Cincy Jungle
One step forward, two steps back.
The Cincinnati Bengals like to do things their way. If you’re a fan, and you’ve been a fan for any length of time, you know this. They don’t operate the same way some other teams do. They don’t like giving out a ton of guaranteed money (though they did with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins to keep them both in Cincinnati). They don’t have a large scouting department. They don’t like to trade their own players, even if they know they’ll lose said player in free agency and get nothing in return.
They have the best weapons money could literally buy surrounding their quarterback. They have two solid offensive tackles and a reliable yet aging center. They will hopefully extend Hendrickson, which gives them one A+ edge rusher. They have Logan Wilson, a solid linebacker, and they have a handful of young and talented but untested cornerbacks next to Cam Taylor-Britt, who took a step back in 2024.
And they have the quarterback. That’s the biggest part of the puzzle. But if there’s something the team should have learned from last year’s disaster, it’s the quarterback can’t do it alone.
Duke Tobin said he doesn’t want to pay more for the same team. Well, right now, he’s paying more for a worse team (Hendrickson not extended, Germaine Pratt wants a trade). He also has the same starting left guard who struggled in 2024 in Cordell Volson, and they have Cody Ford/Lucas Patrick/Jaxson Kirkland to play right guard. Are any of those guys an upgrade over Alex Cappa, who also struggled and was released?
No.
If they took the field today, the Bengals would be no better than they were last year. In fact, they’d be worse.
“But, Jason, the draft is coming.”
Yep, it is, and the Bengals will finish filling out their roster with rookies later in April. Maybe they’ll really nail it. Hopefully, they will. They’ll need to.
Wouldn’t it be nice if they didn’t need to, though? Wouldn’t it be nice if they could go into a draft without a single glaring need? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Bengals spared no expense and built a championship team in free agency and then used the draft to select the best possible players available and fill in depth?
Yes, it would be.
The Bengals could sign Brandon Scherff, who is still available, and then they wouldn’t have to spend one of their earlier picks on a guard and could instead select a more talented player at a different position that happens to fall for them. They could sign a guy like Za’Darius Smith to pair with Hendrickson. You may say they already re-signed Joseph Ossai, but which team ever complained about having too many competent edge rushers?
They could sign a guy like Stephon Gilmore to help shore up the secondary. He wouldn’t be terribly expensive, and if CTB rebounds like I think he can, you have another talented corner in the...
