Bengals Free Agency 2025

[Jamie_B]

A couple of us were discussing guys in the general thread, we already have a draft thread, so I'm gonna try to direct things here instead.

 

Needs

On Defense - CB, maybe S, Dline, maybe a LB (LBs and S I'd only add contributors, not starters, save future starters for the draft)

On Offense - Maybe G, maybe WR depending on what happens with Tee

 

I'm of the belief we need a Vet CB1 as most of the CBs we have a young and I think it would benefit them to have a Vet in the room. 

 

Give me DJ Reed or Chavarius Ward

 

I think we need to get younger and less expensive on the Dline. I think you cut Rankins. My head tells me cut Hubbard, my heart says have the Joe Mixon take less money to stay conversation with him. Murphy has not produced, I want him to have some competition, I think a cheap yet still young option with a guy who has not lived up to his draft status but might benefit from having to fight for a starting spot would be Chase Young. 

 

Our FAs I think we can keep with little problem would be 

Cam Sample on a one year prove it coming back from injury deal

Mike Gesicki, I'd like this if Tee leaves it gives us a chance to have more 2 TE looks with him and All.

 

Biggest question mark is obviously Tee, but if we can keep Tee and add Reed or Ward as the big offseason get, and fill out the rest with role players that wouldn't break the bank, then head into the draft we can start the rebuild on defense while potentially keeping the O together.

[I_C_Deadpeople]

Signing Tee, Trey and Chase have to be the highest priorities. Jettison a couple of slug contracts as well. That in itself is loads of work for this front office. 
 

I have no issue with youth on D as long as Tee and Chase are signed and we hit the IOL a few times in the top half of the draft. 
 

An average D is all we need. 

[|High School Harry|]

28 minutes ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

Signing Tee, Trey and Chase have to be the highest priorities. Jettison a couple of slug contracts as well. That in itself is loads of work for this front office. 
 

I have no issue with youth on D as long as Tee and Chase are signed and we hit the IOL a few times in the top half of the draft. 
 

An average D is all we need. 

I really hope they can talk Sam Hubbard into retiring a Bengal

rather than cutting him.

 

 

[sparky151]

6 hours ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

Signing Tee, Trey and Chase have to be the highest priorities. Jettison a couple of slug contracts as well. That in itself is loads of work for this front office. 
 

I have no issue with youth on D as long as Tee and Chase are signed and we hit the IOL a few times in the top half of the draft. 
 

An average D is all we need. 

 

We should be getting a new DC after this season and perhaps a new O-line coach too. We need but probably won't get a new GM.

 

Uno and Trey are under contract for next year already. Bengals should extend them but it can be done after the draft. Bengals should tag Tee if they don't have an extension deal done before then. I'd think 3/80 would get it done. Chase should get a mil per year more than Jefferson and recognition as the highest paid non-QB in the league. I'm less confident the Bengals will extend Trey. But they should. 

 

They should also extend Gesicki but he shouldn't be too expensive, maybe 8 mil per year. I'd offer Cam Sample a 2 year deal with minimum salary for year 1 so he can heal up. Ford deserves another year with a raise. Ossai may have suitors from other teams, I doubt any of our other free agents do. Rankins and Hubbard should be cut. Bengals need to upgrade both LG and RG spots. Signing a top tier RG would let us offset his cost with 8 mil in savings from Cappa. If we sign a high end safety, that would let us move on from Stone and save 6 mil but I think he's likely saved his job with his recent interception streak.

 

Outside players I'd make offers to:

 

RG Trey Smith of the Chiefs. They usually re-sign guys they want to keep so he may not hit free agency. But they are paying a lot to their O-line currently so they may not be able to afford him. He'd be a big upgrade on Cappa but probably cost 18 mil per year or more. 

 

DE Haason Reddick of the Jets. He is a good pass rusher who held out this year wanting a raise from his 15 mil salary. He isn't a good run defender so he'd probably be a situational player. He hasn't increased his value with a good season so he's probably still a 15 mil player. 

 

FS Justin Simmons of the Falcons or Justin Reid of the Chiefs. They'll cost more than Stone but also are better players.

 

6 hours ago, High School Harry said:

I really hope they can talk Sam Hubbard into retiring a Bengal

rather than cutting him.

