Bengals salary cap 2023: Everything fans need to know this offseason

This offseason is one of the most important offseasons in Cincinnati Bengals history. The team has made it to back-to-back AFC Championship Games and reached the Super Bowl in the 2021 season after winning just four games the previous year.

Despite people thinking their run to the biggest game in all of sports was a fluke, the Bengals made it to the AFC title game this past season. They might have lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, but the game was close and came down to the wire once again.

An important aspect for every team in the offseason is their salary cap. How much money do they have to spend on extensions, re-signing players, and free agency? That's what we'll dive into in this post.

How much cap space do the Bengals have?

According to Over the Cap, Cincinnati has $34,651,354 in cap space, giving them the fifth-most in the league. This is a great spot for them to be in considering the fact that they're a Super Bowl contender and have the money to make moves.

Yes, they need to extend Joe Burrow for sure and potentially extend Tee Higgins and Logan Wilson as well but they have the money to do so and make sure the team is taken care of in other departments as well.

Even better news for Cincinnati is that the cap number is continuing to climb. The number will be set at $224.8 million in 2023, up from the $208.2 million total in 2022. That's quite the huge jump and this will help the Bengals' cap situation even more moving forward.

How can the Bengals clear cap space? 

The two easiest moves for the team to make are to cut running back Joe Mixon and offensive tackle La'el Collins. Doing so would save the team roughly $18 million against the cap. They could also cut Tyler Boyd, saving them another $8.9 million, according to Spotrac.

Who are the Bengals free agents? 

Cincinnati has 15 players set to be unrestricted free agents, meaning that unless they're tagged (and no one was tagged), they can talk to other teams. Cincinnati also has one remaining exclusive-rights free agent. This means that the team has the rights to them in 2023.

Unrestricted Free Agents

• Brandon Allen
• Eli Apple
• Jessie Bates
• Vonn Bell
• Tre Flowers
• Clark Harris
• Hayden Hurst
• Chris Lammons
• Samaje Perine
• Germaine Pratt
• Drew Sample
• Max Scharping
• Trent Taylor
• Michael Thomas
• Trayveon Williams

Exclusive-Rights Free Agents

• Clay Johnston