In the span of a few offseasons, the Cincinnati Bengals have gone from a team with the worst offensive line in football to one with a solid amount of depth.
Said depth includes right tackle La’el Collins, who continues to rehab from a mid-December season-ending injury while Jonah Williams takes over as the starter.
Williams’ quick adaption and performance to right tackle has caused onlookers to wonder if Collins might not stick with the team for the entire 2023 season.
That includes Bleacher Report’s Alex Kay listing Collins as a player a team should try to trade before roster cutdowns:
With Jonah Williams and Brown set to bookend the offensive line, Collins is likely to be relegated to the bench in 2023. Rather than keep him around as a pricey swing tackle, the Bengals should be working to trade him to a team that could use some immediate assistance on the offensive line. If they can’t find one, they would save nearly $8 million by cutting him.
As Kay goes on to note though, Collins’ health weighs heavily in any discussion about his immediate future. Cutting or trading doesn’t figure to come into the equation until he passes a physical, no matter how quickly it seems he’s recovering.
For now, with Jackson Carman backing up left tackle and D’Ante Smith emerging as a backup swing tackle, Collins might remain on the PUP list. That means he could be a mid-season trade candidate, but for now, the Bengals don’t figure to want to trade out quality depth in exchange for cap space.
