NFL Free Agency: Projected Salary Cap has Bengals Poised to be Big Spenders

Jun 12, 2012; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Cincinnati Bengals owner Mike Brown watches work outs at mini camp at Paul Brown Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this week, reports came out that the 2013 NFL salary cap will be $121.1 million. If that number holds true, ESPN’s John Clayton projected the Cincinnati Bengals would be around $55 million under the cap.

NFL.com also projected the franchise tag numbers, which is key to the Bengals, as they will likely tag either DE Michael Johnson, or OT Andre Smith:

CB: Franchise: $10.668         Transition: $8.939

DE: Franchise: $10.984         Transition: $8.994

DT: Franchise: $8.306           Transition: $6.919

K/P: Franchise: $2.926         Transition: $2.654

LB: Franchise: $9.455           Transition: $8.216

OL: Franchise: $9.660           Transition: $8.560

QB: Franchise: $14.642         Transition: $12.845

RB: Franchise: $8.079           Transition: $6.851

S: Franchise: $6.798             Transition: $5.899

TE: Franchise: $5.962            Transition: $5.105

WR: Franchise: $10.357        Transition: $8.716

So go ahead and knock about $10 million off of the Bengals salary cap, and they would still have around $45 million to spend this offseason. That would still rank Cincinnati in the top-5 of available salary, and with the minimum spending requirement that each team must spend at least 89 percent of the salary cap, Mike Brown will finally be forced to open up his checkbook this offseason.

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