State of the Position: The Bengals have nothing but questions at defensive end.

I’m on an island here but I’m not a huge Trey Hendrickson guy. He only has a bull rush and his back is constantly nagging him. He’s 31 and played sparingly in 2025. I’m hopeful for a tag and trade for anything we can get, but I’m not upset we are closing the door.

Joseph Ossai and Cam Sample are both free agents as well. Ossai had five sacks again. I’m sure he would be welcomed back at the right price, but some places say around 11 million per. He’s just 26 and still rising. Sample is 26 as well but played just 234 snaps coming off an injury. He might be back on a league minimum deal but isn’t a pocket pusher.

Myles Murphy finally lived up to his draft promise near the end of the year. They will need to make a decision to pick up his fifth year option and it’s likely they do so. Murphy had 5.5 sacks but his motor and impact was evident.

Shemar Stewart will be back after an injury plagued year kept him off the field. He didn’t make an impact but he flashed a bit playing both outside and inside on passing downs. His versatility is interesting.

I have always been a fan of Cedric Johnson. He had 207 snaps and two sacks. Isaiah Foskey will be back after playing just 34 snaps. The former Notre Dame defensive end played for Golden in South Bend. Finally,

Antwaun Powell-Ryland was added to the offseason roster as well. He was a 2025 Eagles 6^th rounder who had 16 sacks, 19 tackles for loss, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries during his final season at Virginia Tech.

Needs: Progression from their young pass rushers and at least one more impact pass rusher. In a deep pass rushing draft there is almost certainly going to be one drafted but the free agency class is deep and diverse as well. We should be able to get a veteran bargain.

Options

There are two distinct types of DEs available to meet our needs. Young and Old….and amongst each are impact players and flyers

Young-Impact

Maxx Crosby reportedly is on the trading block, and we have the rights to the best pass rusher available, not named Maxx Crosby. Crosby is 29 and signed through 2029 at 30M, 29M, 26.5M and 27.4M. He’s affordable and impactful. Last year had had 10 sacks and 31 hurries but most impressive for me is 73 tackles and 28 tackles for loss.

Jaelan Phillips might be the second most sought after free agent pass rusher. He’s just 27 and while he has only had 32 career sacks, PFF credited him with 57 hurries last year.

Arnold Ebiketie was the most realistic option should we not go all in Crosby. A former early second rounder who had seasons of 6 and 7 sacks, Ebiketie is 27 and seemed to fall out of favor in Atlanta after they chose James Pearce and Jalon Walker in the first-round last year. But Pearce was arrested on five felony counts. These situations could fall anywhere between nothing happens to he’s out of the league. Regardless, it’s more likely now that Ebiketie returns to Atlanta.

Odafe Oweh is 27 and had 7 sacks this last year. He’s averaged 30 hurries a season in his five-year career. The former first rounder for Baltimore. Has been mentioned by Paul Dehner as being at the top of this class, but I don’t really see what makes him stand out over Ebiketie.

Boye Mafe is another name Dehner has mentioned. He only had 2 sacks this year but has had seasons with nine and six. The last year years he has had 42-36-36 hurries. He’s also just 27.

Kwity Paye is the last of the high end young defensive ends to hit the market. He didn’t have a great year with just four sacks, but that number was the lowest in his five year career. He is 27 as well and a former first rounder.

Rashan Gary is a rumored cap casualty in Green Bay where they will save 10M with his release. He is 28 and played for our defensive line coach in Green Bay for several seasons. He’s averaged 8 sacks and 35 hurries over his last six seasons.

Joseph Ossai, who is 26, probably falls in this list for teams outside of the Bengals.

Young-Flyers

Josh Uche is just 27 and had the best PFF numbers of the free agent class but he’s failed to produce over his career. He has 22 sacks in his six year career that included one season with 12. He’s never played over 373 snaps in a season.

Malcolm Koonce rebounded from an IR stint in 2024 to grab five sacks in 2025. He’s 28 now and might be worth a flyer if his market doesn’t materialize.