 

 

 

Hard disagree here. He has no reason to retire this offseason when he's under contract for a large number. Someone like Jack Sawyer would be a good replacement for Hubbard at the cost of a 2nd or 3rd round pick. 

 

 

[New Jersey Bengal]

Like the Simmons and smith ideas

[T-Dub]

18 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

 

We should be getting a new DC after this season and perhaps a new O-line coach too. We need but probably won't get a new GM.

 

 

 

Any one of those 3 would come as a surprise.  "Should" has nothing to do with it.

[sparky151]

I'd be surprised if Duke is replaced, though Trey Brown is probably ready. I wouldn't be surprised if Pollack or Anarumo are out. They've been subpar for at least a couple of years so they're already in their extended chance to bounce back.

 

We both know the Bengals aren't proactive but even being antiactive, they can make some changes if they aren't expensive.

 

Both would have a good cost/benefit ratio. 

[Jamie_B]

DJ Reed is ready to leave the Jets.

 

Bring him in.

 

 

[claptonrocks]

18 hours ago, Jamie_B said:

DJ Reed is ready to leave the Jets.

 

Bring him in.

 

 

Solid corner.

 

At what price?

How high is to high?

[claptonrocks]

On 12/30/2024 at 6:18 PM, sparky151 said:

I'd be surprised if Duke is replaced, though Trey Brown is probably ready. I wouldn't be surprised if Pollack or Anarumo are out. They've been subpar for at least a couple of years so they're already in their extended chance to bounce back.

 

We both know the Bengals aren't proactive but even being antiactive, they can make some changes if they aren't expensive.

 

Both would have a good cost/benefit ratio. 

Care to explain your reasoning on Brown?

[I_C_Deadpeople]

Trey Brown has been mentioned in various sports pages over the last year or two as a up and coming GM candidate.

[claptonrocks]

1 hour ago, I_C_Deadpeople said:

Trey Brown has been mentioned in various sports pages over the last year or two as a up and coming GM candidate.

By who?

 

[sparky151]

14 hours ago, claptonrocks said:

Care to explain your reasoning on Brown?

 

Sure. As noted he's considered to be a rising candidate and future GM. He's been interviewed for GM jobs by other teams. If you're not aware, he's unrelated to Mike Brown. 

[claptonrocks]

22 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

 

Sure. As noted he's considered to be a rising candidate and future GM. He's been interviewed for GM jobs by other teams. If you're not aware, he's unrelated to Mike Brown. 

Allright then..tks 

[T-Dub]

3 hours ago, sparky151 said:

 

Sure. As noted he's considered to be a rising candidate and future GM. He's been interviewed for GM jobs by other teams. If you're not aware, he's unrelated to Mike Brown. 

 

He also had a brief NFL career with the Bears and worked as a scout/FO guy for other teams, so he isn't a Bengals lifer.

 

That's 3 things in his favor over Tobin if you consider pets part of the family.

[MichaelWeston]

This is where I have the roster going into the offseason

 

QB	Burrow 29	Browning 26	Woodside
RB	Brown 27			Brightwell	Milton
WR	Chase 26		Burgess
WR	Higgins 25	Burton 28	Pryor
WR	Iosivas 27	Williams 27	Jones 27
TE	Gesicki 25	Sample 27	All 28	Hudson 25	Grandy 25	McClachlan 28
LT	Brown 27	Ford 25
LG		Volson 26
C	Karras 26	Lee 28	Hill
RG		Kirkland 25	Manning
RT	Mims 29	Cochran 25	Steuber 25	Coker
K	McPherson 28	York 25
P	Rehkow 25
LS	Adomitis 25
LE	Murphy 27		Sample 25	Johnson
LT	Jenkins 28	Jackson 28	Tufele 25
RT	Hill 25		Davis
RE	Hendrickson 26	Ossai 25	Johnson 28	Thomas 25
WLB	Pratt 26	Bachie 25	Heyward 25
MLB	Wilson 28	Njongmeta 27	Young
S		Anthony 28	Key
S	Battle 27	Anderson 26	Jules
CB	Hill 27	Newton 28	Abraham	Robinson 28
CB	Turner 27	Taylor-Britt 26	Brooks
NB		Ivey 27	Davis

 

 

This assumes they cut Cappa-Stone-Rankins-Hubbard-Moss. That saves nearly 40M

You have 100M available

1-Higgins should be tagged for about 26M. That is regardless if we want to keep him. FA and the draft are weak at WR so you should tag him no matter what because we will likely get a first or early 2nd for him. 

