The Cincinnati Bengals offensive line has been the topic of much discussion since quarterback Joe Burrow entered the league in 2020. Perhaps it might have been the biggest reason the team failed to win the Super Bowl despite making deep runs in the 2021 and 2022 playoffs.
Now, one of those members of that team has surprisingly announced his retirement despite recently joining the Baltimore Ravens in free agency.
The Baltimore Ravens posted on their website: "Tackle Hakeem Adeniji was placed on the reserve/retired list on Sunday, just eight days after signing with the Ravens.
Adeniji's experience at both tackle and guard made him a candidate to add depth for the Ravens' offensive line. Now, the Ravens will turn to other options."
Hakeem Adeniji, who was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the sixth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, started 15 games for the team over a three-year period. Additionally, Adeniji started seven playoff games for the Bengals during their previously mentioned playoff runs.
Regarding the news, Bengals Wire's Chris Roling wrote: "Still just 28 years old, Adeniji has bounced around with teams like Minnesota and Cleveland before joining the Ravens this offseason.
As for the Bengals, they have revamped things over the years and finally return the same starting five offensive linemen for a second season for the first time in the Joe Burrow era."
Despite being a success story, Cincinnati relying on Adeniji during key playoff games was likely not a good thing. In 2021, Adeniji was a bottom-10 guard in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus, as he struggled in both run blocking and pass protection. He improved slightly during 2022, but it was not enough for him to become a fixture of the offensive line.
Even though Adeniji might have carved a role as a depth piece for the Ravens, it appears he opted for retirement. Meanwhile, Cincinnati's offensive line seems to be in a better place than it was during Adeniji's tenure with the team.
Heading into the 2026 season, the Cincinnati Bengals offensive line was listed as one of the reasons for optimism by Pro Football Focus' Gordon McGuinness. McGuinness wrote during his Bengals season preview: "The Bengals' offensive line has been much maligned in recent years, but it performed at an average level in the second half of last season. From Weeks 10-18, just one starting offensive lineman earned a PFF overall grade below 60.0. That came after only one starter earned a PFF overall grade above 60.0 in the first half of the season.
The biggest improvement came in pass protection, where four of the Bengals' five starters earned PFF pass-blocking grades of 74.0 or better. They shouldn't be expected to field a top-five offensive line, but they have the potential to be an average unit in 2026."
Despite the improvement, it appears the narrative that Cincinnati can't protect Joe Burrow has not quieted down. Head coach Zac Taylor recently said regarding that narrative, "Sometimes nationally, there's a really lazy narrative that our offensive line isn't very good because they look at years ago and some issues we had. That has not been the case for us. These guys have performed as well as any unit in the league."
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