What can we expect from the Bengals at the opening of the new league year?
The new league year will start at 4 PM ET today, and the Cincinnati Bengals still have plenty of work to do.
First things first, they will officially be able to finalize deals with free agents from other teams like TJ Slaton and Oren Burks, Some nice additions to the defense that sorely needed it.
More importantly, it is a great day to get Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins signed to long-term deals. It would also be nice to have some resolution with the Trey Hendrickson saga, but that seems like we have quite a ways till that has any sort of clean ending.
Here is the big news for the Bengals and NFL.
Hall of Fame Honors Bengals’ Original Equipment Manager Tom Gray
“Tom was popular among our people,” Brown recalls of the Bengals’ original equipment manager. “Not only the administration people and the players, but Reds players, too. I seem to remember Johnny Bench in there.”
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“They’ve given me all the opportunities to see what I can do,” said Ford as he begins his third season in Cincinnati, “and I think they’ll give me a true shot to be a starter.”
Reports: Streaking Joseph Ossai Returns To Edge As Bengals Invest In Revamped Defense
Four of Ossai’s career-high five sacks came in the Bengals’ end-of-season five-game winning streak, and he had at least half a sack in six of the last seven games during a year he played a career-high 51% of the snaps.
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“And a lot of people have been talking about this this week, but they’re just f***** because they have to take care of [Ja’Marr] Chase. They franchise tag [Tee] Higgins. He’ll probably hold out. [Trey] Hendrickson wants a trade. And then in the middle of this, they paid $8 million a year for Mike Gesicki.”
Ja’Marr Chase appears to send message to Bengals during free agency
That “worth” keeps going up, too. The Bengals took some heat this week when Myles Garrett in Cleveland got a contract extension that helped him average more than $40 million per year to become the highest-paid non-passer in the NFL.
NFL insider slams Bengals for not getting a deal done with Ja’Marr Chase
“The Bengals did it to [Ja’Marr Chase] twice. First of all, they should’ve done Ja’Marr Chase last year, they were close. I believe they got hung up on guaranteed money, like which now you’re like ‘Ugh!’,” Battista said.
Look: Contract Details Surface For Bengals Defensive Additions Oren Burks, Marco Wils
Burks is set to make $5 million in base value over the next two seasons, with $750,000 guaranteed. His salary splits are $1.4 million and $1.69 million while getting $750,000 on the fifth day of the 2025 league year.
Bengals express interest in one of free agency’s top remaining guards
Jenkins, 27, is a former second-round pick and one of the top remaining names at his position on the open market, at least during the free agency tampering period. Last season, Jenkins ranked 18th out of 135 guards at PFF and had a 75.8 pass-blocking grade (15th).
Bengals had near-miss with prized target in free agency
A former second-round pick and still just 24 years old, Ojulari spent his first four seasons with the Giants and hasn’t played more than 60 percent of his defense’s snaps since his rookie year in 2021.
Bengals’ 2025 NFL Draft picks finalized after receiving news they were very much expecting
This does not come as a surprise considering how the compensatory pick formula works. Clubs have to lose more free agents of qualifying monetary value than they gain the previous year in free agency. The Bengals added more free agents that qualified than they lost in 2024, including Sheldon Rankins, Geno Stone, and Trent Brown.