2-I would hope Hill is back, that's probably about 12M

3-Lets say Gesicki back for 6M

4-Ossai back for lets say 8M, I am not sure that's really accurate. 

5-Bache-Sample-Ford-Tufele-Hudson all back on league minimum deals who could be dropped in camp. 

That would put us at about 40M available for free agency

 

Your holes are

RB-depth I'd like to see Herbert back for the league minimum

WR-probably draft a guy maybe highly if Tee is gone

TE-Could use another 2 way guy

OL-2 new guards and a swing tackle, Maybe your RG is Kirkland or Volson or Lee. New LG needed

DT-Need an impact rotational guy

DE-Need an impact rotational guy

LB-Big question around Pratt

S-Need at least one new starter depending on your thoughts on Battle, probably a backup veteran

CB-Will need a new starter, maybe that's a nickel guy with Hilton gone maybe that's an outside guy

 

If Tee is gone you go from 40M to 65M available. 

 

You also have to figure in extensions for Chase and Trey but those shouldn't count against this year's cap. 

Impact/starters needed at LG, RG, DT, DE, S, CB Maybe another S and maybe another WR. 

 

If you are looking at ways to save maybe

LG-Karras and Lee at C

RG-Kirkland, Volson or Lee

DT-Not really anyone

DE-Ced Johnson

S-Battle

S-Anderson/Anthony

CB-You got so many snaps at this position that some sort of mix could work. 

 

[New Jersey Bengal]

Awesome work as usual!

[claptonrocks]

45 minutes ago, MichaelWeston said:

This is where I have the roster going into the offseason

 

QB	Burrow 29	Browning 26	Woodside
RB	Brown 27			Brightwell	Milton
WR	Chase 26		Burgess
WR	Higgins 25	Burton 28	Pryor
WR	Iosivas 27	Williams 27	Jones 27
TE	Gesicki 25	Sample 27	All 28	Hudson 25	Grandy 25	McClachlan 28
LT	Brown 27	Ford 25
LG		Volson 26
C	Karras 26	Lee 28	Hill
RG		Kirkland 25	Manning
RT	Mims 29	Cochran 25	Steuber 25	Coker
K	McPherson 28	York 25
P	Rehkow 25
LS	Adomitis 25
LE	Murphy 27		Sample 25	Johnson
LT	Jenkins 28	Jackson 28	Tufele 25
RT	Hill 25		Davis
RE	Hendrickson 26	Ossai 25	Johnson 28	Thomas 25
WLB	Pratt 26	Bachie 25	Heyward 25
MLB	Wilson 28	Njongmeta 27	Young
S		Anthony 28	Key
S	Battle 27	Anderson 26	Jules
CB	Hill 27	Newton 28	Abraham	Robinson 28
CB	Turner 27	Taylor-Britt 26	Brooks
NB		Ivey 27	Davis

 

 

This assumes they cut Cappa-Stone-Rankins-Hubbard-Moss. That saves nearly 40M

You have 100M available

1-Higgins should be tagged for about 26M. That is regardless if we want to keep him. FA and the draft are weak at WR so you should tag him no matter what because we will likely get a first or early 2nd for him. 

2-I would hope Hill is back, that's probably about 12M

3-Lets say Gesicki back for 6M

4-Ossai back for lets say 8M, I am not sure that's really accurate. 

5-Bache-Sample-Ford-Tufele-Hudson all back on league minimum deals who could be dropped in camp. 

That would put us at about 40M available for free agency

 

Your holes are

RB-depth I'd like to see Herbert back for the league minimum

WR-probably draft a guy maybe highly if Tee is gone

TE-Could use another 2 way guy

OL-2 new guards and a swing tackle, Maybe your RG is Kirkland or Volson or Lee. New LG needed

DT-Need an impact rotational guy

DE-Need an impact rotational guy

LB-Big question around Pratt

S-Need at least one new starter depending on your thoughts on Battle, probably a backup veteran

CB-Will need a new starter, maybe that's a nickel guy with Hilton gone maybe that's an outside guy

 

If Tee is gone you go from 40M to 65M available. 

