After Ravens' Maxx Crosby trade, Bengals better have an emphatic rebuttal

How is it that free agency hasn't even started, and yet the Cincinnati Bengals feel like they're in full Jack Johnson mode? You know, sitting, waiting, wishing? Is that too old of a song reference?

Regardless, while Joe Burrow sits on a 2026 cap hit that's a shade under $48 million, the Baltimore Ravens are out here taking humongous swings with their superstar quarterback, Lamar Jackson, due to be a $74.5 million cap albatross this year.

Yeah like I know Lamar's contract extension and resulting restructure is coming soon. But that's kind of the point. The Bengals would cower away from a high-stakes blockbuster transaction like scoring superstar edge defender Maxx Crosby from the Las Vegas Raiders. That's precisely what Baltimore has done, per ESPN's Adam Schefter, for 2026 and 2027 first-round picks.

Ravens' all-in Maxx Crosby trade makes Bengals' Trey Hendrickson saga all the more foolish-looking

I think I'm at my wit's end, man. Bengals personnel person in charge Duke Tobin said Cincinnati is going all-in every year.

Really, Dukie? Is that why Mike Brown and the Blackburns cheaped out on paying Trey Hendrickson at every turn? According to OverTheCap.com, Baltimore is $12 million over the 2026 cap limit as of the Crosby trade.

If the Bengals had extended Hendrickson last year, and actually given him the guaranteed money in the second year of his deal that they were so reluctant to grace him with, there's zero chance they'd be anywhere near Baltimore's type of current salary cap peril.

And yet here we are. The Bengals just sit on their hands and watch a rival throw them a friggin' haymaker to kick off the weekend before the free agency tampering period starts.

Can you imagine what Joe Burrow is thinking right now? Maxx Crosby twice a year. Myles Garrett twice a year. T.J. Watt (for now) and Pittsburgh's deep pass rush twice a year.

The AFC North is stacked with elite pass rushers. That's one thing the Ravens lacked for quite a while. Now, under new coach and defensive guru Jesse Minter, they have the ultimate havoc-wreaking weapon in Crosby.

What on Earth are the Bengals about to do that comes close to Ravens' Maxx Crosby splash?

Probably nothing!

Who Dey Nation just sits here helplessly every single year while serious teams make serious moves to go to the Super Bowl, and we just...take it? Getting pretty old, y'all.

I've said my piece on the offseason I'd like to see. Not praying bad-seeming young players suddenly become good-seeming players. Not guarding against "future problems" — those words from Duke Tobin live rent-free in my cranium — by refusing to restructure Burrow's contract or anyone else's to free up loads more cap space.

Did I want the Bengals to trade for Maxx Crosby specifically? Hard pass. No way. It'd be cool, but given the asking price, and the fact that it'd look so lame to trade for Crosby after letting Hendrickson walk for nothing, Cincinnati's brass would never survive that type of bad press.

Just kidding they totally would.

Here's how I think the offseason will actually go for the Bengals. Be prepared, reader, to be disappointed. Because whatever Cincinnati does will pale in comparison to this Crosby move.

The Bengals have some of the most cap space in the NFL. They could free up far more by restructuring Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase and/or Tee Higgins. They will not. Despite having an estimated $151+ million in 2027 cap room, with no more than four absolute must-keep free agents.

They'll appease us fans by extending DJ Turner and Dax Hill. They'll sign a couple good, not great, free agents. And they'll 100% get too cute and overthink the draft in the first round. That's just what they do and that's who they are at this point until we see evidence to the contrary.