Not everyone on the Cincinnati Bengals is thrilled with the Orlando Brown Jr free agent contract, as starting left tackle Jonah Williams has requested a trade out of Cincinnati, sources told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Williams, 25, is a former first round pick out of Alabama. He's made 42 starts at left tackle for the Bengals since the 2020 season, earning Pro Football Focus grades of 70-plus in each of his first two seasons.
A knee injury kept Williams out of the Bengals' two playoff games in 2022, though it shouldn't affect his value on the trade market much, as he is expected to be healthy for next season.
With Brown, a four-time Pro Bowler, coming to town to play left tackle, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported that the Bengals were going to move Williams to right tackle to accommodate Brown.
The exact reasoning behind Williams' trade request is not known.
But if this report is to be believed, then it's possible that Williams is not too crazy about the idea of being moved to a new position in 2023.
Brown, who agreed to a four-year, $64 million contract with the Bengals, reportedly was being viewed by the league as a right tackle but desired a payday as a left tackle.
Clearly, Cincinnati's plan to reshuffle this line just isn't going to work.
Williams is due to be paid $12.6 million in 2023, the final year of his contract.
In addition to Williams' trade request, Cincinnati also has a decision to make regarding veteran La'el Collins, who was speculated to be a cap casualty by some.
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