Our latest mock draft assigns a tackle to the Bengals with the 21st overall pick in the draft. This assumes the Bengals won’t re-sign right tackle Andre Smith.
And there’s an increasing chance the Bengals won’t.
As one league source explains it, the Bengals are now inclined to see if they can find a cheaper and younger replacement for Smith via the draft. If the Bengals can, they’ll possibly pull the plug on efforts to re-sign Smith, a first-round pick in 2009.
That would be a problem for Smith, who currently has no other seriously interested suitors. The holdup is that Smith still wants too much money, and teams are concerned that with long-term security he’d revert to the underperforming form that characterized his first few years in the league.
Maybe he can get more teams to pay attention to him if he holds a Pro Day-style workout. And if he keeps his shirt on while running the 40-yard dash.