Bengals’ best, worst and most provocative moves in NFL free agency

Most intriguing NFL free agency move from the Bengals: Signing Cody Ford

Some might disagree with me here but this move intrigued me. Cody Ford entered the 2019 NFL Draft as a top offensive line prospect but he's struggled during his four years in the league. He was drafted by the Bills in the second round of that year's draft and played there for three years before spending the 2022 season in Arizona.

When looking at the PFF numbers, it's not hard to see why some fans are underwhelmed by this decision. Ford was abysmal in 2022, posting an overall grade of 41.2 in 350 snaps. He mostly played at left guard but also took some snaps at right tackle as well.

Interestingly enough, the Bengals listed Ford as a tackle after signing him and it's been made known that he'll have a shot to compete for the right tackle job. Fans aren't really all that excited to hear this but I'm intrigued by it.

Obviously, the front office sees something in Ford that the rest of us are missing and it's worth noting that he and Orlando Brown played on the same o-line in college and that's when Ford was at his best. Maybe that could factor in here.

If he doesn't win a starting gig, he's a backup with good experience, which is also not something to scoff at. Either way, I'll be interested to see what happens with Ford and where the team ends up slotting him in at.