Bengals land three players on ESPN’s top 50 free agents
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The Cincinnati Bengals have a host of free agents headed for the open market this offseason.
Three of them figure to spark some interesting conversations inside Paul Brown Stadium and project to have plenty of logical suitors.
Those three names — Carl Lawson, William Jackson and A.J. Green — just earned spots on a free agency top 50 list by ESPN’s Kevin Seifert.
Interestingly, the list has Green as the No. 22 free agent outright, while Jackson checks in at No. 40. Carl Lawson slots at No. 46 with the following explanation:
“Lawson has never matched the production of his rookie season, when he recorded 8.5 sacks after the Bengals made him a fourth-round draft pick in 2017. But he became a starter in 2020, in conjunction with the departure of veteran Carlos Dunlap, and turned in the kind of performance that will conjure significant interest if he gets into the market. ESPN tracked him with a pressure rate of 10.1%, good for 16th best in the league.”
Funnily enough, it’s probably Lawson that the Bengals will work hardest to bring back because the pass rush is in such a sour state. And some advanced metrics show just how important he is to the Bengals because of the way he creates sacks for other defenders.
Green, meanwhile, figures to hit the open market after doing little on his costly franchise tag. The veteran wideout didn’t even chart on PFF’s top 100 list, while Lawson and Jackson had top-30 slots.
Regardless of ranking, it’s clear the Bengals have some premium outgoing free agents other teams will pursue if they don’t wrap them up.
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