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Ted Karras Excited to Reunite With Trent Brown in Cincinnati
"This is such a great fit."
CINCINNATI — After adding Trent Brown in free agency, the Bengals plan to roll out an offensive line weighing over 1,650 pounds total to protect Joe Burrow in 2024. Brown signed a one-year contract with Cincinnati. The veteran is 6-8, 380 pounds according to the official release by the team.
Bengals center Ted Karras was teammates with Brown for two seasons in New England. He can’t wait for Brown to suit up in Cincinnati.
“When you see this guy, we have a big tackle duo. We’ve got to do something this year,” Karras told All Bengals. “I’m really excited about the guys we have and we are going to add some more guys obviously in the draft, but I think we’ve got the guys to do something special.”
Brown and Karras won Super Bowl LIII together. Tom Brady trusted both offensive lineman to protect him in his last Super Bowl run in New England. Now they’re reuniting in hopes of not only keeping Burrow upright, but helping Cincinnati win their first Lombardi Trophy.
Before coming to Paycor Stadium, Brown asked Karras about the locker room.
“He just wanted to kind of get a feel of our coaches and the staff and the general vibe of the program and we have amazing coaches and a really, really great culture," Karras said. "I talked to the coaches too. I think this is such a great fit and a guy who has done it at the top of the league for a long time.”
Karras spoke with coaches about Brown before the deal was completed. It’s becoming the norm to hear of players having input with staff before drafting new players or adding players in free agency.
“This is such a great team to be a part of,” Karras said. “The collaboration that players and coaches have here is very important. I think guys who are free agents coming in see that immediately.”
Cincinnati’s staff must continue to make progressive moves in order to survive and advance in one of the toughest divisions at the pro level. Merely having a winning record in the AFC won’t get you very far in this terrain of the NFL map.
“I think the AFC North is the best division in football. In this whole league there’s such parity and a lot of good players," Karras said. "If you’re not at your best you’re going to get exposed very quickly on Sunday afternoons. With us and Frank (Pollack), Trent (Brown), Orlando (Brown Jr.) Cap (Alex Cappa) and Cordell (Volson), we’ve got to get something done.”
Karras has two Super Bowl Championships. Both Orlando Brown Jr. and (Trent) Brown have one and Alex Cappa has one. The veterans in the offensive line room know what it takes to win. They also know it's far from guaranteed.
“We are doing a little moratorium on the Super Bowl, postseason talk," he said. "We probably talked a little too much last spring about all that stuff and nothing is guaranteed. Obviously, we missed the playoffs but we are moving on to 2024. We are going to take it one day at a time, have a great spring together, have a great training camp, and start faster than we have the last couple of years.”
Watch our entire interview with Karras here.
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