Jim Owczarski

jowczarski@enquirer.com

The writing had been on the wall for quite some time.

Years, in fact.

It was engraved on Tuesday as The Enquirer has learned through multiple league sources that Kevin Zeitler will sign a 5-year, $60 million contract with the Cleveland Browns, ending his five-year stint as the Cincinnati Bengals’ starting right guard.

Those sources said $31.5 million is guaranteed.

The deal cannot become official until the start of the new league year at 4 p.m., at the earliest, as teams and player agents are only allowed to construct the parameters of a deal at this juncture.

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The Bengals never formally proposed a contract.

The average annual per year value would put Zeitler first in the NFL at the guard position, according to the salary-tracking website spotrac.com.

Kelechi Osemele (Oakland) – $11.7

David DeCastro (Pittsburgh), Kyle Long (Chicago) – $10

Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (Kansas City) – $8.43

Drafted No. 27 overall out of the University of Wisconsin in 2012, Zeitler is one of the few recent draft picks by the Bengals to start from day one. After battling injuries in 2013 and early in 2014, Zeitler has turned into one of the most consistent guards in the NFL and has started 40 straight regular season games. He played every offensive snap for the Bengals in 2016.

The 27-year-old Zeitler was considered the top guard in the free agent market – and one the Bengals knew would be too lucrative for the two sides to find common ground on. Pro Football Focus considered him the top offensive lineman available after giving him an 85.7 rating after allowing just one sack and 14 quarterback pressures on the year.

Cincinnati Bengals free agent tracker

After left guard Clint Boling tested the free agent market in March of 2015 and eventually returned to Cincinnati with a 5-year, $26 million contract, the Bengals and Zeitler had a soft discussion about an extension at a similar number.

Zeitler chose to gamble on himself and shortly thereafter the Bengals picked up his fifth-year option, meaning he would make $8.070 million in 2016.

That single-year number made Zeitler the highest paid guard in the NFL last year in terms of base salary, and established a new floor for an annual value per year.

The guard market turned on its head last offseason, beginning when Oakland signed Kelechi Osemele to a 5-year, $58 million deal, pushing the top of the guard market into elite territory. While at the time it could have been argued that the Raiders had to overspend to reach the salary cap floor, the Chicago Bears (Kyle Long) and Pittsburgh Steelers (David DeCastro) extended their young guards with contracts that paid them $10 million annually.

Bengals Beat Podcast: Free agency primer