On one hand, the Bengals avoided two major distractions by extending Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins in March. On the other, a franchise regularly involved in money-driven drama ran into two more such issues via the Trey Hendrickson and Shemar Stewart sagas, each dragging deep into summer. However, the club reached resolutions with both defensive ends as well.
Entering the season, the Bengals have a healthy Joe Burrow and an elite weaponry array. The superstar quarterback’s MVP-caliber 2024 season was not enough to drag a poor defense to the playoffs, and questions remain on that side of the ball. The Bengals made a coaching change in hopes of stopping the bleeding on defense, and with Burrow squarely in his prime, considerable pressure exists to avoid a third straight playoff absence.
Extensions and restructures:
No real doubt existed about the Bengals’ long-term Chase plans. After college teammate Justin Jefferson set the market last year, Chase would come in ahead of him and continue to thrive with Burrow. Where doubt existed involved Higgins.
Rumors for over a year pointed Higgins to a 2025 exit — via either a tag-and-trade transaction or a free agency defection. But Burrow kept applying pressure on the team to keep his overqualified WR2 in place. Not 15 years removed from their previous star-level QB (Carson Palmer) growing frustrated with a thrifty roster-building approach, the Bengals gave in and enter the season with the NFL’s highest-paid receiver duo.
By the July 2024 franchise tag deadline, the Bengals and Higgins had not negotiated in over a year. Last year profiled as a last ride for the Chase-Higgins tandem. While the Bengals rebuffed trade interest in their Chase sidekick after a slow start to the season, a November report revealed there was “little to no chance” the former second-round pick would remain a Bengal in 2025. Weeks later, Burrow went back to work on what became an all-out lobbying effort to convince the Bengals to keep the high-end starter.
During an offseason appearance on ESPN’s First Take, Burrow cited annual cap growth — to the point he referenced the league’s TV deals — as part of his pitch to the Bengals re: Higgins. It is safe to assume Burrow said more behind the scenes, and the effort appeared to crest between the Combine and the tag deadline.
Two years after shutting down Higgins trade talk at the 2023 Combine, Bengals VP of player personnel Duke Tobin said in Indianapolis the team wanted the receiver back at “the right number.” As it turned out, the Clemson alum did much better than he would have had he signed in 2023 or ’24. Fourteen years after Palmer forced his way out via a quasi-retirement threat, the Bengals listened to their quarterback’s pleas and began a process that would keep Higgins in Cincinnati.
Cincy tagged Higgins a second time, irking the receiver. After the sides were far apart on terms in 2023 — when no offer of even $20MM per year came Higgins’ way — real negotiations transpired this spring. Both the Bengals’ WR extensions showed the damage waiting too long on deals can cause, but in the franchise’s defense on Higgins, it did appear 2025 was set to bring a separation. Burrow’s relentless push also showed the power prime-years QBs carry, and it will interesting to see if others follow the Cincy centerpiece player’s lead. Because it brought results.
After not approaching $20MM AAV in 2023 negotiations, the Bengals signed Higgins at $28.75MM per year. While the Bengals kept the deal in line with their preference of no guaranteed salary after Year 1, the team did guarantee a $10MM 2026 roster bonus. Higgins, 26, also will be due a $5MM 2027 roster bonus. But the Bengals can escape this deal with just $7.5MM in dead money in 2027. Higgins will see his 2026 base salary ($10.9MM) become guaranteed on Day 5 of the 2026 league year, providing strong assurances he will be a Bengal for at least two more seasons.
Higgins was viewed as a player who could fetch $30MM per year on the open market, and the Patriots — as they have been with just about any remotely available wideout over the past two years — were interested. The 6-foot-4 receiver would have been attached to a $26.2MM franchise tag salary this season and would have hit free agency at 27 in 2026. He almost definitely could have done better by taking that route, but this one will tie the two-time 1,000-yard receiver to one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks in his prime. Chase will also continue giving his older teammate favorable matchups.
All the Higgins departure buzz that emerged from 2023 until early this year was contingent on the Bengals’ plan to prioritize Chase. Jefferson’s contract, however, made a scenario in which the Bengals could avoid future salary guarantees a nonstarter. The Vikings guaranteed their superstar LSU-developed WR $88.7MM at signing. That covered fully guaranteed compensation in two future years. With the exception of Burrow, the Bengals had avoided such commitments. Jefferson’s contract undoubtedly provided a stumbling block as the sides attempted to hammer out a deal before the 2024 season.