 

You also have to figure in extensions for Chase and Trey but those shouldn't count against this year's cap. 

Impact/starters needed at LG, RG, DT, DE, S, CB Maybe another S and maybe another WR. 

 

If you are looking at ways to save maybe

LG-Karras and Lee at C

RG-Kirkland, Volson or Lee

DT-Not really anyone

DE-Ced Johnson

S-Battle

S-Anderson/Anthony

CB-You got so many snaps at this position that some sort of mix could work. 

 

 

 

My thoughts on Oline.

RDE..Trey... ......Murphy 

3T.....Jenkins....Hill

NT....Jackson...Hill

LDE .. Ossai.....Sample.

 

Your comment on Lee to C and

Karras to G may change the Oline for the better if Lee is ready for it.

 

 

[sparky151]

11 hours ago, MichaelWeston said:

This is where I have the roster going into the offseason

 

QB	Burrow 29	Browning 26	Woodside
RB	Brown 27			Brightwell	Milton
WR	Chase 26		Burgess
WR	Higgins 25	Burton 28	Pryor
WR	Iosivas 27	Williams 27	Jones 27
TE	Gesicki 25	Sample 27	All 28	Hudson 25	Grandy 25	McClachlan 28
LT	Brown 27	Ford 25
LG		Volson 26
C	Karras 26	Lee 28	Hill
RG		Kirkland 25	Manning
RT	Mims 29	Cochran 25	Steuber 25	Coker
K	McPherson 28	York 25
P	Rehkow 25
LS	Adomitis 25
LE	Murphy 27		Sample 25	Johnson
LT	Jenkins 28	Jackson 28	Tufele 25
RT	Hill 25		Davis
RE	Hendrickson 26	Ossai 25	Johnson 28	Thomas 25
WLB	Pratt 26	Bachie 25	Heyward 25
MLB	Wilson 28	Njongmeta 27	Young
S		Anthony 28	Key
S	Battle 27	Anderson 26	Jules
CB	Hill 27	Newton 28	Abraham	Robinson 28
CB	Turner 27	Taylor-Britt 26	Brooks
NB		Ivey 27	Davis

 

 

This assumes they cut Cappa-Stone-Rankins-Hubbard-Moss. That saves nearly 40M

You have 100M available

1-Higgins should be tagged for about 26M. That is regardless if we want to keep him. FA and the draft are weak at WR so you should tag him no matter what because we will likely get a first or early 2nd for him. 

2-I would hope Hill is back, that's probably about 12M

3-Lets say Gesicki back for 6M

4-Ossai back for lets say 8M, I am not sure that's really accurate. 

5-Bache-Sample-Ford-Tufele-Hudson all back on league minimum deals who could be dropped in camp. 

That would put us at about 40M available for free agency

 

Your holes are

RB-depth I'd like to see Herbert back for the league minimum

WR-probably draft a guy maybe highly if Tee is gone

TE-Could use another 2 way guy

OL-2 new guards and a swing tackle, Maybe your RG is Kirkland or Volson or Lee. New LG needed

DT-Need an impact rotational guy

DE-Need an impact rotational guy

LB-Big question around Pratt

S-Need at least one new starter depending on your thoughts on Battle, probably a backup veteran

CB-Will need a new starter, maybe that's a nickel guy with Hilton gone maybe that's an outside guy

 

If Tee is gone you go from 40M to 65M available. 

 

You also have to figure in extensions for Chase and Trey but those shouldn't count against this year's cap. 

Impact/starters needed at LG, RG, DT, DE, S, CB Maybe another S and maybe another WR. 

 

If you are looking at ways to save maybe

LG-Karras and Lee at C

RG-Kirkland, Volson or Lee

DT-Not really anyone

DE-Ced Johnson

S-Battle

S-Anderson/Anthony

CB-You got so many snaps at this position that some sort of mix could work. 

