The Cincinnati Bengals organization is no stranger to criticism about the annual reluctance to max out salary cap space and truly go all-in for a Super Bowl push.
Doing everything it takes to lift that Lombardi Trophy should be the annual philosophy for a franchise that employs a quarterback as elite as Joe Burrow. Just hasn't been the case in Cincinnati before Burrow landed there, and continues to not be the case through six years of his career.
So will something change now? It feels more possible than ever, especially now that we know precisely how excellent business is in the NFL at large — which is great news for the Bengals.
NFL salary cap projected to go up as much as 9.5 percent, but what will the Bengals actually do about it?
NFL Media's Tom Pelissero provided a snapshot of what to expect for the 2026 NFL salary cap on Friday. Looks like it could go up by as much as 9.5 percent.
NFL salary cap over the years:
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 30, 2026
2013: $123M
2014: $133M
2015: $143.28M
2016: $155.27M
2017: $167M
2018: $177.2M
2019: $188.2M
2020: $198.2M
2021: $182.5M
2022: $208.2M
2023: $224.8M
2024: $255.4M
2025: $279.2M
2026: $301.2M-$305.7M (projected)
Business is booming. https://t.co/lNPmrwBQq0
So like...what's the excuse not to re-sign a veteran like right guard Dalton Risner, or practice squad staple Jalen Davis, who shined as a nickelback in the second half of this season?
Plus, the Bengals have the option to restructure the lucrative contracts of either Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, or Tee Higgins to create additional cap space for this year. Will they do it? That remains to be seen, but at least the NFL gifted the Cincinnati brass a nice extra chunk of change that they can't ignore.
OverTheCap.com projects the Bengals to have over $47 million in cap room if we go off Pelissero's highest-end prediction. Spotrac estimates Risner's average annual value on a new contract to be $2.4 million. That's way low to me. Cincinnati could double that amount without batting an eye.
Risner is arguably the only must-keep free agent the Bengals have to negotiate with this offseason. Beyond that, they should feel free to spend aggressively on upgrades to the defense in particular.
I'd like to see a new starter added to the d-line, the linebacker corps, and to the secondary. A replacement for Geno Stone at safety specifically.
What could $47 million buy the Bengals? Well, let's go with some more conservative expenditures, using round numbers on what each signee's cap hit would be in 2026 alone. I'll include retaining Risner and Davis on this list.
- DE Boye Mafe — $10 million
- LB Demario Davis — $9 million
- S Alohi Gilman — $6 million
- RG Dalton Risner — $5 million
- NB Jalen Davis — $3 million
That's only $33 million. Without any cap casualty cuts or restructures, there's still $14 million left over to play with.
Let's not get our hopes too high, though, Who Dey Nation. We know how this team operates. Even modest spending like what I've laid out above would exceed expectations.