The Cincinnati Bengals have been busy so far this spring. The organization clearly didn't take well to missing out on the playoffs last season, so it has been very proactive in the name of improvement. After all, this is a team that made the Super Bowl just a couple of years ago.
Some of Cincinnati's marquee additions include running back Zack Moss, tight end Mike Gesicki, offensive tackle Trent Brown, defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins and safeties Vonn Bell and Geno Stone, among others. However, Tee Higgins' future with the franchise remains an unsolved issue.
As a result of their pre-NFL Draft offseason moves, the Bengals were given a grade of B-minus in a recent article from Bleacher Report that graded every team's offseason so far. Here's what B/R had to say about the Bengals:
"It's hard to say for sure that the Bengals are better heading into the draft than they were at the end of last season. When you look at who they have brought in, there's nearly a one-to-one comparison with their departures. . . . Some of those one-for-one trade-offs favor the Bengals. Trent Brown outplayed Jonah Williams last season and Geno Stone is an upgrade over Nick Scott. However, Zack Moss and Joe Mixon is closer to a toss-up and Sheldon Rankins might be a downgrade from D.J. Reader.
"The real head-scratcher of the offseason has been how the Bengals have approached their Tee Higgins situation. Either signing him to a multiyear deal or trading him would make more sense than simply asking him to play on the franchise tag."
The Bengals have a total of 10 picks in the upcoming NFL Draft, so their grade for the offseason could improve dramatically if they nail those picks. Plus, we won't really know how good Cincinnati's free agent additions are until we see them out on the field. Until then, it's all just straight speculation.