 

 

I wouldn't pay Hill 12 mil or Ossai 8. Apart from Hendrickson, our D-line was pretty poor and needs a talent upgrade. Agree with cutting Hubbard and Rankins. I have hopes for Jenkins and Jackson. Sample was a useful depth guy in prior years so re-signing him is a good idea but we shouldn't expect a lot from him in 2025. Tufele is ok for depth. Depending on who hits the market, we may need to use both a fair amount of cap space and an early pick at DE or DT.

 

There will be several guards on the market who are upgrades on Volson and Cappa. Trey Smith will be an expensive option, in the Kevin Dotson or Robert Hunt contract territory. But signing him lets them save 8 mil from cutting Cappa which makes it more palatable. Middle class options would be Kevin Zeitler if he doesn't re-sign in Detroit, Tevin Jenkins, Patrick Mekhari, etc. They're in the 8-10 mil per year range. We need another RB for depth but it's a young man's position so I'd rather use a day 3 pick on a physical, short yardage guy than sign a vet. 

 

We need some LB depth. I'd like to sign Isaiah Simmons from the Giants. He's super athletic and can cover TEs. He also didn't have much of a market last year and signed fairly cheaply. In the secondary, we need someone better than Stone. There are a number of vets available and we should be able to get an upgrade for 10 mil or less. I'd stick with Battle as the SS starter for 2025. At CB, we have plenty of bodies, just need a higher level guy who can be a CB1 and bump everyone else down a spot. I'd rather draft Ben Morrison at 16 than sign Carlton Davis or DJ Reed to a big contract. 

 

It sounds like we're going to resign Higgins, presumably before tags are due. We can and should extend Chase and Hendrickson but that doesn't have to be done early. We should probably exercise the 5th year option on Dax Hill too. 

[claptonrocks]

18 minutes ago, sparky151 said:

 

I wouldn't pay Hill 12 mil or Ossai 8. Apart from Hendrickson, our D-line was pretty poor and needs a talent upgrade. Agree with cutting Hubbard and Rankins. I have hopes for Jenkins and Jackson. Sample was a useful depth guy in prior years so re-signing him is a good idea but we shouldn't expect a lot from him in 2025. Tufele is ok for depth. Depending on who hits the market, we may need to use both a fair amount of cap space and an early pick at DE or DT.

 

There will be several guards on the market who are upgrades on Volson and Cappa. Trey Smith will be an expensive option, in the Kevin Dotson or Robert Hunt contract territory. But signing him lets them save 8 mil from cutting Cappa which makes it more palatable. Middle class options would be Kevin Zeitler if he doesn't re-sign in Detroit, Tevin Jenkins, Patrick Mekhari, etc. They're in the 8-10 mil per year range. We need another RB for depth but it's a young man's position so I'd rather use a day 3 pick on a physical, short yardage guy than sign a vet. 

 

We need some LB depth. I'd like to sign Isaiah Simmons from the Giants. He's super athletic and can cover TEs. He also didn't have much of a market last year and signed fairly cheaply. In the secondary, we need someone better than Stone. There are a number of vets available and we should be able to get an upgrade for 10 mil or less. I'd stick with Battle as the SS starter for 2025. At CB, we have plenty of bodies, just need a higher level guy who can be a CB1 and bump everyone else down a spot. I'd rather draft Ben Morrison at 16 than sign Carlton Davis or DJ Reed to a big contract. 

 

It sounds like we're going to resign Higgins, presumably before tags are due. We can and should extend Chase and Hendrickson but that doesn't have to be done early. We should probably exercise the 5th year option on Dax Hill too. 

I don't think Hill or Ossai anything close to your presumed figures.

 

Ossai around 5

Hill around 7.

Ossai should get the nod starting at LDE

Hill is valuable as a duel DT at 3T and NT.

 

Might depend on longevity of contracts.

Hill.......2 yrs...14 mil

Ossai...2 yrs...10 mil

 

You think that would work for team and players??

 

[|High School Harry|]

22 hours ago, sparky151 said:

 

Sure. As noted he's considered to be a rising candidate and future GM. He's been interviewed for GM jobs by other teams. If you're not aware, he's unrelated to Mike Brown. 

Are you sure about that?

[MichaelWeston]

1 hour ago, claptonrocks said:

I don't think Hill or Ossai anything close to your presumed figures.

 

Ossai around 5

Hill around 7.

Ossai should get the nod starting at LDE

Hill is valuable as a duel DT at 3T and NT.

