice a year?

Bradley Bozeman should be on Bengals’ radar in free agency

I went over some starting center options for Cincinnati for the 2022 season and Bozeman was on the list. He’s the youngest free-agent option at the position out of some of the more popular names (he turns 28 during the 2022 season) and putting together his best season in 2021 at a position he hadn’t played before shows what kind of player he is.

If the Bengals do indeed cut Trey Hopkins to save roughly $6 million, they’ll need a starting center. Bozeman could definitely be that guy in 2022 and beyond.