By waiting, the Bengals saw the price rise. Chase submitted a triple-crown receiving season, dominating as Burrow returned after his 2023 wrist injury. The cap then spiked by another $24MM. With 2021 receiver draftees Amon-Ra St. Brown, DeVonta Smith, Jaylen Waddle and Nico Collins being extended in 2024, Chase was a lock to come in much higher. And with wideouts and pass rushers suddenly competing to land the top non-QB contract, the Bengals saw their mission become a multifront fight. The Browns’ four-year, $160MM Myles Garrett extension, rather than Jefferson’s 2024 payday, ended up establishing the Chase floor.
Chase, 25, was eyeing $40MM per year before the Garrett windfall surfaced. Seeing as the Bengals were planning all along to pay their top weapon, the Garrett deal — as strange as it looks — crystalized Chase’s price point. The Bengals unveiled their WR extensions on the same night, and Chase’s re-up breaks with team precedent.
Cincinnati guaranteed Chase’s 2026 salary, and the All-Pro secured a rolling guarantee structure. If on the Bengals’ roster on Day 5 of the 2026 league year (which he will be), Chase locks in his $30MM 2027 base salary. The Bengals even threw in a rolling guarantee involving 2028 money; if Chase is on Cincy’s roster by Day 5 of the 2027 league year, $7MM of his ’28 money locks in.
It would have behooved the Bengals to do these deals in 2024, but they have placated Burrow by paying one of the best one-two receiving punches in recent NFL history. That should satisfy their perennial MVP candidate for a while.
Burrow also lobbied the Bengals to extend Hendrickson, doing so at multiple points in 2025. That proved a more complicated situation compared the receiver contracts. On-and-off extension rumors circulated, with intermittent trade buzz factoring into this process. But the Bengals never appeared willing to break with their precedent on future guarantees for a 30-year-old defensive end.
Even with Hendrickson winning the 2024 sack title by posting a second straight 17.5-sack season, he never received a Bengals offer that included guarantees beyond Year 1. A familiar Cincinnati stalemate ensued as a result.
With Higgins higher in Cincy’s extension queue, Hendrickson received permission to seek a trade just before free agency. The Commanders and Falcons were among the interested teams, but the Bengals naturally set a high asking price. It was believed the team wanted more than a first-round pick for its sack ace. The prospect of paying a 30-something top-market money and surrendering a first-round pick grounded this trade market early, and the eight-year veteran became rather vocal about this Bengals standoff.
From OTAs, Hendrickson said the Bengals had broken off talks; this came after executive VP Katie Blackburn called upon the disgruntled defender to be happy with the offer he had received. We later learned the Bengals never reached $35MM per year — the price Danielle Hunter narrowly exceeded on his one-year Texans bump — and topped out at a backloaded three-year, $95MM proposal. That offer did not include any guarantees past Year 1, leading to a holdout, a hold-in and more trade rumors.
Despite the Steelers guaranteeing T.J. Watt $108MM at signing on just a three-year extension, Hendrickson (who is two months younger) could not secure a comparable offer. The Bengals’ second round of trade talks did not appear to produce anything close to a swap. As was the case in the spring, teams viewed Cincy’s trade ask as unrealistic. This left Hendrickson in a bind. Rather than miss regular-season games in protest — as he had threatened to do — he took the team’s late-emerging raise offer. That will at least pause this drama.
While the Bengals gave Hendrickson a $14MM raise for 2025, they could still use the franchise tag on their top defender next year. It would be a pricey tag (more than $34MM), but the Bengals have both tagged a player on a veteran contract (A.J. Green, 2020) and unholstered a tag on another (Tee Higgins) after reporting pointed to a free agency exit.
It would not surprise to see the organization cuff Hendrickson next year. The ex-Saints third-rounder had signed a one-year, $21MM extension in 2023 in fear of a 2025 tag. It is quite possible the sides’ feud resumes with the Bengals keeping the talented D-end off the 2026 market via the tag.
