Although the Bengals hope to re-sign him, free agent defensive end Chris Smith is expected to garner “a lot” of interest on the open market, according to Jim Owczarski of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link).
Cincinnati picked up Smith from the Jaguars last April in exchange for a seventh-round pick, and the now-26-year-old flashed during the preseason by generating two sacks. Once the regular season hit, though, Smith only played on roughly a third of the Bengals’ defensive snaps, racking up three sacks and grading as the league’s No. 81 edge defender among 106 qualifiers during that time, per Pro Football Focus.
While the Bengals would apparently be open to a new deal with Smith, they also have a glut of defensive ends on their roster. Veterans Carlos Dunlap and Michael Johnson will return as starters, while 2017 rookies Jordan Willis and Carl Lawson — the latter of whom was outstanding as an edge rusher during his rookie campaign — will be in reserve.
If Smith does reach free agency, he’ll join a lackluster group of edge defenders that includes Julius Peppers, William Hayes, Trent Murphy, and Pernell McPhee. PFR didn’t rank Smith among the top-15 pass rushers on the open market, but he would fall into the 16-20 range if our list were extended.