The Cincinnati Bengals have struggled to nail free agency in recent years, but veteran center Ted Karras has provided some necessary stability at the heart of their offensive line since joining the team in 2022.
Karras was a two-time Super Bowl champion in New England before he landed in the Queen City. Bengals superstar quarterback Joe Burrow has gotten plenty comfortable with taking snaps from him, and the offensive line in general is shaping up to be the best unit of Burrow's career in 2026.
All those positives aside, Karras is likely nearing the end of his career. He turned 33 in March, and will be a free agent next offseason.
Cincinnati's brass just made a curious decision to move on from a rather recent draft pick who at least presented something of a viable option behind Karras. This could very well mark a shift in the Bengals' draft priorities as a result.
Bengals likely to target Ted Karras successor in 2026 NFL Draft after waiving Matt Lee
When the Bengals drafted Matt Lee in the seventh round in 2024, he was widely viewed as a steal. The advanced metrics of PFF held Lee in high esteem. Across his last three seasons of college ball, one at UCF and two at Miami (Florida), Lee surrendered a grand total of one sack and 12 QB hurries.
Unfortunately, Lee's solid athletic profile (8.66 RAS) wasn't enough to offset his marginal size and apparent lack of translatable skills to pro football. The Bengals announced that Lee had been waived on Tuesday, despite his status as the clear No. 2 center behind Karras.
This is an instance ongoing allegations of Cincinnati's rather baffling approach to building the roster will only grow louder.
We all know that the defense needs serious help. It'd be shocking if the Bengals don't spend the 10th overall pick on that side of the ball. What's odd is, they'll most likely target positions like defensive end or safety/nickel, where they've made a proactive effort to build depth this offseason as is.
The glaring weakness at linebacker continues to be neglected. Unless Sonny Styles is on the board, no prospect is worth the investment at No. 10 overall.
...And now we arrive at the seemingly needless parting of ways with Lee. All of a sudden, Cincinnati has created a serious need for a viable Karras backup/succession plan.
Karras plays such an important role in running the show at the line of scrimmage in tandem with Burrow. In the nightmarish scenario where he goes down, the apparent course of action for the Bengals is to either deploy a rookie draft pick, or count on *checks notes* some practice squad dude named Jacob Bayer, a 2025 undrafted free agent from Arkansas State.
Seriously?
I mean hey, let's pray Karras stays healthy and starts every single game. I'm good with that. But again, this high-powered offense and jelling o-line could get derailed in Karras' absence, with an inexperienced, unproven player thrust into duty.
Let's try to stay positive, though. This draft is pretty flush with talent at the center position. Good fits for the Bengals with the 72nd overall pick in Round 3 would include Kansas State's Sam Hecht and Iowa's Logan Jones. Both of them are superior prospects to Lee when he was coming out of Miami.
I just question the process here. If you knew you were going to cut Lee loose, why not do it sooner? Why do it two weeks before the draft?
Maybe Cincinnati intended to find Karras' heir apparent all along. Sure doesn't seem that way based on the weird timing of Lee's exit.