In lower-profile Bengals extension business, Karras agreed to a one-year deal for a second straight offseason. The veteran center’s one-year, $6MM bump from 2024 had him under contract for this season; his $5MM agreement will extend the partnership through 2026. The Bengals have separated from the other two free agency additions brought in after the 2021 Burrow sack avalanche, cutting La’el Collins in September 2023 and Alex Cappa in March 2025. Karras, 32, has endured.
The third-generation NFLer has started all 34 Bengals games over the past two seasons and has been a starter for the past six NFL campaigns. An ex-Bill Belichick-era Patriots contributor-turned-starter, Karras has two Super Bowl rings. He initially joined the Bengals on a three-year, $18MM pact in 2022. He has outlasted all his O-line mates from that division-winning season and, now on a third Cincy contract, will line up between two newcomers this season.
Volson will not factor into this Bengals season, being placed on season-ending IR after suffering a shoulder injury. The Bengals had demoted the former fourth-round pick late last season and had him on the roster bubble after the offseason pay cut. The 48-game guard starter will head to free agency on a down note.
Free agency additions:
- T.J. Slaton, DT. Two years, $14.5MM ($5MM guaranteed)
- Noah Fant, TE. One year, $2.75MM ($1MM guaranteed)
- Oren Burks, LB. Two years, $5MM ($750K guaranteed)
- Samaje Perine, RB. Two years, $3.6MM ($400K guaranteed)
- Lucas Patrick, G. One year, $2.1MM ($200K guaranteed)
- Mike Pennel, DT. Signed 9/1
- Dalton Risner, G. Signed 8/28
Cutting Cappa opened a starting guard spot. The Bengals are set to use third-rounder Dylan Fairchild at left guard, and they have cycled through unappealing RG options. Patrick and Cody Ford waged a competition during training camp. While Patrick is slated to open the season as the starter, Risner is aboard. And the seventh-year blocker, for all his issues convincing a team to pay him starter-level money, has a history of taking over on short notice.
After four seasons in Denver, Risner did not see his 2023 free agent market take off. He settled for a one-year, $2.78MM Vikings deal — one that did not emerge until September. Risner moved into Minnesota’s starting lineup after the team traded Ezra Cleveland to Jacksonville. The Vikings did not re-sign him until May 2024, and a pay cut even from the 2023 terms emerged.
Playing on a one-year, $2.41MM pact, Risner started eight games last season. After being activated from IR, Risner finished off a 19-game Minnesota starter run. Pro Football Focus graded the former second-round pick as the No. 22 overall guard last season.
Risner, 30, appeared on Cincy’s radar in April and took an August visit. He did not sign until after the preseason slate. This will apply pressure on Patrick, 32, after beating out Ford for the job. Patrick started 10 Saints games last season, ranking as PFF’s No. 37 guard. He played mostly center in two prior seasons (in Chicago). Risner at least gives the Bengals another option in case Patrick falters; the team will need a patchwork solution while hoping Fairchild can be a long-term answer.
Fant joining Mike Gesicki rounds out what might be the NFL’s best pass-catching corps. Still 27, Fant has six years’ experience as a team’s top tight end. The Seahawks had re-signed him on a two-year, $21MM deal in 2024 but cut him before this past training camp. Fant has two 670-yard receiving seasons (both in Denver) on his resume. To put that in perspective, the Bengals have not had a 670-yard TE season since Jermaine Gresham in 2012.
The Bengals now have two members of the 2019 Broncos’ draft class, but Fant did not prove as good of a fit in Seattle — a team with a deeper receiving corps — as he did in Denver. The Russell Wilson trade component did not eclipse 500 yards in any of his three Seattle seasons. With Gesicki signed beyond 2025, this profiles as a bounce-back opportunity — one he chose after also meeting with the TE-needier Dolphins and the banged-up Saints — for his new backup.
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Enjoying the benefits of a low-volume workload, Perine is in Year 9. Perine, 30 this month, has only eclipsed 100 carries in one season (his 2017 rookie year). He stopped through Denver and Kansas City as a complementary back, totaling a career-high 455 receiving yards in 2023 while helping the Chiefs back to the Super Bowl last year. He fared well as Joe Mixon‘s backup previously, and the Bengals made an offer to keep him in 2023. He will return as Chase Brown‘s top backup.
