CINCINNATI -- News about A.J. Hawk's release from the Green Bay Packers had barely hit social media before Cincinnati Bengals fans lit up Twitter with inquiries about whether one of the Buckeye State's most beloved sons could fit with their team.
On the surface, it makes a ton of sense.
The Bengals desperately need help at linebacker following a season that saw the position get decimated by injury. To ensure they don't go through another season like that, it appears they will turn to free agency to sign a smart, experienced veteran who should assimilate into their system more quickly than a draft prospect.
Hawk, a 31-year-old, nine-year vet, fits the above criteria.
"If you can get a veteran guy, OK now on draft day you're not sitting there saying, 'We've got to get one,'" defensive coordinator and former linebackers coach Paul Guenther said at the NFL combine last week. "If you get one [in the draft], then it's icing on the cake."
The Bengals might draft an additional linebacker, but they do want to get one ahead of it.
A native of nearby Kettering, Ohio, Hawk is an Ohio State product who played high school and college ball with Bengals kicker and upcoming unrestricted free agent Mike Nugent. Nugent will likely be re-signed. Many who blasted social media Wednesday night wondering about Hawk were most enamored with the potential for his homecoming and reunion.
As fun as that sounds, there are reasons to wonder if home would be the perfect fit for Hawk.
Specifically, a bad ankle and advancing age appear to be slowing down a career that was once defined by passionate and reckless, yet controlled, play.
ESPN Packers reporter Rob Demovsky wrote Wednesday that Hawk didn't play much by the end of last season. He played 31 or fewer snaps in each of the Packers' final seven games, including the playoffs. In four of those games, he appeared on less than 20 snaps, playing primarily in Green Bay's base 3-4 package.
The lateral movement, as Demovsky mentioned, just isn't what it once was.
Also, there is a question of fit. Although he's an inside linebacker, Hawk was featured in a base scheme the Bengals don't use. As defensive coaches are quick to remind, even teams that start drives in a 3-4 eventually show semblances of a 4-3 front as they transition into nickel packages on third downs. But the fact that Hawk was being used purely in 3-4 formations doesn't bode well for his ability to cover space in a 4-3-focused system.
A noted run-stopper, Hawk probably would play a position that still is occupied by Rey Maualuga. The Bengals middle linebacker, too, is entering free agency but, for now, seems poised to return.
The deeper below the surface we go, the less a potential Hawk signing makes sense -- unless it's about depth.
Here is all you need to know about how bad the injuries were for the Bengals at linebacker: reserve Vincent Rey, who more than doubled his highest snap-count production in 2014, was the team's leading tackler with 121 stops.
Leadership also was an issue in the latter half of the season when Maualuga missed time with a hamstring issue and Vontaze Burfict was sidelined following his mid-season knee injury. Without the pair, the Bengals' huddle suffered an emotional blow.
With uncertainty about how Burfict bounces back from microfracture surgery, and the uncertainty about Maualuga's status, having some leadership insurance could help.
One look at this video Hawk released Wednesday and you will be convinced he could provide it.
Hawk can be a Bengals fit, but is he a perfect fit? Only the Bengals' decision-makers can determine that.
