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Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon publicly recruited Cleveland Browns free-agent linebacker Joe Schobert.
Which is fitting really, as Schobert is pretty representative of how the Bengals might behave this offseason.
All signs have pointed toward the Bengals being more active in free agency this offseason.
But this is “Bengals active” and doesn’t necessarily mean pursuing the very top names in free agency. At linebacker, think more Schobert than say, Cory Littleton.
While Littleton is the best of the coverage linebackers set to hit the market, Schobert isn’t that far behind and figures to be more in Cincinnati’s price range.
Rest assured Schobert isn’t a sexy free-agent signing. But he’s a stout presence at the age of 28 who got targeted 55 times last year and let up a 69.1 completion percentage. The year prior, 47 targets on 59.6 percent.
That’s just the sort of player the market will overvalue after the original team doesn’t want to pay up. But for the Bengals, paying up isn’t that big of a deal — the front office boasts droves of cap space ($47.6 million-plus $17 million more if Andy Dalton leaves) and its current spending on linebacker total is just $2.3 million. The Bengals have routinely ranked near the bottom of the league in linebacker spending…and it shows.
Schobert wouldn’t necessarily be some dynamite upgrade that changes the entire complexion of the unit. But if he’s coming in and defending the pass well alongside the promising Germaine Pratt, it’s a start. Keep in mind his arrival would allow the Bengals to have more positional options with premium draft picks as it wouldn’t be such a dire need.
So indeed, maybe Mixon is on to something here. And funnily enough, Schobert was right on our list of guys who probably fit Cincinnati’s offseason approach well:
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