 

Might depend on longevity of contracts.

Hill.......2 yrs...14 mil

Ossai...2 yrs...10 mil

 

You think that would work for team and players??

 

Hill will be 30 but here are the contracts for DTs signed last year. Hill is the 25th rated DT on PFF.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/contracts/_/year/2024/position/dt/sort/average/dir/desc

I assume he is in much more demand than you are listing

 

Ossai will be one of the few DEs on the market, He will only be 25 for next season. Although he only had 4.5 sacks this year they were all from week 11 on. That's good for the 9th best over those 6 weeks. I wouldn't doubt if 8 million was too low. 

 

Here are the DE contracts from last year

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/contracts/_/year/2024/position/edge/sort/average/dir/desc

Danna, Armstrong, Espenesa and Gross-Matos are comps. They go from 6 to 11 Million per

[claptonrocks]

26 minutes ago, MichaelWeston said:

 

Hill will be 30 but here are the contracts for DTs signed last year. Hill is the 25th rated DT on PFF.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/contracts/_/year/2024/position/dt/sort/average/dir/desc

I assume he is in much more demand than you are listing

 

Ossai will be one of the few DEs on the market, He will only be 25 for next season. Although he only had 4.5 sacks this year they were all from week 11 on. That's good for the 9th best over those 6 weeks. I wouldn't doubt if 8 million was too low. 

 

Here are the DE contracts from last year

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/contracts/_/year/2024/position/edge/sort/average/dir/desc

Danna, Armstrong, Espenesa and Gross-Matos are comps. They go from 6 to 11 Million per

I don't fully trust Ossai yet.

Do the Bengals?

I don't think Hill gets more than 7 mil per from any team.

I'm also wrong alot..😊

 

 

[Cricket]

3 hours ago, sparky151 said:

 

It sounds like we're going to resign Higgins, presumably before tags are due.  

What have you heard/read that makes you say this?  [I’m not trying to be a smartass, just genuinely would like to know what has been said for you to come to this conclusion.]. 
 

🦗

 

 

[sparky151]

4 hours ago, claptonrocks said:

I don't think Hill or Ossai anything close to your presumed figures.

 

Ossai around 5

Hill around 7.

Ossai should get the nod starting at LDE

Hill is valuable as a duel DT at 3T and NT.

 

Might depend on longevity of contracts.

Hill.......2 yrs...14 mil

Ossai...2 yrs...10 mil

 

You think that would work for team and players??

 

 

The 12 and 8 came from Weston. 

 

3 hours ago, MichaelWeston said:

 

Hill will be 30 but here are the contracts for DTs signed last year. Hill is the 25th rated DT on PFF.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/contracts/_/year/2024/position/dt/sort/average/dir/desc

I assume he is in much more demand than you are listing

 

Ossai will be one of the few DEs on the market, He will only be 25 for next season. Although he only had 4.5 sacks this year they were all from week 11 on. That's good for the 9th best over those 6 weeks. I wouldn't doubt if 8 million was too low. 

 

Here are the DE contracts from last year

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/contracts/_/year/2024/position/edge/sort/average/dir/desc

Danna, Armstrong, Espenesa and Gross-Matos are comps. They go from 6 to 11 Million per

 

Hill is completing a 3 year contract signed after he had 8 sacks in the final year of his rookie deal. He hasn't come close to that since. So he's not really in line for a raise even though the cap has gone up. Getting older and less productive translates to lower pay.

 

Ossai isn't a full time starter like the other guys you compare him to. He was the backup to Hubbard this season and the team would like Murphy to take over that role. Maybe he'll be in demand in free agency but his career says "buyer beware". 

1 hour ago, Cricket said:

What have you heard/read that makes you say this?  [I’m not trying to be a smartass, just genuinely would like to know what has been said for you to come to this conclusion.]. 
 

🦗

 

 

 

Tee's change of agent seems like an obvious sign along with Khinkabwalla's (sp?) report on him wanting to stay, along with Burrow's remarks. Last year he said he would have taken the Pittman deal, 3/70. His price will be higher now as the market has risen but it's very doable if the team is so inclined. 

 

To put it another way, the team has to spend the money somewhere and I think they will be better able to spend it on Tee than on convincing outside free agents to come here.