5 offseason catastrophes the Bengals must avoid in 2023

4. Not being active in the offensive line market (free agency, NFL Draft) 

The Bengals will not have starting right tackle, La'el Collins, until more than likely the month of December and that's assuming they even keep him around. He'll save them $6 million if he's cut before June 1 and $7 million if he's cut after June 1, per Spotrac. This means Cincinnati will have a void to fill on the offensive line that already had issues at all of last season.

They were better than in 2021, but still not at the level they need to be at for the Bengals to be a Super Bowl-winning club. The Bengals have all of their draft picks and have cap space to work with. Not to mention, they have the capability to clean this line up a little bit if they choose to do so. 

As mentioned above, the Bengals could release Collins and save roughly $6 million. They could make moves with Jonah Williams depending on what they envision him being heading into his final contract year. Nonetheless, Cincinnati needs to be active in the offensive line market. Regardless if that is through the draft and finding prospects they like, or free agency trying to find some key veterans who could boost the morale of the unit. 

Doing nothing at all and going into the season with the same line minus Collins will not produce anymore then they did this past season and we saw in the AFC Championship and throughout the season that they are still not consistent enough protecting Joe Burrow.