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How good is this trip to free agency treating the Cincinnati Bengals?
The front office is even drawing rave reviews for a Week 2 signing.
Word broke Tuesday that the Bengals had signed former Baltimore Ravens linebacker Josh Bynes to a one-year deal. After ignoring the position in favor of spending big elsewhere, the move figured to generate a muted response.
If only.
Bynes, despite falling to the second week of free agency and needing to settle for a one-year deal, generated a big reaction for the Bengals. He’s a 30-year-old veteran who last year alone registered a grade of 76.2 at Pro Football Focus.
While Bynes isn’t a coverage player, he still held up well when the ball went his way:
In 2019, Josh Bynes had a -8% expected completion percentage when the nearest defender in coverage, per NFL Next Gen. The best of any BAL linebackers with at least 10 coverage snaps.
— Ben Baby (@Ben_Baby) March 24, 2020
Not that Bynes grading well on a limited deal with Baltimore last year was a surprise:
For those who turn to @PFF for guidance. They were big Josh Bynes fans.
Graded him between 70-80 each of the last three years with Arizona and Baltimore.
For reference, highest graded LB with at least 100 snaps for #Bengals last year was Nick Vigil at 54.4.
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) March 24, 2020
The move merely generated more strong reviews for the Bengals:
Underrated player and fills a need for the Bengals. Cincy doing much better in 2020 after last year's disastrous attempt at free agency https://t.co/WK0aaVk9py
— Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) March 24, 2020
Bynes is indeed a win for the Bengals, provided fans aren’t expecting an every-down presence who fixes everything for a struggling unit. If he was that he wouldn’t have lasted this long on the market.
Realistically, Bynes is a situational player. He got in on 40 percent of Baltimore’s defensive snaps last year and hasn’t played in more than 65 percent in seven of his eight pro years.
Bynes is an inside run-stuffing presence, mostly. He allowed 11 completions on 16 targets last year but drummed up 46 tackles.
To summarize — this is indeed a very good signing. But it’s also one needing big context. Bynes can play a big role but for a defense that will probably only “start” two linebackers. A rookie in play at No. 33 or later could still have a bigger impact. But it’s not hard to see why the reaction to this one seems to be an A+ grade.
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