Bengals Offseason Preview: Impending Free Agents, Draft Picks, and Top Needs

Perhaps no team in the NFL left more meat on the bone of their regular season than the Cincinnati Bengals.

Cincinnati ended up wasting an MVP-caliber season from Joe Burrow and won "triple crown" from Ja'Marr Chase, who led the NFL in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. They went 9-8 and missed the final AFC playoff spot on a tiebreaker.

The Bengals' offseason is much more complicated than "fixing the defense", though. Both Chase and Tee Higgins have contract troubles, the offensive line allowed 48 sacks, and the team is looking for several new position coaches.

Burrow will have Cincinnati in the playoff mix if he's healthy, but how can the 2022 AFC Champions return to Super Bowl contention?

Bengals' 2024 Schedule-Adjusted Rankings

• Overall Offense: 8th
• Pass Offense: 6th
• Rush Offense: 19th
• Overall Defense: 23rd
• Pass Defense: 15th
• Rush Defense: 26th

Bengals' Impending 2025 Free Agents

• Tee Higgins, WR
• B.J. Hill, DT
• Mike Hilton, CB
• Trent Brown, OT
• Akeem Davis-Gaither, LB
• Marco Wilson, CB
• Mike Gesicki, TE
• Cody Ford, G
• Joseph Ossai, DE
• Tanner Hudson, TE
• Joe Bachie, LB
• Vonn Bell, S
• Trayveon Williams, RB
• Jay Tufele, DT
• Cameron Sample, DE
• D'ante Smith, OT
• Chris Evans, RB
• Khalil Herbert, RB
• Cal Adomitis, LS (RFA)
• Cade York, K (ERFA)
• Jason Kirkland, G (ERFA)
• Ryan Rehkow, P (ERFA)
• Cam Grandy, TE (ERFA)

Here's the Bengals' list of pending free agent, according to Spotrac.

Cincy begins the offseason with $50.0m in cap space, which is the 11th-most in the NFL. That could dry up quickly resigning Tee Higgins, who would be one of the hottest free agents on the market if the Stripes decide to move in a different direction.

The Bengals' run defense had a significant demarkation point when B.J. Hill returned. He and Mike Hilton are the two members of Pro Football Focus (PFF)'s top-10 graded players on defense that are expiring deals.

Mike Gesicki was highly productive in select games, but it'll be a matter of if the team believes in Erick All Jr. returning from knee surgery. Trent Brown was also a highlight of a Cincinnati offensive line that struggled far more inside than at either tackle position.

Bengals' 2025 NFL Draft Picks

• 17th overall
• 2nd round
• 3rd round
• 4th round
• 5th round
• 6th round

(NOTE: This list does not fully include compensatory picks, which are typically announced in early March.)

The running joke in NFL circles is that the Bengals never trade draft selections for any reason.

Hey, that's not 100% true in 2025.

A seventh-rounder went out the door to the Chicago Bears for Khalil Herbert, who ended up starting the team's do-or-die last game.

Otherwise, the Bengals are picking at stock positions, and they usually don't go far off the board. Each of Cincinnati's last 10 picks on the first two days of the draft have been from Power 4 schools, which is why I gave them Benjamin Morrison from the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in my first 2025 NFL Mock Draft -- not other players I have rated higher.

Bengals' Top Offseason Needs

• Serviceable Pieces in the Back Seven
• A Run Stuffer
• Solutions to the Chase/Higgins Conundrum
• A Tailback to Spell Chase Brown

Outside of Trey Hendrickson (17.5 sacks) on defense, you don't go 9-8 with Burrow's season getting excellent contributions much anywhere else.

Cincinnati went 5-6 in games scoring at least 25 points. That's on the secondary's inability to protect leads. Run defense was a problem, too. They allowed six 100-yard efforts throughout the year and were numberFire's 25th-ranked rush D -- even if B.J. Hill helped a bit down the stretch.

The problem is the Bengals have been drafting defense. Do they pivot to let Higgins walk and get known producers on that side of the ball, taking a swipe at a wideout in the draft? The answer to that question has been decided by Joe Burrow, but it's a real dilemma.

Khalil Herbert could return after what was essentially a rental, and Zack Moss is still under contract after his season-ending injury. Someone -- perhaps a late pick in a deep running back draft class -- will have to help Chase Brown, who played a hefty 84.9% of Cincinnati's snaps in his active games after Moss went down.

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