The Cincinnati Bengals have had trouble protecting star quarterback Joe Burrow for as long as the young star quarterback has been in the league, and a recent update isn’t providing much optimism on that front.
Toward the end of the 2022 NFL season, Bengals starting right tackle La’el Collins suffered a knee injury which ruled him out for the remainder of the season. And according to Geoff Hobson of the Cincinnati Bengals’ official team site, Collins tore his ACL, MCL and PCL, leading to quite a long recovery time.
“Even though he’s the one guy that has consistently done it at right tackle, not much has been said about La’el Collins, the nine-year veteran who provided the ballast over there that had been missing since the Andre Smith days. (Riley Reiff had it, too, before he got hurt in 2021.) Collins also got hurt late this season, suffering a devastating season-ending knee injury on Christmas Eve in Foxboro during the win over the Patriots. He says he tore the big three. The ACL, MCL, PCL. And that’s why much hasn’t been said. The climb is long and he’s quietly grinding,” Hobson wrote.
>That’s not great news for the Bengals, especially after potential right tackle option Jonah Williams requested a trade from the team earlier this offseason. And the NFL world had plenty to say about the Bengals’ misfortune.
I’m gonna call that some very “yikes” news. https://t.co/DLk9iCr6CS
— Willie Lutz (@willie_lutz) April 21, 2023
Oh my… that might be a recovery which lasts well past one year. https://t.co/SFt1e7mh1N
— Erik Duerrwaechter (@EDuerrwaechter) April 21, 2023
The Bengals will likely need to budget his full $9.4M cap hit for 2023.
If he's released before the start of the regular season, the cap hit would only be $1.8M (2023) and $1.7M (2024). He would need to pass a physical before the team could release him and realize these savings. https://t.co/pPGkUBIBab
— John Baines (@johnthebaines) April 21, 2023
Need an RT even more now when they decide to move jonah https://t.co/0wifEfUklq
— Der German Tiger
(@DerGermanTiger) April 21, 2023
We’ll have to see who ultimately ends up playing right tackle for the Bengals this upcoming season.