Whether the Cincinnati Bengals will be more active than usual in free agency is quite the interesting question mark this offseason as the team heads into Year 2 of the Zac Taylor era.
Being overly active hasn’t largely been how the Bengals approach the open market. But after the organization received a jolt in the form of a miserable season while a new head coach inherited largely the same roster as his predecessor, perhaps there is a possibility of newfound aggressiveness.
That in mind, it’s interesting to consider some of the potential targets. Pro Football Focus’ Anthony Treash recently outlined three interesting names for the Bengals to target: CB Byron Jones, G Joe Thuney, TE Hunter Henry.
An intriguing list, to say the least. Byron Jones might end up being one of the highest-paid corners this offseason while the Dallas Cowboys focus on retaining Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper. Jones is great, but unless the Bengals let Darqueze Dennard walk and restructure Dre Kirkpatrick, it’s hard to imagine they spend big there with Darius Phillips waiting for a chance.
Hunter Henry might be more realistic, though if the Bengals want to gamble on oft-injured tight ends with massive upside, re-upping with Tyler Eifert again might make just as much sense. But it’s hard not to like Hunter, who is only 25 and has played in double-digit games in three of the last four years, scoring 17 touchdowns in the process.
Most appealing here is Joe Thuney, an underrated New England Patriots guard about to get paid big on the market, hence last year’s 77.4 grade at PFF and elite standing in pass protection. If Thuney comes to Cincinnati, he’s an immediate starter at left guard, which shoves Billy Price and Michael Jordan into potential competitions on the right side.
This certainly isn’t a bad place to start when thinking up potential Bengals free-agent targets. The front office will focus on retaining its own first, but even one guaranteed upgrade like Thuney would free up things like draft assets to address other lacking areas as the Taylor revamp continues.
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