Bengals Not Living Up to Mike Brown's Word in Free Agency So Far

The Cincinnati Bengals came into this offseason with money to spend, opening up exciting possibilities for them in free agency. Owner Mike Brown said protecting Joe Burrow was the team's top priority, but several top offensive linemen landed outside Cincinnati on the first day of free agency.

Brown appears to not be living up to his promise to protect Burrow so far.

On Monday, top guard and projected Bengals signing Joe Thuney slipped away, instead joining the Kansas City Chiefs to protect Patrick Mahomes. Then, top center Corey Linsley inked a deal with the Los Angeles Chargers to improve the team's O-line for young stud Justin Herbert.

That's two Bengals targets off the board in the first 24 hours. And they were signed by teams who put a premium on protecting their quarterbacks, which Cincinnati said would be a focus.

Not only did the Bengals miss out on Thuney and Linsley, but they then overpaid for EDGE Trey Hendrickson after losing Carl Lawson to the New York Jets, taking away cap space to pursue OL needs.

Cincinnati can still adress their O-line with the No. 5 overall pick and through more affordable free agents, but they let an opportunity to surround Burrow with top protection slip through their fingers.

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Isaiah De Los Santos is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Isaiah De Los Santos also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username zayyy05328. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.