OL Offseason 2026

State of the Position: The Bengals had the best overall line play and health since Joe Burrow has been in Cincinnati. Both guard positions finally settled in and the unit has some interesting depth.

Ted Karras started all 17 games at center. He will be entering his age 33 season but is still solid and a leader on the team. Dylan Fairchild took over the left guard position as a rookie starting 15 games. Orlando Brown started all 17 games at LT and was a bit maligned but it would be tough to replace him. He will be 31 and entering the final year of his deal. Dalton Risner took control of the RG position after struggling in the first few games. He started from week 12-18 and played well. He’s a free agent that the team would like back. He started 11 games in total. Amarius Mims showed exceptionally well in his second year. He started all 17 games and looks like a special player at RT.

The team was lucky to be healthy along the OL last year and will need some steps taken with their depth pieces. Jalen Rivers will be back after starting seven games as a rookie. He wasn’t exceptional but there is something to build off. Lucas Patrick is a free agent and played just 23 snaps, but the team was high enough on him to expect him to start at RG. He can be the primary backup at all three interior spots if he returns. Cody Ford played 73 snaps but has been noted as the most likely player to be released this offseason. The team would save 2.9M by cutting him and have 500K in dead money. He’s started 42 games in his career and has had snaps at every position but center.

The Depth at center consists of both Matt Lee and Jacob Bayer. Lee was well thought of in the preseason but hasn’t had any snaps this year. He may or not be a long-term option at the position but it’s unknown due to his lack of snaps in his first two seasons. Bayer was added to the Bengals Practice squad in November and the roster in January. He is a rookie who started 46 games combined at Lamar and Arkansas St. He bench pressed 32 times at his pro day which we tend to love. Failing to secure Seth McClaughlin for 2026 might be a mistake.

Two veterans are wildcards at guard. Cordell Volson’s injured shoulder kept him out the entire year. He started 48 games his first three season for the team. He’s a free agent but there is some thought he could be back on a minimum deal as a project who could learn center under Peters. Jaxson Kirkland was on practice squad IR this season but he flashed a bit prior. He still hasn’t been added to the offseason roster.

At tackle Javon Foster and Andrew Coker were given futures contracts for the offseason. Foster is a former fourth round pick for the Jaguars in 2024. He was released in August of 2025 and picked up on the Bengals practice squad. He started 41 games at left tackle at Missouri. Coker was added to the Bengals practice squad in October of 2024 and remained this season. He started 46 games at RT at TCU.

The Need: A starting RG is the biggest need. That can be solved by simply re-signing Risner. He only made 1.37M this year but that’s likely to jump to as high as 10 million per. If it rises that high, hopefully that number is okay for a team that has previously been reluctant to pay guards.

Future starters at both left tackle and center are the next need. Lee and Bayer are at least interesting at center. Left tackle is baren behind Brown. An early pick is likely to be made to serve as a swing tackle this year and maybe take over for Brown next. That could come as high as round one if the top defensive players are off the board.

Candidates

Center

I fully expect Patrick back but if not, this could be a position where they look for a veteran with similar versatility.

Corey Levin has spent six years in Tennessee but has only started seven games. He’s played primarily at center but did see time at LG early in his career. He was coached by Rascati in 2017.

Ethan Pocic has started 97 career games including 57 for the Browns over the last four seasons. At 31 it’s likely he is still able to find a starting role in the league, but if not, he has similar versatility, having played both guard spots early in his career. Peters coached him in 2022 and 2023.

Guard

Guard is only a need if they can’t reach a deal with Risner. If so, there are two tiers at the position. The first are players who are young enough to solve the position for years to come. The second is a group of veterans nearing the conclusion of their careers.

Long term

Brock Hoffman is particularly interesting. He’s just 27 and will be a restricted free agent after going undrafted. He started primarily at C this year (7 of his 16 career starts) but played 387 snaps last year at RG where PFF had him playing his best. He could even be a target with Risner’s return because of his versatility to play C.

Dylan Parham might be the most interesting long-term option. He’s going into his fourth year and started this year at LG for the Raiders where he started in 2022 and 2023. He started at RG in 2024 and PFF scored that as his best season. He has 63 career at just 27.

Alijah Vera Tucker was taken 14^th overall by the Jets in 2022. He started 63 games at RG, LG and RT but was injured all of 2025 with a torn triceps. It was his third season ending on IR (2022-torn triceps, 2023-Achilles) He might get the best deal of this guard class.

Ed Ingram played for Rascati in Minnesota before being traded to the Texans this past offseason. He has 55 career starts including 14 in Houston this season all at RG. PFF has him scoring much better as a run blocker than pass blocker. He’s just 27.

Teven Jenkins landed in Cleveland on a one year three-million-dollar deal after playing for the Bears for four years. He started four games in Cleveland at right and split his 38 starts at Chicago between left and right guard. He’s just 28.

Veterans

Austin Corbett has started 78 career games, including 11 last season (5 at Center, 5 at RG, 1 at LG) for the Panthers. Over his career he has primarily played RG with 3,719 snaps. He was on a one year 3 million dollar deal last season.

