3 free agents the Bengals need to add following the 2022 draft
2. James Bradberry
The only reason I’m hesitant to put James Bradberry at No. 1 is that he might be too rich for the Bengals’ blood. Bradberry was released by the Giants on Monday after the organization couldn’t find a trade partner for him, per Dan Duggan.
The Giants are releasing CB James Bradberry after failing to find a trade partner, per source. The move will create $10.1M in cap savings while leaving $11.7M in dead money.
— Dan Duggan (@DDuggan21) May 9, 2022
(Savings will be $11.5M with $10.4M dead this year and $1.4M dead in 2023 if they make it a June 1 cut)
Cincinnati made their secondary a priority in the draft, adding Daxton Hill in the first round, Cam Taylor-Britt in the second round, and Tycen Anderson in the fifth round. Even with that being the case, the team would only improve with Bradberry in their secondary.
The former second-round pick in 2016 spent four years with the Panthers and played for the Giants the past two years. He’ll be an expensive target but for a young team like the Bengals who are hoping their defense takes an even bigger step in 2022, Bradberry might be worth the price.
The expectation was that Apple and Taylor-Britt would battle it out for the CB2 spot opposite Awuzie, but Bradberry would immediately slide into that role. The organization might feel they did enough in the draft to not throw their hat into the Bradberry ring but he could make a lot of sense in the Queen City.