The Cincinnati Bengals have some extremely important financial decisions to make over the offseason involving some key contributors. Guys like Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Trey Hendrickson and Mike Gesicki are all seeking extensions or fresh deals, and there has been much speculation about whether or not the Bengals would be willing, or able, to pay all of those guys.
That's why the latest projection for the NFL's salary cap for 2025 is a major gift for the Bengals. The league informed teams that cap number for next season will be between $277.5 million and $281.5 million. This number is higher than originally projected, and represents a major jump from last season's number of $255.4 million.
Higher-than-expected salary cap will give Bengals extra space to work on new deals with key contributors
This major increase is obviously good news for the Bengals, because it means they will have more money to spend on new deals for those previously mentioned key contributors. Cincinnati is now projected to have north of $53 million in cap space, which is the ninth-most league-wide, per Over the Cap.
Only the following teams are projected to have more cap space than Cincinnati this offseason: New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commanders, Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Chargers, Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings and Pittsburgh Steelers.
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This will be the second straight year that the cap has increased dramatically. Last year, the cap increased from $224.8 million to $255.4 million, which was the largest one-year increase ever. Overall, that's an increase of over $50 million in two years. That staggering jump in salary cap space in recent years can be attributed to new, lucrative media right deals, as well as the growing popularity of the league.
Star quarterback Joe Burrow has already publicly stated that he would be willing to restructure his contract in order to help Cincinnati's front office when it comes to keeping guys around, but perhaps he won't even need to do that because of the increased cap. That extra money could help the Bengals work out a deal with a guy like Gesicki, or it could provide some extra to add on to a deal for Chase, Higgins, or Hendrickson.
If any team is poised to take advantage of the higher-than-expected salary cap, it's the Bengals. Let's hope they do.