Bengals cap space update after season ends

[Arkansas Bengal]

Chris Roling

Tue, Jan 9, 2024, 7:26 PM CST·1 min read

 

2

 

 

The Cincinnati Bengals enter a critical offseason with plenty of cap space to work on the roster.

 

After landing at 9-8 in one of the toughest divisions ever and making a first wave of offseason moves, the Bengals have roughly $60 million in free cap space entering the offseason, per the numbers at Spotrac.

 

That’s good for the sixth-highest mark in the NFL right now, with the top spot sitting on $85 million (Washington).

 

Of course, the catch when looking at this number is that the Bengals have a massive list of free agents, including names like Tee Higgins, DJ Reader, Jonah Williams and Tyler Boyd, to name a few.

 

On top of that, the Bengals will need to pay up on another draft class, and outside free agents and potential extensions for now-eligible guys like Ja’Marr Chase.

 

For now, though, the Bengals appear to have plenty of flexibility before making any other moves that might free up even more cap space.

 

https://sports.yahoo.com/bengals-cap-space-season-ends-012658910.html

[claptonrocks]

Spotrac cap space teams..

 

5th ....Cincinnati.....+60 mil

22...... Baltimore... +5.5 mil

25.......Inbreds ....    -6.7 mil

27.......Cleveland...-13.8 mil

 

31........Buffalo.............- 43.6 mil

32.    ....New Orleans ..- 75.4 mil

 

Id be looking at the Saints roster for a signing..😎

[|BlackJesus|]

^ Saints have been a financial mess for years. It's why the Bengals were able to poach Hendrickson. 

[sparky151]

Saints have been kicking the can down the street for too long. They have a lot of guys who cost more to cut than keep, which is bad. They also have some really bad contracts and now their RT Ryan Ramczyk may be done playing due to a knee injury.

 

They should have cleared their cap after Brees retired, the way Tampa took a lot of hits this season to get past the Brady era.

 

Bengals have the cap space but not the inclination to fill some holes in free agency before the draft, especially if they wait another year for Ja'Mar's extension. If we tag Tee, let Jonah, Reader, ADG, Boyd, and Awuzie walk, and re-sign the other free agents, we would still have a good bit of space to work with. We could afford top tier talent if they hit the market. But we won't go shopping in that aisle. 

[claptonrocks]

2 hours ago, sparky151 said:

Saints have been kicking the can down the street for too long. They have a lot of guys who cost more to cut than keep, which is bad. They also have some really bad contracts and now their RT Ryan Ramczyk may be done playing due to a knee injury.

 

They should have cleared their cap after Brees retired, the way Tampa took a lot of hits this season to get past the Brady era.

 

Bengals have the cap space but not the inclination to fill some holes in free agency before the draft, especially if they wait another year for Ja'Mar's extension. If we tag Tee, let Jonah, Reader, ADG, Boyd, and Awuzie walk, and re-sign the other free agents, we would still have a good bit of space to work with. We could afford top tier talent if they hit the market. But we won't go shopping in that aisle. 

Shop that aisle?

If they were to do as you say they could shop..

Especially if they Tag and trade Tee.

 

[sparky151]

Bengals are fundamentally conservative in their spending. They don't want to go all-in. They call that "mortgaging the future". 

 

So every offseason they are in good cap shape but don't maximize the spending. IMO this past season was the time to go all-in. 

[stryker57]

17 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

Bengals are fundamentally conservative in their spending. They don't want to go all-in. They call that "mortgaging the future". 

 

So every offseason they are in good cap shape but don't maximize the spending. IMO this past season was the time to go all-in. 

yes but with burrow being out or hurt 3/4 of the season, and then Reader went down .. frankly the OL played way under what they was being paid.... so i am glad they didnt , however , this year though if they are going to is the year to. then need reevaluate the OL coach Pollack they just arent getting it done.  , i would franchise Tee (if he doesnt want to sign) hopefully get boyd to stay with a decent but cap manageable 3 yr deal.  let the 12 million dollar RT go.  , then focus on the defense.  we set up to cover the pass , but with our offense being so inept at times we got run over.   

