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The Cincinnati Bengals finally cut offensive tackle Cordy Glenn on Friday. It was a long-awaited move on from a guy who had injury issues, wore out his welcome with a new coaching staff and got suspended and fined.
But the backstory — and the larger picture it paints — is quite a bit more complicated.
The initial Glenn trade was a success story. It was a signal the Bengals were willing to admit a mistake and perhaps a sign they had learned a long-term lesson.
Said mistake — of course — was the mindnumbing decision to let Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler get away in free agency. It was a franchise-sabotaging move that persists to this day, as supposed replacements Cedric Ogbuehi and Jake Fisher busted. So did line coach Paul Alexander, who had previously spent 20-plus years with the team.
But the Glenn move, at least at the time, looked like a turning point. The Bengals had to swap picks with the Buffalo Bills to receive Glenn, moving them down from No. 12 to No. 21. No big deal, right? The Bengals had just secured a starting left tackle and could still get a quality line prospect.
Wrong.
Glenn was so-so. And that 21st pick turned out to be Billy Price, a current bust and cut candidate after a handful of different line coaches have looked at him and said no thanks, not to mention the nagging injuries. At No. 12, the Bengals could’ve had a Daron Payne, Marcus Davenport, Derwin James or Leighton Vander Esch, to name just a few of the prospects available.
We’re saying this with the benefit of hindsight of course. The Glenn deal was well-received at the time, including here. But even as we noted at the time, it was a little concerning at a time when the NFL was desperately searching for line talent that the Bills were willing to let Glenn go at all. He had a big contract, had worn out his welcome in Buffalo and had missed 15 games over the prior two seasons before going to Cincinnati. Maybe we should’ve screamed a little louder about the red flags.
While this was happening, Whitworth was doing just fine for himself in Los Angeles, even going to a Super Bowl with the Rams (he’s a free agent right now, by the way). Zeitler has remained one of the most consistent guards in the NFL.
This isn’t a hit piece on the Bengals as much as it is laying out the evidence. Letting Whitworth and Zeitler get away in the same offseason was universally panned. It’s still the key lynchpin in why the team is drafting No. 1 right now. The attempts to fill the gaps weren’t good enough — and still aren’t.
Moving forward, a new Bengals staff with lessons learned hopes Jonah Williams is that long-term answer on the left edge. Maybe finally understanding and appreciating how important guard is leads to the team spending up on a big one in free agency.
We’ll have to wait and see. It would’ve been nice for fans if certain lessons hadn’t taken so long to register, especially with plenty of examples league-wide. But the future is now and the Bengals have a chance to fix the same old weak points again
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