Matt Lee & Cam Grandy

[dxdtdemon]

Karras and Lee should be starting at one of the guard positions and center between them. Which one starts at which doesn't really matter. Lee hasn't given up a sack in a game since middle school. Then get a really good guard in free agency and draft an interior lineman for the future. Volson can be kept as a backup for this year, while cutting Cappa saves $10.5 million.

[*ochocincos*]

Grandy's an ok TE4 on the team, but he needs to show this year with more opportunities he can handle full-time blocking duties to justify kicking off Sample.
Sample is only a $2.75 mill cap hit this year and $2.85 mill cap hit in 2026.

I'm willing to give Grandy another year before cutting Sample or even just letting Sample's contract play through 2026 and just not re-sign him.
If Sample was making $5+ mill though, I'd be more interested in cutting bait.

As for Matt Lee, limited opportunities but we need to see more.
I would think this will be Karras's last year as a Bengal.
This is core development time for Lee, who could potentially be the successor at C, but no one would be comfortable right now with Lee taking over with the limited snaps we saw.

Personally, I'd look to sign someone like James Daniels, who has versatility to play all IOL positions. C from his college days and exclusively RG while with the Steelers.
The plan could be to have Daniels cover one of the OG spots this season and then potentially pivot him to C in 2026 if Lee isn't showing to be a viable starting option.