[jwplayer iD7UWxXZ-ThvAeFxT]
Trae Waynes got the massive money from the Cincinnati Bengals — Mackensie Alexander might’ve been the better value signing, if not one of free agency’s bigger steals.
Alexander’s deal with the Bengals understandably didn’t get as much attention as Waynes’ contract. The former Minnesota Vikings teammates typically fell into that sort of hierarchy during their time together in the NFC too.
But Alexander arrives in Cincinnati as the surefire starting slot corner in place of Darqueze Dennard, who went and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Alexander is solid in coverage, terrific against the run, a sound tackler, doesn’t get penalized and doesn’t miss a ton of time.
Sounds great at one year and $4 million, right?
Some more evidence of the “steal” material here:
#Bengals may have found their slot CB in Mackensie Alexander.
Among slot CBs, he ranked 19th in two-year coverage grade and had the 4th-highest forced incompletion rate (via @PFF)
In 2018, he produced an 86.4 run defense grade and a 72.5 coverage grade, and was worth ~0.28 WAR.
— Evan McPhillips (@emcphil) March 19, 2020
Last year alone, Alexander let up just 38 completions on 58 targets with two touchdowns and missed none of his 38 total tackles.
If it all sounds like a Dennard situation as Alexander looks to prove himself for a big payday a year later — it is.
And that’s a big value for a Bengals team that wanted to redo its cornerback corps and effectively replaces a starter with Alexander. The big moves got the headlines — just don’t forget Alexander.
[vertical-gallery id=29563]