Joe Burrow and the Bengals are walking into this season with real momentum, and the Ravens’ offseason moves make it pretty clear Baltimore knows exactly who it has to deal with.
Cincinnati hasn’t taken the AFC North since 2022, but the roster upgrades have raised the bar in a big way. With the front office finally making major additions around Burrow, the expectation is simple: the Bengals should be back in the hunt for the division crown.
The problem is, they’re not doing it in a vacuum. They still have to get through a loaded Ravens team.
Baltimore remains the most obvious obstacle. Pittsburgh won the division last year, but there’s a real sense that regression could be coming there, which leaves the Ravens as Cincinnati’s biggest threat. Even with a new head coach, the Ravens still have plenty of talent, and with two-time MVP Lamar Jackson leading the offense, they’re never going away.
But the way Baltimore attacked its offseason says a lot about what it thinks the problem is. The Ravens appeared to build with one mission in mind: making life harder for Joe Burrow. That’s not exactly subtle when you consider Burrow has thrown for more yards against Baltimore than any other NFL team.
Their biggest additions point straight toward that goal. Baltimore worked to upgrade its pass rush and secondary, and the headline move was Trey Hendrickson landing with a division rival. On top of that, the Ravens added former Bengals corner Chidobe Awuzie and veteran safety Jaylinn Hawkins.
Those moves all lean in the same direction - more help against the pass, more answers for Burrow, more pressure on Cincinnati’s offense. And when you add in the fact that Baltimore brought in two former Bengals players, the message gets even louder. Those guys can help provide insight into how Burrow operates and how the offense runs.
Put it together, and the picture is hard to miss: Baltimore is preparing for Cincinnati, and it’s preparing for Burrow first. Frankly, given what he’s done against them, you can see why.
In Other News...
Bengals May Have Found A Defensive Wild Card They Desperately Need
The Bengals went looking for help in the kind of place teams often do when a defense needs more juice, and Antwaun Powell-Ryland is at least giving them a reason to pay attention. The former Eagles draft pick landed in Cincinnati on a reserve/futures deal after the 2024 season, and with the linebacker room still viewed as an area that needs reinforcement, he has a chance to work his way into the conversation as more than just a camp body.
Powell-Rylands appeal is tied to the pass rush he showed in college, where he piled up disruptive production and finished with a strong final season. Cincinnati is exploring him as a linebacker, which adds another layer to his path, and the question now is whether he can carve out a role in the rotation or follow a tougher road toward the roster. For a player trying to stick, the next stretch could decide whether this becomes a real opening or just another short stop. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Fans Can Only Smile At Clevelands Latest Camp Mess
With Joe Burrow healthy and the Bengals roster looking better around him, Cincinnati has every reason to feel good about where it stands heading toward 2026. The bigger picture for the division still includes a Browns team trying to sort out its own quarterback future, and from a Bengals perspective, that matters just as much as anything happening in their own building.
Clevelands camp has turned into another reminder of how unsettled that position remains, with the battle between Deshaun Watson and Shedeur Sanders still unresolved as practices move on. Reports have Sanders making real progress in pocket presence and reading the field, which only adds another layer to a situation that already feels fluid, and it leaves the Browns with more questions than answers at the spot that matters most. [Read more 🡒]
Bengals Already Face A Secondary Decision Fans Were Dreading
The Bengals offseason planning already has a familiar kind of tension attached to it, with executive vice president Katie Blackburn acknowledging the difficulty of keeping the roster intact while the salary cap keeps pushing every decision into sharper focus. In particular, Cincinnati is trying to navigate a secondary situation that has become one of the more delicate parts of the roster conversation, especially with the team needing to balance present value against future flexibility.
Daxton Hill and DJ Turner are both central to that conversation, and the timing only makes it trickier. Hill is tied to a fifth-year option, while Turner is entering the final year of his deal, leaving the Bengals with a decision that goes beyond simple talent evaluation and into the realities of how much they can commit without boxing themselves in elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]