Will Trent Brown, draft pick solve Bengals’ right OT issue?

CINCINNATI — It all happened quickly for new Cincinnati Bengals right tackle Trent Brown.

On a Sunday, he had a phone call with coach Zac Taylor and assistant Frank Pollack about the vacancy on Cincinnati’s offensive line. He flew into town for a visit on Monday night. And by Tuesday, the deal was complete. Brown signed a one-year deal to be Cincinnati’s projected starting right tackle for the upcoming season.

In many ways, Brown fits the mold for the job he now holds. Like left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., he’s a 6-foot-8 mammoth who has won a Super Bowl earlier in this career. But just as the team’s previous right tackles in recent years, he doesn’t appear to be a viable long-term option.

In other words, quarterback Joe Burrow is set to have his fifth different starting right tackle in as many NFL seasons, a number that could grow in 2025 depending on what happens with the draft. Like those who have come before him and the ones who will succeed him, Brown understands the No. 1 objective for a Cincinnati offensive tackle: Protect Burrow.

“It’s a little added motivation to do your job and keep him upright because you know he can make special things happen,” Brown said during his introductory news conference in March.

Brown, who turns 31 on April 13, replaces Jonah Williams, the team’s first-round pick from 2019. Williams had been the team’s starting left tackle for three seasons before he was displaced to the other side after the Bengals signed Orlando Brown Jr. in free agency last March. This offseason, Williams signed a two-year deal with the Arizona Cardinals that features $19 million in guaranteed money.

In contrast, Trent Brown, who played the last three seasons with the New England Patriots, will earn just $2 million in guaranteed money, per OverTheCap.com. It’s the lowest amount the Bengals have given a right tackle in the Taylor era.

The money signals what Brown represents for Cincinnati this season. Brown, a 10-year veteran, is an experienced player who has played at a high level. He was named to the Pro Bowl in 2019 as a member of the Raiders.

The partnership between the Bengals and Brown could benefit both sides. Brown gets the opportunity to show he can still be a high-level player. Cincinnati, in return, gets a potential starter at a discounted rate.

Brown’s Pass Rush Win Rate numbers, an ESPN metric powered by NFL Next Gen Stats, have dropped in recent years. After being ranked 34th in 2021 when he returned from a calf injury, he was 60th in that category last season.

The transaction still leaves the door open for a long-term solution that has evaded the Bengals. At the NFL scouting combine, Pollack said the amount of turnover at right tackle has not been ideal.

“You’d love to have a guy you could plug in two or three years ago that you know is going to be there for the next 10 years,” Pollack said. “That’s part of the business, part of the league. Something, if you sign an older guy you are hoping to find a young guy to step up and develop as well.”

With the 18th overall pick in this year’s draft, the Bengals are in position to take a long-term tackle in a very deep prospect pool. In ESPN analyst Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest mock draft, seven offensive tackles are projected to go in the first round.

One of them who could be available when the Bengals are on the clock fits the Bengals’ recent tackle profile. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Georgia’s Amarius Mims ranks above the 90th percentile in height, weight and wingspan.

Between the team’s current starting tackles and Mekhi Becton, who came on a visit to Cincinnati this offseason before the Bengals signed Trent Brown, all of them also rank in the 90th percentile or higher in all of those categories.

At the combine, Pollack listed off several traits he likes in offensive linemen — length, flexibility, agility, intellect. But the person who will have the best shot at sticking around long term will have the intangibles to match the physical traits required to be the offensive tackle Cincinnati wants.

“A lot of guys are coming in with all the talent in the world,” Pollack said in March. “And they get drafted in the first three rounds because of it, but they drift away and they disappear.

“And you get guys who were late-round draft picks, because you had the bare minimum talent, but they had all the other stuff off the charts.”