The alarm bells have sounded all throughout the Bengals’ offseason.
Their franchise quarterback, heading into his seventh season and the fat prime of a career that has made him one of the league’s best, is coming off a season he was more battered than celebrated.
Heightening the angst is the offensive line is undergoing its biggest re-shuffling since he’s been here. Gone is the only man that protected his blind-side during all those years at left tackle. The new right tackle has barely played. The right guard is seasoned but brand new. And ….
That sounds like the 2017 script, but it is actually not very far from what played out in the 2009 offseason and the Bengals can only hope it keeps going.