Report: Bengals have heard from “several possible suitors” for Jonah Williams

Posted by Myles Simmons on March 22, 2023, 10:10 AM EDT
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After the Bengals signed left tackle Orlando Brown in free agency, the club’s 2022 left tackle Jonah Williams elected to request a trade.

Cincinnati is apparently working to accommodate that request.

Per Ian Rapoport of NFL Media, Cincinnati has had trade conversations centered around Williams and has heard from several possible suitors for the offensive tackle.

The 11th overall pick of the 2019 draft, Williams didn’t play in his rookie year due to a shoulder injury. But he’s started 42 games over the last three seasons.

The Bengals picked up his fifth-year option last spring.

While Williams helped the Bengals reach the Super Bowl in 2021 and the AFC Championship game in 2022, Cincinnati clearly felt like it could upgrade at left tackle by signing Brown. That may affect the kind of compensation Williams will end up fetching in any trade.

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11 responses to “Report: Bengals have heard from “several possible suitors” for Jonah Williams”

  1. While Williams helped the Bengals reach the Super Bowl in 2021 and the AFC Championship game in 2022,

    ——-

    “helped” might be a strong word.

  2. Jonah is solid and hard to find capable OTs in the NFL. They should get a 2nd and 4th or 5th for him or some kind of swap picks to move up in round 1 or other rounds. He played RT for a year in college so he can probably still do it and get good money next year in free agency if he would man up and stick around.

  3. No one is going to give up anything of value to pay Jonah Williams $12M to be their 1 year left tackle. If they do, the Bengals should jump on it, but if the Bengals cannot get a pick that they can use to get another player to start on the O-line then they are foolish to entertain it. They are in win-now mode, there’s no free agent left they can go get with that money and they need bodies on the o-line or they’re gonna be right back where they were at the end of last year.

  4. Looking into it, I think it is probably best that both the team and Williams stand pat and play out the season. I’m not sure how much traction he is going to get being an often injured and inconsistent left tackle. I don’t think anyone is going to offer an extension to him unless he can put together a healthy year with solid play like he did in 2021. Also, I don’t think their is a better option out on the market right now to replace him. It’s probably best to work together this year.

  5. I’d be shocked if he’s traded, mostly because I think he has nearly no value to anyone that needs a left tackle (he’s obviously only willing to be a left tackle starter). His value to the Bengals is in the possibility that he may be able to play on the right side or even fill in at guard if for some reason they keep Collins on the team. He scores near the bottom half of all NFL left tackles and there’s no one that’s going to trade a high pick and pay $12M for that guy. I’d guess that even entertaining a trade is their way to of saying “Jonah, we’ll listen to offers out of respect for you, but we have plans and we aren’t giving you away for nothing”.

  6. My guess is those teams will expect the Bengals to eat a sizable part of that contract and the Bengals would bristle at that. Brown is pretty stubborn and he could just not do anything and let Williams decide whether to play or not, which could possibly save the Bengals 12 mil.

  7. Not good gave up 12 sacks a big part of the Bengals OL problems. Average at best. Not worth the first rd pick used to get him.

  9. doctorrumack says:
    March 22, 2023 at 10:22 am

    While Williams helped the Bengals reach the Super Bowl in 2021 and the AFC Championship game in 2022,

    ——-

    “helped” might be a strong word.
    ————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
    He was by far their best O Lineman that season. He dislocated his knee cap the first half of week 5 this season and came back in the 2nd half and played the rest of the season hurt on it until it popped out again before the Playoffs. If you don`t think teams have worse LT situations your not watching other teams. I live in Indy and Williams would be a huge upgrade over Raimainn, Braxton Jones for Chicago? I`m not saying they will get a 1st or 2nd but they can easily move that contract and still get a 3rd or 4th or a player at another position. They will not pay any salary just to move him.

  10. Bengal fans are split on if this guy is good or not. I’ve seen everything from he sucks, to he’s the reason they made the Super Bowl.
    So the truth is probably somewhere in the middle.

  11. A couple things to remember when it comes to Johan’s play last season. 1. The Bengals never help out their tackles so that can make them look worse. 2. Jonah was playing injured almost all of last season and I think that’s a positive. I would say Jonah is a B or B- left tackle who’s good enough to help your team get to the Super Bowl.

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