With a clear need at right tackle following the departure of Jonah Williams in free agency to the Arizona Cardinals, the Cincinnati Bengals are reportedly signing veteran offensive tackle Trent Brown to a one-year deal.
According to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport, the Bengals are signing the former New England Patriots offensive tackle, plugging a hole in the trenches opposite left tackle Orlando Brown Jr.
Brown, who turns 31 years old in April, played 11 games for the Patriots last season with eight starts. In his career, he’s started 93 total games, appearing in 100 with the Patriots, Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers.
A seventh-round pick out of Florida in the 2015 NFL Draft, Brown was quite the story, developing into a solid starter for the 49ers before being traded to the Patriots ahead of the 2018 season. Brown was outstanding in the 2018 season, parlaying that into a huge contract in free agency with the then-Oakland Raiders, signing a four-year, $66 million contract with $36.75 million guaranteed.
That stint with the Raiders went sideways after two seasons, and he was traded to the Patriots ahead of the 2021 season, reuniting with head coach Bill Belichick. Brown then spent three seasons with the Patriots sliding back and forth between right tackle and left tackle. He played right tackle in 2021 and then moved to left tackle in 2022.
In 2023 he played all 579 of his snaps at left tackle but will presumably move back to right tackle with the Bengals. In his career, Brown has played 2,848 snaps at left tackle and 3,087 snaps at right tackle.
The Bengals have had a very busy offseason to date, having lost Williams in free agency and trading away longtime running back Joe Mixon to the Houston Texans for a seventh-round pick. The Bengals, in turn, signed running back Zack Moss and brought back veteran safety Vonn Bell, while also adding defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins in free agency.
