49ers free agency 2022: 4 teams that could steal Laken Tomlinson

49ers could lose Laken Tomlinson to Cincinnati Bengals

The Steelers are in uncharted waters, the Giants are likely to go through a massive rebuild, and the Bears have a lot of work to do to support Justin Fields.

The Cincinnati Bengals, however, are one of the NFL’s rising teams behind second-year quarterback Joe Burrow, making the playoffs and even advancing to the AFC Championship team. If there’s ever a better context for a pending free agent like Laken Tomlinson to find a new home, it’s with Cincy.

Cincinnati, for all its strengths on offense, still lacks that thump along its offensive line, a unit Pro Football Focus ranked 20th despite the team’s scoring prowess.

Injuries were a key factor here, too, and the insertion of Hakeem Adeniji into the right guard spot was particularly problematic.

One of the things the Bengals might appreciate about Tomlinson is his durability, hoping to get another full 17-game season out of him to protect Burrow and to allow the ground game to flourish.

Cincy also boasts a whopping $59.2 million in cap space with a lot of the pieces already in place for 2022, meaning now is the time to splurge on even more pieces to protect Burrow.

Tomlinson may easily be lured in by the possibility of joining another playoff contender in front of a top up-and-coming quarterback while receiving quite the hefty payout all the while.