Major Outlet Pairs Cincinnati with Rival Guard In Free Agency

The Bengals relied on Cordell Volson at left guard all last season, but Aaron Schatz believes Cincinnati needs to replace him.

The Football Outsiders founder wrote for ESPN that the Bengals need to sign Ravens guard Ben Powers.

"Left guard is their weakest offensive line position and would be significantly upgraded by taking Powers away from the rival Ravens," Schatz wrote. "Powers ranked fourth last season in SIS points earned. He was second in run block win rate and 10th in pass block win rate (PBWR). The player he would be replacing, Cordell Volson, was 53rd and 60th, respectively."

This is a great idea until you look at what Powers will get on the open market.

Spotrac projects him to land a three-year deal worth $9.4 million per year— which would rank 12th among NFL guards. That's more than Cincinnati is paying Alex Cappa, and given all the other spots to address, doubling down at guard in back-to-back years doesn't seem prudent.

Volson performed well in other metrics. He made the SIS All-Rookie Team, finishing with a 2.6% blown block rate, but only a 1.2% blown block rate on run plays. That tied him for ninth-best among guards with at least 500 snaps played. He is 24, so that cools much hope for a big leap moving forward.

Powers sounds great until you realize he'd make 9x what Cincinnati is paying Volson.