Ted Karras reveals what he said to Trent Brown before Bengals signed their new right tackle

2024 will be the third year Ted Karras and Trent Brown will spend as teammates.

After two separate seasons with the New England Patriots, Karras and Brown now find themselves starters for the Cincinnati Bengals' offensive line, hoping to each capture their second Super Bowl rings with another title contender.

Karras arrived here first just over two years ago, and he can credit himself as a reason why Brown eventually followed him to the Queen City.

Brown told reporters last week that Karras gave his input on the culture of the Bengals. The words of a former teammate mattered just as much as seeing him in the facility getting ready to workout in the middle of March. 

Karras then gave a rundown of what Brown had asked him prior to agreeing to terms.

"He just wanted to kind of get a feel of our coaches and the staff, and the general vibe of the program," Karras told Elise Jesse of AllBengals.com. "And we have amazing coaches and a really, really great culture. So I told him all that. I talked to the coaches too. I think this is such a great fit. And a guy who's done it at the top of the league for a long time."

Natural talent is as synonymous with Brown as questionable motor. Motivation issues and weight fluctuation has followed his nine-year career and greatly cut in to his potential earnings as a player. 

For Brown to give the most he has as a player, he needs to be in the right environment, surrounded by the right people. Karras is an instrumental first step towards establishing the fit in Cincinnati. 

Brown isn't the only new Bengal set to reunite with former teammates. Defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins and safety Vonn Bell are in the fold set to play again with familiar faces on defense. Both of them make up a promising class of new veteran additions; all set to gel together for another run at the Super Bowl.

"I'm really excited about the guys we have," Karras said. "We're going to add some more guys obviously in the draft, but I think we got we got the guys to do something special."