3 contract decisions that will pay off for Bengals

2. Not paying Vonn Bell or Hayden Hurst

This isn't meant to be a slight to either Vonn Bell or Hayden Hurst but the Bengals will be okay without either of them. Bell is certainly going to be the harder option to replace simply from a leadership viewpoint but as long as Lou Anarumo is the defensive coordinator, there's not a ton of reason to worry about the defense.

There will be a bit of a drop off at the safety spot in Bell's absence but he'll be turning 29 this year and we all know the Bengals steer clear from signing guys when they're nearing 30. As for Hurst, he had one good year in Cincinnati, got paid, and will probably have a down year, as C.J. Uzomah did this past year for the Jets.

Hurst was a good player for Cincinnati in 2022 but the Bengals' offense doesn't need a pass-catching tight end to be dominant. They've shown that they're content with the one-year tight end strategy and it's probably wise that they didn't overpay for Hurst.