The Cincinnati Bengals are heading into a pivotal offseason - and this time, they’ve got the cap space to make some real noise.
After back-to-back appearances in the AFC Championship Game and a Super Bowl run in 2021 and 2022, expectations in Cincinnati skyrocketed. But three straight seasons without a playoff berth have left fans frustrated, and understandably so.
The window felt wide open not long ago. Now, it’s starting to feel like it’s closing - unless the front office makes some serious moves.
Here’s the good news: they’ve got the financial flexibility to do exactly that.
Despite handing out major contracts to cornerstone players like Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins, the Bengals are projected to be among the top 10 teams in salary cap space heading into the 2026 offseason. With the NFL salary cap expected to eclipse the $300 million mark for the first time in league history - landing somewhere between $301.2 million and $305.7 million - Cincinnati could be working with anywhere from $52 million to $57 million in available space.
According to Over The Cap’s projection of a $303.5 million cap, the Bengals are sitting on roughly $54.9 million. That’s the seventh-most in the league. In other words, they’re in a strong position to be aggressive.
And they’ll need to be.
The Bengals’ defense - once a strength during their postseason runs - has taken a step back in recent years. Losing key veterans like Jessie Bates III and DJ Reader in free agency left major holes, and the attempts to replace them through the draft haven’t panned out. That’s been a big reason why the team has fallen short of the playoffs the last two seasons.
There’s no sugarcoating it: the defense needs help at every level. The good news is, the Bengals have the resources to fix it.
The free agent market offers some intriguing options. Trey Hendrickson is already in-house, but adding another edge rusher like Khalil Mack - even if he’s on the back nine of his career - could bring some much-needed firepower to the pass rush.
In the secondary, a player like Trevon Diggs could provide the kind of ball-hawking presence the Bengals have lacked since Bates’ departure. And at linebacker, Kenneth Murray is the kind of athletic, sideline-to-sideline player who could help stabilize the middle of the field.
The point here isn’t just to name names - it’s that Cincinnati has options. And more importantly, they have the money to act on them.
With the draft still ahead, the Bengals don’t want to be in a position where they’re forced to fill major holes with rookies. That’s how you end up reaching for need instead of taking the best player available. But if they can shore up their biggest weaknesses in free agency - particularly on defense - they’ll head into draft weekend with flexibility and momentum.
This offseason is a crossroads for the Bengals. They’ve got the franchise quarterback.
They’ve got elite weapons. And now, they’ve got the cap space.
The question is: can they build a defense that’s good enough to get back into the playoff mix?
The pieces are there. Now it’s on Cincinnati to put them together.