Deviating heavily from a conservative approach to free agency once Joe Burrow arrived, the Bengals are likely to revert to that strategy this offseason. With Burrow becoming eligible for an extension, the team will not be looking to infuse its roster with a host of outside signings.
The Bengals loaded up their roster in recent years, primarily on defense from 2020-21 and then focusing on their offensive line last year, through free agency. The franchise’s focus will now shift to paying Burrow and attempting to take care of the core it built.
“The cap will obviously start affecting us,” Bengals pro scouting director Steven Radicevic said, via The Athletic’s Paul Dehner Jr. (subscription required). “We are not going to be able to go out and spend and pay a bunch of guys. We are going to try to keep our own guys.
“The last couple of years we’ve been able to add in free agency and add some pieces places where we were missing guys and add some depth, add starters through free agency. Now it’s going to be keeping our guys, sustain the roster we have and then build through the draft and waiver claims.”
The Bengals have two of their key Day 2 selections in recent years up for free agency — Jessie Bates, Germaine Pratt — and a few of their outside-hire starters (Vonn Bell, Hayden Hurst, Eli Apple) are also just less than a month away from hitting the market. The team is in good position, cap-wise, holding $35.7MM — sixth-most in the league — but the priority will be attempting to re-sign some of these players and planning for the future.
Burrow’s extension has long been expected to come in north of $50MM per year. That will mark a considerable difference from the second contracts the team gave to Carson Palmer and Andy Dalton, though the cap has, save for 2021, continued its annual climb. It will rise nearly $17MM from last year, to $224.8MM, in 2023. That will help franchises, but the Bengals will also have Tee Higgins, Logan Wilson, D.J. Reader and Chidobe Awuzie entering contract years in 2023.
In 2020, the Bengals gave Reader and Trae Waynes big-ticket contracts, which accompanied Burrow’s rookie pact. The team also added Bell on a three-year, $18MM deal. In 2021, the team continued to invest in its defense by adding Awuzie, Trey Hendrickson and Mike Hilton. Key performers Apple, Larry Ogunjobi and Riley Reiff joined on one-year deals; Radicevic noted the team will probably look to using the one-year contract to acquire some outside help this year. The Bengals predictably operated aggressively to address their offensive line last year, bringing in Ted Karras, Alex Cappa and La’el Collins. The latter two’s injuries, along with Awuzie’s, played a significant role in the team falling just short in its bid for back-to-back Super Bowl appearances.
“It’s more just the cap situation in terms of maybe we can’t go out and afford those high-dollar free agents or as many of those as we would have if there wasn’t going to be certain players that will eat up a good chunk of the cap,” Bengals director of college scouting Mike Potts said, via Dehner. “That puts an emphasis on retaining our own guys and keeping that chemistry in the locker room going. You are going to have to make some tough decisions here and there.”
While the Bengals used this batch of signings to complete the best two-year stretch in franchise history this past season, the team will now attempt to keep going with Burrow in a new NFL tax bracket. Although Burrow can be kept on his rookie deal through 2024, the Bengals want to pay him this year. A post-Year 3 extension, save for a couple of recent examples, represents standard operating procedure for teams with marquee quarterbacks.
It will be interesting to see how Cincinnati proceeds in March, as it attempts to manage future costs with immediate needs. Though, the Bengals are in fairly good shape in terms of roster deficiencies.
