One of the most significant free agent signings last month happened in Cincinnati, as Orlando Brown Jr. agreed to become the Bengals left tackle.
Brown going from winning Super Bowl LVII with the Chiefs to the club Kansas City beat in the AFC Championship Game should add another layer to the budding rivalry between the two teams. But it also significantly improves the Bengals’ offensive line.
“Big man. High energy. Very excited to have him. Going to be a fun year,” center Ted Karras said this week of Brown, via Geoff Hobson of the team’s website. “He adds a dynamic talent. A proven championship-level left tackle. I’m excited to get to know him as a person and form those bonds on and off the field.”
For his part, Brown said he knows how hard Cincinnati plays up front and sounds like he plans to fit right in.
“They play with a lot of fire to be honest. A lot of finish,” Brown said, via Hobson. “A lot of guys doing the little things right. Jogging to help up receivers or quarterbacks or whoever downfield. Getting involved. Being around the ball. Showing up on the screen. I feel like they do the little things right.”
Because injuries piled up on Cincinnati’s offensive line late last season, quarterback Joe Burrow was sacked 10 times in three postseason games. With Brown in the lineup, the Bengals should be in an even better position to protect the young quarterback than they were for most of the 2022 season.
