There's two sides to every coin, and that idiom applies to the fact that the Cincinnati Bengals were able to agree to massive contract extensions for both of their star wide receivers Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
The positive side of the coin is that all involved parties can finally move pas the contract drama that has seemingly lingered over the organization for years. Plus, with the trio of star quarterback Joe Burrow, Chase and Higgins all locked up for the foreseeable future, the Bengals will continue to have one of the most potent offensive attacks in the entire NFL.
On the flip side though, the Bengals now have a whole lot of money tied up in three offensive players, and thus limited salary cap space to improve other areas of the roster.
Cincinnati's stacked offense puts added pressure to perform on Al Golden's defense
Cincinnati's defense was the main reason that the team failed to qualify for postseason play in 2024, and so far, the team has done little to address, or improve, that side of the ball, personnel-wise. And now, with so much money tied up on the offensive side of the ball, it will likely be difficult for the Bengals to make meaningful additions to bolster the defense.
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That means the defense could look largely the same, and in order to get better as a unit, they'll need to rely heavily on individual improvement of some of their young players. As a result, there will be added pressure on new defensive coordinator Al Golden.
The Bengals hired Golden to replace Lou Anarumo, but they haven't gone out and built a better defense for him to work with. Instead, it looks like the Bengals are banking on Golden being the key to internal improvement.
They're clearly hoping that he can get more out of the young guys -- and even the veterans -- than Anarumo did. But, they've done him few favors with the roster so far and a lack of resources will only make the task that much harder.
With so much talent on offense, the onus will be squarely on the defensive side of the ball to carry its weight and improve upon what we saw last season. Cincinnati simply can't afford to be let down defensively again, especially with Burrow playing at an MVP-caliber level.
Keeping Trey Hendrickson around would help, and the Bengals are working to do that. But otherwise, it really looks like they're banking on Golden being the major catalyst for improvement on the defensive end. That's a lot of pressure for a first-time defensive coordinator at the NFL level, and the pressure on Golden's plate was only increased following the extensions for Chase and Higgins.