No interior D-lineman outranked Slaton in run stop win rate last season. The Packers used the former fifth-rounder as a two-year nose tackle starter. The woeful Bengals defense fared better against the run (19th) than pass (21st) last season, but Slaton coming as a B.J. Hill complementary option will provide a boost in ground deterrence. Not missing any games in four Packers seasons, Slaton profiles as one of the more underrated FA signings — a move overshadowed by other happenings along Cincy’s D-line — this offseason.
Re-signings:
- B.J. Hill, DT. Three years, $33MM ($11MM guaranteed)
- Mike Gesicki, TE. Three years, $25.5MM ($6.5MM guaranteed)
- Joseph Ossai, DE. One year, $6.5MM ($3MM guaranteed)
- Cody Ford, OL. Two years, $6MM ($1MM guaranteed)
- Marco Wilson, CB. One year, $1.52MM ($100K guaranteed)
- Cameron Sample, DE. One year, $1.27MM ($100K guaranteed)
- Tanner Hudson, TE. One year, $1.26MM
The Bengals sure won the Hill-for-Billy Price Giants swap in 2021. Hill became a key performer for Cincinnati’s Super Bowl-winning team and has played well long enough to become a third-contract player. The interior D-lineman’s market required an $11MM-per-year deal, and he will have a new NT to play alongside after D.J. Reader‘s 2024 Lions defection.
Hill did quite well as a second-time free agent despite turning 30 and finishing with 12 fewer QB hits (nine) than he did in 2023. He made an immediate impact, with 5.5 sacks, in 2021 and the ex-Dexter Lawrence/Leonard Williams Giants wingman did tally a career-high seven tackles for loss last season. Seeing as this is the Bengals, the signing bonus is the only guarantee. That will make a 2026 separation manageable (barely $7MM in dead cap, albeit for a team rather averse to that type of transaction) if the late-career re-up does not work.
At long last, Gesicki found a taker for a long-term deal. Franchise tagged as a Dolphin in 2022, Gesicki did not turn out to be a fit in Mike McDaniel‘s scheme. The NFL’s goofiest Griddy-er then underwhelmed in New England, receiving less than half of his Miami tag value in Bill Belichick‘s final season. The Bengals gave Gesicki another pay cut, rostering him at $2.5MM last season. Gesicki, 30 in October, posted 665 yards last season despite being the clear-cut third target in Cincy’s aerial hierarchy.
This does appear a team-friendly accord, as the Bengals guaranteed barely a fourth of it at signing. A $2MM roster bonus will be due on Day 5 of the 2026 league year, giving Gesicki a bit of security ahead of his second season. If the Bengals do not pay that bonus, however, they would be on the hook for just $4.3MM in dead money with a 2026 release.
Notable losses:
- Cal Adomitis, LS
- Joe Bachie, LB
- Vonn Bell, S
- Trent Brown, T
- Alex Cappa, G (released)
- Akeem Davis-Gaither, LB
- Khalil Herbert, RB
- Mike Hilton, CB
- Sam Hubbard, DE (retired)
- Zack Moss, RB (released)
- Germaine Pratt, LB (released)
- Sheldon Rankins, DT (released)
- D’Ante Smith, T
- Jay Tufele, DT
- Trayveon Williams, RB
Pratt requested a trade, which is not new in recent Bengals history. Also not new: the veteran linebacker did not see his request granted. This matter differed from Tee Higgins, Jonah Williams and Trey Hendrickson‘s request. Rather than not being traded due to value to the Bengals, Pratt was eventually cut. The team took on $2.3MM in dead money — amazingly, that is the top dead cap figure on Cincy’s payroll, which holds only $10.9MM in dead money entering Week 1 — with that release.
The Raiders added Pratt, while the Cardinals signed Davis-Gaither. Bell, whose return after a year away (in Carolina) did not go as well as his first stint, is unsigned after nine seasons. Jordan Battle, a 2023 third-round pick, had already replaced Bell as a starter late last season. Drawing offseason praise, Battle will continue in that role to open this season.
Rankins caught on with the Texans, returning to Houston after a rocky Ohio trip. The former first-round DT did not play during the season’s second half, battling a hamstring injury and self-reporting symptoms of an illness — which eventually led him to the reserve/NFI list. Rankins’ Cincy stop was his least eventful as a pro.
