The Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys often get compared as cross-conference similar teams.
Think, the old-school style of management, star quarterbacks, elite weapons, struggles to meet expectations, all the good stuff.
But in at least one way, the Bengals should be learning and following the Cowboys a bit.
Those Cowboys just signed veteran edge rusher Von Miller to bolster a pass-rush ahead of an all-in season around a star quarterback.
The Bengals should seek to do something similar at linebacker with a free agent like Bobby Wagner.
Every onlooker with an understanding of the Bengals knows they want to stick with Demetrius Knight and Barrett Carter. That’s fine. Everyone with that understanding also knows that signing a Bobby Wagner-like free agent couldn’t hurt, either.
Last year, the Bengals didn’t do enough at linebacker behind those two to help insulate themselves from disaster when Logan Wilson decided he wanted out. Oren Burks wasn’t enough, and names like Joe Giles-Harris and Shaka Heyward haven’t been exactly lighting training camp or the preseason on fire, either.
Everyone knows the 38-year-old Wagner’s resume at this point. He’d make for a stellar backup, never mind mentor, provided player and team can agree to terms and usage.
If not Wagner, the overall lesson provided by the Cowboys in terms of adding capable depth at needy areas is still something the Bengals should do.
This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Cowboys just gave Bengals obvious free-agency blueprint