The Cincinnati Bengals are willing to change.
Dang, it feels good to write that. Say it with me, y’all: The Bengals are willing to change.
Trading a top-10 NFL Draft pick for stud defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence signals the seismic change lifelong Bengals fans have been begging for forever. The Bengals thought ahead for once, realized the few players they liked would be gone by the time their first-round pick would come up on Thursday night and they – gasp! – adapted.
They actually did what winning organizations have been doing for years. The Bengals took a big swing and made a move. And in doing so, it seems like trying to win a Super Bowl is finally a high priority for the family of late, great Bengals founder Paul Brown.
“Everybody was on the same page,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “We gotta go win.”
Welcome to the modern NFL, Mike Brown. It only took you and your family 58 years, but we can now stop keeping track of how many seasons America’s only billion-dollar mom-and-pop business has stuck to the same stale and unsuccessful strategy. Right? Maybe? Hopefully?
What a moment for Brown, who has longed to fulfill his father’s dream of winning a Super Bowl in Cincinnati. But this is the first time we’ve seen Mike Brown actually make a decision truly aligned with that dream. Nothing says going-for-it like trading away a top-10 pick for an established, star player – or any player – for the first time in team history.
It has to be the first time since Mike Brown took ownership in 1990 that the family and the football people have been on the same page about a major move. Because the football people have always wanted to win. But the family has always focused solely on making money.
They’re altogether now, though. And at least have taken a big step toward all in.
Can we repeat it?
The Bengals are willing to change.
Can you believe it?
Let’s temper this a bit. It takes more than one major move – big and bold as the trade was – to say the Bengals have fully changed. It’s hard to become overnight besties with change after being its archenemy for nearly six decades. But there’s really no need to think much about the next big, bold move or whether it’ll ever come.
This is about winning a Super Bowl this season. And that’s about seizing on quarterback Joe Burrow’s window. And that’s about keeping him happy and avoiding the possibility of him pulling a Carson Palmer and demanding a trade from a franchise stuck in its ways.
The Bengals now have arguably the best defensive tackle in football, a game wrecker that opposing offensive coordinators have to work overtime to come up with a plan to block. The Bengals have added two other veteran defensive linemen and a safety this offseason, actually showing they’re serious about putting a competent defense on the field after lots of missed tackles and missed assignments caused Cincinnati to miss the playoffs the last three seasons.
The Bengals have been bullied up front the last few years. They were soft. Defensive tackle was the No. 1 need for the Bengals this offseason. Lawrence can disrupt the quarterback and stop the run. He seems like a good teammate, too, unlike defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who signed with Baltimore as a free agent.
There are three things that matter to contending for a Super Bowl:
1. Having a great quarterback.
2. Protecting the quarterback.
3. Disrupting and sacking the quarterback.
The Bengals definitely have No. 1 covered.
They are at least settled with their starting offensive line, and that wasn’t the case going into last season. They need depth to back up aging linemen Ted Karras and Orlando Brown Jr., but should be able to find some in the draft.
Lawrence and newly signed free agents Jonathan Allen and Boye Mafe should upgrade the defensive front. They should disrupt the opposing quarterback, stuff the run, draw double teams and maybe allow underachieving edge rushers Shemar Stewart and Myles Murphy to become contributors.
It’s a sincere effort to get better.
How about it one more time? The Bengals are willing to change.
Contact columnist Jason Williams at jwilliams@enquirer.com
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Williams: Dexter Lawrence move shows Bengals finally willing to change
Reporting by Jason Williams, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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