A far more productive Bengal, Hilton had expressed interest in staying late last season. The former Steelers slot corner was part of the Bengals’ early-2020s return to free agent spending, a window that coincided with Joe Burrow‘s rookie contract. Hilton worked as Cincy’s slot corner for his entire tenure, outlasting fellow CB additions Chidobe Awuzie and Trae Waynes. Hilton, 31, played at least 70% of the Bengals’ defensive snaps in each of his four seasons. He joined the Dolphins during training camp but did not make their 53-man roster.
Moss reworked his two-year, $8MM contract to remain a Bengal, but the neck injury he sustained will threaten his career. A two-month stay in a neck brace commenced after the injury surfaced, and Moss indicated he discussed retirement with HC Zac Taylor. The former Bills and Colts running back, though, did not need surgery and was cleared for offseason work. No team has picked up the five-year veteran.
A Cincinnati native who played at Ohio State, Hubbard leaves the NFL after just seven seasons. The Bengals had the solid Hendrickson complement on a four-year, $40MM extension that ran through the 2025 season. The former third-round pick produced five seasons of between six and eight sacks, though he only recorded two last year. A PCL injury also ended Hubbard’s NFL finale early.
Hubbard is responsible for one of the Bengals’ signature plays — a 98-yard fumble-six that powered the team to a 2022 wild-card win over the Ravens. That came a year after he sacked Patrick Mahomes twice in the 2021 AFC championship game. With Hubbard (who walked away at 29) having given the Bengals some protection as 2023 first-rounder Myles Murphy has failed to show much, attention shifted to the draft as a means to both replace Hubbard and find a potential long-term Hendrickson successor.
Draft:
- Round 1, No. 17: Shemar Stewart (DE, Texas A&M) (signed)
- Round 2, No. 49: Demetrius Knight (LB, South Carolina) (signed)
- Round 3, No. 81: Dylan Fairchild (G, Georgia) (signed)
- Round 4, No. 119: Barrett Carter (LB, Clemson) (signed)
- Round 5, No. 153: Jalen Rivers (T, Miami) (signed)
- Round 6, No. 193: Tahj Brooks (RB, Texas Tech) (signed)
Meeting with James Pearce Jr., the Bengals opted for Stewart over the polarizing Tennessee pass-rushing prospect. The Bengals choosing Stewart was noteworthy due to his low-impact stat sheet; the Texas A&M EDGE posted just 1.5 sacks in each of his three college seasons. That became a footnote this offseason, with another Bengals contract dispute taking shape.
Stewart did not participate in any Bengals offseason workout and was not on the field to start training camp. Issues with the team’s contract structure kept the mid-first-rounder off the field. The Bengals made it a point to change their rookie-deal language involving defaults — in the event of a suspension impacting guarantees — and aimed to deviate on bonus payment schedule. Stewart and his agent, the latter of which became the punching bag for Bengals brass during this ordeal, wanted the same terms 2023 and ’24 first-rounders Myles Murphy and Amarius Mims received.
Unsigned rookies almost always take part in offseason programs before sitting to begin training camp, but Stewart took issue with the Bengals’ waiver agreement as well. This led to both the Bengals’ top D-end investments, as Trey Hendrickson‘s impasse with the team persisted, missing the entire offseason program.
An exasperated Stewart eventually gave in, though he did secure a Bengals concession in terms of bonus payments. This still represented a bad look for the franchise, which regularly is labeled frugal and rigid on contract matters.
Even with Chase and Higgins paid, the Bengals still absorbed these criticisms because of how the defensive end matters played out. The team refused future guarantees with Hendrickson, even as the Texans and Steelers had signed off on such agreements for 30-something edge rushers (Danielle Hunter, T.J. Watt) and turned a matter as routine as a rookie-scale-era negotiation — for a fully guaranteed contract — into a monthslong slog that could certainly stunt Stewart’s development.
The Bengals had included the default language in Knight’s rookie deal, setting the stage for the Stewart showdown. Knight will be expected to replace Pratt in Cincy’s starting lineup. He comes to western Ohio after a six-year college career — spent at Georgia Tech, Charlotte and South Carolina — and will bring a low-cost contract alongside Logan Wilson.
