7 noteworthy Bengals slated to hit free agency in 2024

The Cincinnati Bengals are now in the part of their journey where the young talented players who got them to where they've always wanted to be are needing to be paid. That makes free agency, the draft, and who to keep/cut, that much more important.

This offseason, the Bengals have to deal with getting extensions done for Joe Burrow, Tee Higgins, and Logan Wilson, assuming they want to keep all three. Next year, the attention shifts to Ja'Marr Chase and getting him taken care of long-term.

Which notable players are set to hit free agency in 2024? Let's take a look in alphabetical order.

Chidobe Awuzie

The Bengals signed Chidobe Awuzie to help their secondary take the next step and he's mostly been terrific during his time in Cincinnati. Unfortunately, he's entering the final year of his contract and with the Bengals adding Cam Taylor-Britt and DJ Turner in back-to-back draft classes, it appears they've been prepping for the loss of Awuzie.

Throw in that Awuzie suffered an ACL injury last season and it's entirely possible that he's not the same player he was before the injury. It's certainly wise of the Bengals to plan for a future without Awuzie by drafting eventual replacements because as we've seen, it's not always a guarantee that players stick around. Money talks and Awuzie could be set to earn a nice payday next offseason.