Sam Williams is only interesting in that he was decent in was decent in 22 and 23 before an IR stint in 24 and he might come very cheap. He’s 27

DJ Wonnum is 28 and has had 32 sacks over his stops in Minnesota and Carolina. He’s very lowly rated by PFF but had three sacks and 25 hurries this season.

Old-Impact

Khalil Mack is 35 but he had great PFF numbers to go with 5.5 sacks. Mack is a team captain who made 18 million last year. He was coached by Desai 2019-2021. Over his career, he’s had 119 career sacks and 552 hurries.

Joey Bosa might be a real option in Cincinnati given his relationship with Burrow. He had five sacks las year playing on a 12-million-dollar deal. He was also a captain. Bosa had 30 hurries last year to go with 29 tackles. He’s 31.

Jadeveon Clowney is my favorite of the group. He played on a one year 3.45 million dollar deal last year and had 8.5sacks, 4 passes defended and 29 hurries. He’s 33 and has had 70 career sacks with 39 coming over the last five years. He had 41 tackles.

Dante Fowler is another Dallas free agent. He had three sacks and three passes defensed but just 15 tackles. He’s 32 and has 66 career sacks. Last year he made six million.

Cameron Jordan is the oldest of the olds at 37. Yet he checks off every other box. He was a captain last year and cheap at one year 6.5million. He had 47 tackles, 10.5sacks, 15 tackles for loss and 21 hurries.

Al Quadin Muhammad had a breakout year last year with 12 sacks. He had 16 total the rest of his seven years. He is 31 and was just on a 1-year deal for 1.4Million.

Von Miller is 37 and still impactful with 9 sacks last year. He also had 22 hurries.

Old-Flyers

Jihad Ward had terrible PFF grades. He’s 32 and had 5 sacks last year with 22 hits and 21 hurries. What makes him interesting is that he was still impactful on a one year 1.4 million dollar deal.

With a deep draft I think that you probably target a defensive end in one of the first rounds. That likely means you don’t also target a high end young long term defensive end. I’d welcome a Raiders trade for Maxx Crosby but I think it’s more likely this group is improved by an early pick and someone like Jadeveon Clowney. A unit of Murphy-Clowney-Stewart-Draft Pick is probably impactful. And Clowney can be the leader the young group needs.

After Trey there is not a reliable starting DE left on the roster. If you think Murphy turning it on against the likes of Miami or the Cardinals means something we can call him a "maybe". No one else has shown much of anything at all.

They're faced with starting 2 first round picks & neither have really earned that position. I doubt they want to throw another high draft pick at the position and I don't think they want to pay another top pass rusher in FA. I expect they will ignore their shortcomings, glaze Murphy & Stewart all offseason and then start them anyway.

Oweh would make a lot of sense as the Hendrickson replacement. After being traded from Baltimore to San Diego, he popped with a lot of sacks in a short period. He's a physical specimen who ran under 4.4 with a 39" vertical at Penn State. He and Ebiketie were the starting DEs there. Oweh went by Jayson when he was in college.

Oweh or Phillips will likely be the most expensive of this year's free agent DEs but he'd save them from having to use an early pick at the position.

19 hours ago, sparky151 said:

Oweh or Phillips will likely be the most expensive of this year's free agent DEs

I suspect they've convinced themselves Murphy and Stewart are ready to go. Generally speaking I don't really see them doing "most expensive" anything in FA.

4 hours ago, T-Dub said:

I suspect they've convinced themselves Murphy and Stewart are ready to go. Generally speaking I don't really see them doing "most expensive" anything in FA.

Maybe we should say Dufus will 'attack from the fringes'?

6 hours ago, T-Dub said:

I suspect they've convinced themselves Murphy and Stewart are ready to go. Generally speaking I don't really see them doing "most expensive" anything in FA.

I believe that's what's called "motivated reasoning".