Neither Daniel Jeremiah nor Dane Brugler included Knight in their top 100s for NFL.com and The Athletic, respectively. The Bengals, who entered the offseason looking to address the LB spot, will be looking to prove skeptics wrong with their latest second-round pick.
Also linked to O-linemen pre-draft, Cincinnati is plugging Fairchild in as a Week 1 LG starter. Fairchild will make the common SEC-to-NFL jump, coming from Georgia. Fairchild started for the Bulldogs over the previous two seasons, earning second-team All-America acclaim for his 2024 performance.
The Bengals were ready to name Fairchild their starter fairly early in training camp, despite still having Cordell Volson healthy and rostering veterans in Cody Ford and Lucas Patrick. This points to high expectations for Fairchild, who will be working between experienced vets in Orlando Brown Jr. and Ted Karras.
Other:
Making a cameo on the HC carousel during a six-year tenure as Bengals DC, Anarumo also coached in two AFC championship games — one of them featuring a Chiefs collapse. The Bengals erased an 18-point deficit in the 2021 AFC decider, relying on creative Anarumo adjustments to flummox a then-high-powered Chiefs offense in an overtime win. Cincy then ranked sixth defensively in 2022, smothering the favored Bills en route to another conference title game. But Anarumo’s unit trended downward over the past two seasons.
The Bengals missed Jessie Bates dearly in 2023, dropping to 31st in total defense, and completed an embarrassing 2024 season that squandered Burrow’s MVP-level work and Chase’s triple crown in a 9-8 showing. The Bengals’ weekly need to overcome a poor defense (ranked 25th), despite Hendrickson’s dominance, led to the expectation Anarumo — hired in Zac Taylor‘s first offseason in charge — would be out. On Black Monday, that happened.
Golden returns from the college game, having built considerable momentum after helming Notre Dame’s defense during the FBS independent’s journey to the CFP championship game. Golden, 56, has mostly coached in college. His only NFL experience came as a position coach in Detroit and Cincinnati. Taylor initially hired Golden as linebackers coach, having him in place on that level from 2020-21. A 10-year college HC (at Temple and Miami), Golden will be tabbed to field a unit that does better to maximize Burrow and Chase’s primes.
Anarumo played a bad hand at cornerback last season, losing both Hill and DJ Turner. Hill missed 12 games with an ACL tear, while Turner was down for the final six. Both were back at work by training camp. Turner has two seasons left on his rookie deal; thanks to the Bengals’ option decision, Hill is also signed through 2026.
A rookie-year backup who struggled as a starting safety in 2023, Hill moved to cornerback on a full-time basis last year. Despite the poor safety stretch and minimal in-game CB work, Hill still saw his option exercised. The Bengals are showing tremendous confidence in the 2022 first-rounder, even though his participation to date left him eligible for the bottom-rung CB option price. Hill will join Turner and Cam Taylor-Britt at corner, as the Bengals attempt their mulligan at this position.
Top 10 cap charges for 2025:
- Joe Burrow, QB: $45.99MM
- Tee Higgins, WR: $24.06MM
- Ja’Marr Chase, WR: $23.57MM
- Trey Hendrickson, DE: $21.67MM
- Orlando Brown Jr., LT: $15.03MM
- Logan Wilson, LB: $8.76MM
- B.J. Hill, DT: $8.63MM
- Mike Gesicki, TE: $7.67MM
- Geno Stone, S: $6.4MM
- Ted Karras, C: $6.3MM
The Bengals made sure they would have another season with Hendrickson supplementing the Chase-Higgins duo. The team did not lower its receivers’ cap numbers considerably with the extensions, though, representing rare contract balance. Higgins’ cap number only rises by $2MM in 2026, Chase’s by just $3MM. These issues are finally in the past for the Bengals, who still have Super Bowl aspirations due to Burrow’s status as one of the NFL’s best players.
With Burrow, Chase and Higgins expected to light up scoreboards and fantasy apps again, how Golden’s Hendrickson-fronted defense fares will define the Bengals’ sixth Burrow season. This will be the last season Burrow finishes in his 20s, raising the stakes a bit for the team. Although other second-tier AFC squads outflanked Cincinnati last season, the Bengals profile as more dangerous than any in that contingent due to their QB. Can the team’s defense — one featuring key questions in terms of pass rush and coverage — ensure another top-quality Burrow season does not go to waste?
