INDIANAPOLIS -- This should come as little surprise, but expect the Cincinnati Bengals to have their hands full as they bid for Clint Boling's services when free agency begins next month.
It's possible the versatile 25-year-old left guard draws significant interest when the market officially opens March 10. This tweet from ESPN senior writer Jeremy Fowler from Thursday morning provides a good indication why.
Asked a personnel director of an NFL team his favorite under-radar free agents. He said Pernell McPhee and Clint Boling
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) February 19, 2015So what exactly makes Boling a potential "under-radar" favorite?
There's a number of reasons. Chief among them is Boling's aforementioned positional flexibility. Although he spent the bulk of his career at left guard, Boling also has spent some time at right tackle. In addition to playing a little there in college, he practiced at the position in preseason camps and ended up there for parts of two games this past season after starter Andre Smith was lost for the year with a torn triceps.
Boling also has to be attractive because of how well he played in 2014 considering he was less than nine months removed from ACL surgery. While his defensive teammate, tackle Geno Atkins, struggled to bounce back from his own ACL tear, Boling was strong on the line, particularly in opening holes for the running game. Pro Football Focus graded him as the Bengals' third-best run-blocker behind Andrew Whitworth and Kevin Zeitler.
For teams that want to make the ground game the priority, Boling has value.
Clearly, with Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard such a focal point of their offense, the Bengals are one such team. As a result, they're going to make a play to keep Boling.
With a $1.6 million cap charge in 2014, Boling was one of the cheapest starting guards in the league. Forty-eight guards had higher cap values than him, including his backup, Mike Pollak.
The Bengals come into this year's free agency with an anticipated $33 million in cap space. The NFL has yet to announce what the final 2015 cap limit will be, but it's expected to hover just above $140 million per team.
Besides the potential affordability aspect of re-signing Boling, the Bengals also have a track record of pushing hard for re-signing players they trust. It's why Domata Peko earned an extension last offseason, and why Whitworth has been a stalwart of the offensive line. The Bengals this year will have to determine if the trust they have in Boling matches the dollar amount they're willing to spend on him.