2023 offseason mock thread: FA & Draft
Mar 17, 2023 10:26:03 GMT -6
AlexM, riczaj01, and 1 more like this
Post by mpbears68 on Mar 17, 2023 10:26:03 GMT -6
The Jonah Williams thing today only reinforces the point.
For those of you who haven't caught up yet, JW is/was the Bengals LT. Drafted upper-1st round to play LT protecting Burrow. From what I've read, he has had some injury challenges and inconsistent play and is currently on his 5th yr option (~$12m cap hit) for 2023. Bengals fans seem to think he would be better at RT and Bengals brass obviously agrees as they just signed OBrown to play LT.
So JW is pissed he's being replaced or switched and he's asking for a trade. Which is exactly what OB did a few years in Baltimore (demanding to play LT or trade me to someone who will). This "problem" comes up not infrequently--OTs drafted high expect and demand to play LT >> RT cuz LT tends to pay way better.
Bottom line: if you draft Paris Johnson or Broderick Jones at #9, they are probably gonna expect to play LT and be developed there for a bigger payday down the road. I can't say for sure, but that's the tendency. Teams simply don't draft RTs in the top-15; they draft LTs if they are going tackle.
So if you really want a true RT, consider those expectations in advance so you don't end up with a pissed off player who's demanding a trade (as almost happened with Jenkins last year). RT's tend to get draft no higher than the late-1st.
By all accounts they were in on McGlinchey but quickly backed away when his price exceeded their number. Poles didn't want Brown cuz of scheme fit.
So maybe you move up in round 2, maybe you traded down from #9 if possible, or maybe you just hope some RT you like reaches the late-2nd (I'd say 50-50 shot). Those are the choices you're left with unless you're willing to draft an RT at #9 which NFL teams simply don't do.
Frankly, I'd much rather spend that pick on DE/Edge which is a more expensive and difficult to find position than RT.