Former Bengal draft pick Kevin Zeitler has started 213 games across 6 teams all at RG. At 36 he is still putting up great PFF grades. He had a one-year contract last year for nine million.

Greg Van Roten is heading into his year 36 season and has compiled 105 starts over his career almost all at RG. He has starts at C and LG as well. He was on a one-year contract for 3.25M last year for the Giants.

Wyatt Teller was coached by Peters from 2020 to 2023 in Cleveland. He has 101 career starts all at RG after playing LG as a rookie in Buffalo. The 31-year-old started 13 games last season.

Matt Pryor has been on fans radar for a while. He played just 122 snaps this year mostly at RT and RG but has 40 career starts and over 1600 snaps at RG. He will be able to play RT and RG at least but has over 400 snaps at LT. His PFF numbers have been great the last three seasons. In 2024 he started 15 games at RG for the Bears. He’s 31.

Tackle

There are a ton of LTs with experience starting but not a ton that stand out.

Vederian Lowe is probably the most interesting lineman possibility. He’s just 27 and started 13 games at LT for Peters in New England in 2024. He has 25 career starts with almost all of his snaps coming at LT. His PFF pass blocking scores were solid in 25 and 24 but his run blocking was below average. He seems like a potential swing tackle for 2026 with potential upside as a starter.

Trevor Penning is an interesting possible swing tackle. He has started 33 games in his four-year career at LG in 2025, RT in 2024 and LT in 2023. He was traded to the Chargers from the Saints during the 2025 season. He’s only 27.

Josh Jones started three games at left tackle this year for the Seahawks and 27 for his career at LT, RG and RT. PFF graded Jones very highly across the board this year. He played for the Houston Cougars when James Casey was there. He was a former third round pick is on his fourth team already.

Justin Skule has started 26 career games, nine at LT for the Vikings in 2025. He has played both RT and RG as well. He is 29 and on his 3^rd team.

Joe Noteboom has started 36 games over his career with over 400 snaps at RT, LT and LG. He’s already 31. He played for the Rams when Taylor was there.

DJ Humphries is 32 and hasn’t played much in the last two years. He has 101 career starts with over 5800 snaps at LT. He did play RT as a rookie

Yosh Nijman has 29 career starts with 4 coming this year split evenly at LT and RT. He’s just 30 and has played in both Green Bay and Carolina.

Evan Neal is just 25 and has 27 career starts all at RT. He sat out 2025 with a neck injury. The former number seven overall pick wasn’t successful in his first three years and would be a reclamation project.

Larry Borom is just 28 and already has 38 career starts including 11 this year at Miami. Borom’s other 27 starts were split between LT and RT with Chicago. He was on a one year 2.5M contract in Miami.

Olisaemeka Udoh played for Rascati in Minnesota. He’s 29 with 22 career starts including three this year, two at RT, one at LT. He started 16 games at RG in 2021.

Kendall Lamm was coached by Peters in 2020. He has 44 career starts at LT and RT but had just seven snaps in 2025.

Kelvin Beachum is 37 with 172 career starts. He Has been in Arizona since 2020 and started 11 games in 2025.

Perhaps the biggest wildcard could be Jedrick Wills. He was out of the league in 2025 rehabbing a knee injury from 2024. His five seasons in Cleveland prior were a disappointment after being drafted 10^th overall. Peters coached him all but his final year in Cleveland. Wills started 57 games at LT.

6 minutes ago, MichaelWeston said:

Cordell Volson’s injured shoulder kept him out the entire year. He started 48 games his first three season for the team. He’s a free agent but there is some thought he could be back on a minimum deal as a project who could learn center under Peters

Dude... where are you getting that from? Please tell me that's just wild speculation on your part.

I get it, Karras looks like he's wearing down.. but I'd rather have a Funko Pop version of him out there than Volson.

8 hours ago, T-Dub said:

Dude... where are you getting that from? Please tell me that's just wild speculation on your part.

I get it, Karras looks like he's wearing down.. but I'd rather have a Funko Pop version of him out there than Volson.

Dehner has mentioned it every time he talks about the line. It was a surprise to me too. I think that Peters really likes the idea of working with volson's tools and he wasn't able to do it.

1 hour ago, MichaelWeston said:

Dehner has mentioned it every time he talks about the line. It was a surprise to me too. I think that Peters really likes the idea of working with volson's tools and he wasn't able to do it.

As obsene and idea we think it may be, Peters has at shown he deserves the benefit of the doubt on this. Worst case scenerio, Volstrumm is cut.

Jed Wills quit on the Browns a couple years ago so he won't be coming here. Teller and Bitonio are at the end of the line. Browns are likely to cut Conklin. I doubt he takes a minimum salary to stay in the league since he's made a lot of money while getting frequently injured. Teven Jenkins has played tackle as well as guard so he could be a replacement for Ford. Beachum (and Calais Campbell) seem unlikely to leave Arizona unless their new staff embraces a youth movement.