5 Bengals players Duke Tobin has no business letting return in 2026

Cincinnati Bengals personnel chief Duke Tobin has plenty of money to spend this offseason. How he chooses to use it may very well determine Joe Burrow's future (or lack thereof) with the team.

No pressure, Duke! Actually, you could help yourself by just letting go of some of your pet projects that didn't pan out. Or some diamonds in the rough you found, until they, well, were found to be less valuable upon closer scrutiny.

Is that a fair analogy? Sure why not. Five players we gotta get to, so let's get to the gettin' to. And thanks again, Bengals, for re-signing Jalen Davis. Trying to keep a positive tilt at the top here.

Duke Tobin should shake up QB room to headline Bengals' obvious free-agent departures

Goodbye, Jake Browning. The 2023 season was fun when you went 4-3 and kept the Bengals in the playoffs. But you had your shot this year when Joe sadly went down again, and ya blew it.

Not all of it was on Browning. He had zero running game to work with. The defense was dreadful. Browning's benching coincided with the offensive line suddenly jelling once Joe Flacco arrived via trade. However, Flacco also threw the ball way better than Browning and turned it over far less.

Inject Jimmy Garoppolo directly into my veins. Give me a serious backup with big-game experience where he's actually won. JIMMY G! JIMMY G! JIMMY G! That's me chanting through the keyboard.

Other Bengals free agents who absolutely should not be back in 2026

CBs Cam Taylor-Britt & Marco Wilson

Off-field issues and multiple benchings in the past couple years have soured me on Cam Taylor-Britt. What a shame. He's quite a talent. His second-round draft status reflects that. Alas, it doesn't seem like football is the biggest priority for him. What a shame.

As for Marco Wilson, yeah...I don't know what to say. The dude has legit LOL athletic traits and zero wherewithal to apply them on a football field. Wilson can't put it all together. Don't think he ever will.

Wilson is almost like if Shemar Stewart was a cornerback and drafted in the fourth round. Sorry, Shemar. Maybe a bit of a cheap shot there. I made myself laugh, though.

Anywho, the Bengals need to focus on Dax Hill and DJ Turner as the long-term starters at boundary corner. Upgrading the depth behind them from CTB and Wilson should be something of a priority with either a bargain-bin free agent and perhaps a Day 3 draftee.

DE Cam Sample

A fun fourth-round pick out of Tulane who never really popped. Cam Sample is kind of like the inverse Shemar Stewart prospect at defensive end. Not a first-rounder. Not a blue-blood program. Solid college production. An OK athlete — far from freaky/elite.

The Bengals are rolling with Myles Murphy, Stewart, and either an early draft pick or another free-agent starter to fill out their defensive end rotation. Stewart will be fighting for his life to start in any scenario.

I actually like Cincinnati's depth behind that prospective trio, too, between Cedric Johnson and Isaiah Foskey. Not terrible! Sample is an odd man out. Maybe he'll get more run on another team.

TE Noah Fant

When you cough up three fumbles that get returned for touchdowns, you're not part of the solution to a position group the Bengals seem to always fall short at.

I would've included Drew Sample on this list from the tight end room. Problem being, Tobin is so loyal to him that I know his release will never happen. In my ideal mock offseason I can predict it all I want. For this piece, I'm striving to be authentic to what's realistic.

A healthy Mike Gesicki and Erick All Jr. — along with whatever Sample can give — will hopefully be enough to justify letting Fant go.

Don't get me wrong. Fant is pretty good. Just not really worth any effort to retain him when every single dollar in free agency must be spared to maximize the Bengals' defensive improvement in particular.