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Dre Kirkpatrick is one of the names most suggested when thinking about Cincinnati Bengals players potentially on the hot seat this offseason.
But feel free to add Shawn Williams to the list.
Williams was already potentially on the list as it was before the Bengals signed Vonn Bell. He’s going on 29 years old and has struggled over the past few seasons, including a 54.5 grade at Pro Football Focus last year. Feel free to add in a $4.485 million cap hit in 2020.
But the addition of Bell really furthers the idea. Bell is an in-the-box run defender who should play well with Jessie Bates.
The conventional idea seems to be Williams just comes on the field as a linebacker in the box. But there’s a problem — he did that plenty last season, spending north of 500 snaps in the box. He wasn’t great, clearly, and while teams should be planning for the playoffs, it’s not hard to see why his 215-pound frame was struggling against running teams in the AFC North.
Williams is one of the hearts and souls of the Cincinnati defense. But he’s also an old guard on a unit changing very quickly that just potentially added four new starters for a coaching staff that wants to reduce the playing time of someone like Geno Atkins — all this before the draft.
It’s not easy to lose a warrior like Williams who sets the tone and has played through plenty of injuries, including last year. But if a rookie or two come in via the draft at linebacker and safety, the Bengals might take the $4 million in savings and keep the makeover going.
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