[sparky151]

Yes, with the benefit of hindsight, going all-in for 2023 might have gotten us a wild card slot but we wouldn't be Super Bowl contenders. 

 

IMO we need a much better O-line coach as a first step. We have a veteran, highly paid O-line whose starters didn't miss a single game this year. And we still finished near the bottom of the league O-line rankings and 32nd in rushing yards. 

 

We could tag Tee and sign Chris Jones as the Reader replacement and it still might not matter. 

[claptonrocks]

32 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

Bengals are fundamentally conservative in their spending. They don't want to go all-in. They call that "mortgaging the future". 

 

So every offseason they are in good cap shape but don't maximize the spending. IMO this past season was the time to go all-in. 

I don't think having one of the most expensive O an D lines is considered conservative spending.

 

[T-Dub]

2 hours ago, stryker57 said:

yes but with burrow being out or hurt 3/4 of the season, and then Reader went down .. frankly the OL played way under what they was being paid.... so i am glad they didnt , however , this year though if they are going to is the year to. then need reevaluate the OL coach Pollack they just arent getting it done.  , i would franchise Tee (if he doesnt want to sign) hopefully get boyd to stay with a decent but cap manageable 3 yr deal.  let the 12 million dollar RT go.  , then focus on the defense.  we set up to cover the pass , but with our offense being so inept at times we got run over.   

 

 

Think they've invested too much draft capital at WR to be extending Boyd.  That money needs to be spent where they don't have the depth, namely the OL.

[sparky151]

15 hours ago, claptonrocks said:

I don't think having one of the most expensive O an D lines is considered conservative spending.

 

 

Replacing Bell and Hurst with Scott and Smith because they were cheaper is an example. We have expensive lines because the drafted players and prior free agents weren't very good. Karras is an upgrade over Hopkins, Brown over the likes of Hart, and Cappa over Spain. The team no doubt wishes that Adeniji, Carman, Hill, Smith, etc turned out better but they didn't.

[Jamie_B]

16 hours ago, sparky151 said:

Yes, with the benefit of hindsight, going all-in for 2023 might have gotten us a wild card slot but we wouldn't be Super Bowl contenders. 

 

IMO we need a much better O-line coach as a first step. We have a veteran, highly paid O-line whose starters didn't miss a single game this year. And we still finished near the bottom of the league O-line rankings and 32nd in rushing yards. 

 

We could tag Tee and sign Chris Jones as the Reader replacement and it still might not matter. 

 

 

Was watching the Locked On Bengals guys and they mentioned Reader's knee is the same injury he had that kept him out his first year with us, but that Reader said it is not as bad, so there may be a shorter timeline to get him back. 

 

They won't sign Jones, he's going to command top dollar and is 29 years old. 

 

I think of the guys at the DT spot I would rather have Justin Madubuike but he's more of a 3T as a current 3-4 DE or Justin Jones from the Bears.

Even if we sign Reader again I think we need to add another DT just because we have a bunch of JAGs at the position outside of Hill, and we don't know when Reader could be back, I'd be surprised if it was the start of the season.

[esjbh2]

34 minutes ago, Jamie_B said:

 

 

Was watching the Locked On Bengals guys and they mentioned Reader's knee is the same injury he had that kept him out his first year with us, but that Reader said it is not as bad, so there may be a shorter timeline to get him back. 

 

They won't sign Jones, he's going to command top dollar and is 29 years old. 

 

I think of the guys at the DT spot I would rather have Justin Madubuike but he's more of a 3T as a current 3-4 DE or Justin Jones from the Bears.

Even if we sign Reader again I think we need to add another DT just because we have a bunch of JAGs at the position outside of Hill, and we don't know when Reader could be back, I'd be surprised if it was the start of the season.

I was wondering about this...I watched the brief locker room interview with Reader thingy and my interpretation was the "not as bad" was based on him simply being thru it before and not necessarily because the injury was less severe than last time.  Here's hoping its both!

 

[Jamie_B]

35 minutes ago, esjbh2 said:

I was wondering about this...I watched the brief locker room interview with Reader thingy and my interpretation was the "not as bad" was based on him simply being thru it before and not necessarily because the injury was less severe than last time.  Here's hoping its both!

 

 

Here is hoping.