Should the Steelers have interest in trading for Bengals OT Jonah Williams?

It's not often that a team could be looking to trade a 25-year-old offensive tackle that they took with the 11th overall pick. However, that could be what the Cincinnati Bengals have in mind after the latest fallout. Whether they would be willing to make a deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers is a different question entirely.

The Bengals recently forked up for left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. in Free agency. Now Jonah Williams has requested a trade, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

Williams is currently set to play on the fifth-year option for Cincinnati with a guaranteed salary of just over $12.6 million, according to Over the Cap. This isn't a bad figure for a team who views him as a legitimate option at left tackle. But should the Steelers have any interest in Williams?

Steelers should not make a trade for Jonah Williams

Because he has been in the AFC North for the past four seasons, I've seen a lot of Jonah Williams over the years, and what I've seen hasn't been very impressive. Though the former Alabama tackle was considered a very good prospect out of college, his game hasn't translated well to the pros.

At 6'4'' and 302 pounds with 33 5/8'' arms coming into the league, Williams is a grossly undersized offensive tackle by NFL standards, and his lack of length and anchoring power shows up often on film. Though he has earned some respectable marks in the past, Williams is coming off the worst-graded season of his career so far as his 61.0 overall grade ranked just 61st out of 81 qualifying NFL tackles this past season.

While I do believe that the Steelers need to upgrade both offensive tackle positions and they should be content with Dan Moore and Chukwuma Okorafor as starters long-term, I don't think trading for Jonah Williams is the way to go. I would rather spend early draft capital on a potentially better player at a much cheaper price.

Even if the idea of getting a 25-year-old left tackle does sound enticing to the Steelers, the Bengals front office might choose to shut those conversations down before they even begin, as Cincinnati could potentially aid the Steelers in this move. However, we have seen Pittsburgh pull off trades with Baltimore in the past, so who knows?

Considering that Williams has a guaranteed salary and will need a new deal, I'm not sure if a team would be willing to give up more than a day-two draft choice for him at this point. Still, the idea of getting a former 11th overall pick with 47 starts at left tackle will be intriguing to some teams.

Either way, I think I've seen enough of Jonah Williams to be out on him when it comes to a potential in-division trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers. I would prefer that we find OT talent via the NFL Draft this year.