The Cincinnati Bengals are fresh off a Super Bowl run and added a strong offseason to bolster their roster but there are still three moves Cincinnati should make before the season starts.
The Cincinnati Bengals had one of the most successful runs in franchise history. Making the Super Bowl was a pleasant surprise and the team was able to follow that up by shoring up their biggest weaknesses through free agency and the draft.
The Bengals are going to enter the season with much the same offensive core, a new offensive line, and several early-round rookies helping with depth on defense. Even with the key additions made during the offseason, Cincinnati still has a few moves that should be made.
A disclaimer on each of these moves is that the Bengals are going to need to be very mindful of salary cap space moving forward. Joe Burrow is going to be up for a contract extension along with Tee Higgins and then Ja’Marr Chase the following year. With this forwarding thinking, the Bengals should not be interested in taking on long-term contracts, but should instead focus on improving the team on one-year deals.
With that in mind, here are the three moves the Cincinnati Bengals should make before the season starts.
All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference
Trey Flowers (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
Adding pass rush help
In the modern NFL, teams cannot have enough pass-rushing options. Last year the Bengals had moments where they seemed to go quiet in their ability to get to the opposing quarterback. Typically one of the highest paid positions, this might seem counterintuitive to saving money. However, there is one player left that could be looking for a short prove-it type deal.
Trey Flowers was released this year and has been on the free agent market since the beginning of the new league year began. Only 29 years old, Flowers could have several more high-productive years ahead of him. Rather than lock him up on a long-term deal, the Bengals could offer a one-year contract so Flowers can hit the market again next year.
The biggest question mark around Flowers (and presumably the reason he is still on the market) is health concerns. With quality players on the roster already, Cincinnati could weather an injury to Flowers without damaging their starting rotation.
There seems to really only be an upside by adding Flowers to the rotation and seeing if he is able to stay on the field and bring back his quality results. The Bengals get a win by adding short-term depth, and Flowers gets a win by having the ability to perform well and hit the market again next year on a long-term deal.
Add a veteran presence on defense to help with rotational depth.
For years, the Cincinnati Bengals have struggled to get quality linebackers. The strategy has seemed to get an aging veteran, hope they return to their glory days, get disappointed when they do not perform, and use a late-round draft pick to try and find the diamond in the rough.
Last year, the Bengals had some success with their linebackers, thanks to the play of Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt. Rather than taking on a veteran to try and achieve the play of their past, this year the Bengals should add a rotational piece to the linebacking unit.
Anthony Barr is the most likely option for this kind of deal for the Bengals. Barr was a very productive player for the Vikings throughout his career but has reached the point where he likely will not be providing game-changing plays on a regular basis. What he can still do is play sound defense to limit the big play opportunities from opposing teams.
This is exactly what Cincinnati could benefit from as part of their linebacker rotation. Getting Barr on a short-term deal would be ideal for the unit moving forward, but would allow for one more year for the young players to continue developing into quality players.
The Cincinnati Bengals could look to make a short-term splash signing.
The final move that the Bengals should make is adding a fourth wide receiver. When you look at the Bengals’ wide receiver room, they are set at the top three positions. Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Tyler Boyd form one of the best wide receiver groups in the NFL. Cincinnati could look at adding a fourth receiver to allow one of the young players battling on the roster to improve and be able to take on a bigger role.
Looking at wide receivers still available on the market there are a few good options still available. Odell Beckham will likely command a long-term deal and would quickly price himself out of the Bengals’ price range. The next options each have some pros and cons.
Will Fuller has a lot of red flags. He has been suspended for PED use, had off-the-field issues, and had to battle through injury. This has left him on the market without any team taking a flier on him.
The Bengals could take a chance with the confidence that they have a strong locker room presence. Will Fuller as a fourth wide receiver would add incredible amounts of speed and could definitely provide some game-changing moments.
The Cincinnati Bengals need to add some help before the season begins and these are some of the moves they could make.