There's still plenty of time for the Bengals to make a splash in free agency

Through the first two days of the legal tampering portion of free agency, the Cincinnati Bengals have retained two players while losing four to other teams. That's led to the fan base slightly panicking because this time last year, the team had added several key players to their roster.

It's understandable why fans are worried. After all, the team had six key free agents entering the offseason and as of this writing, four of those guys are heading to other teams this offseason. The team did shock a lot of people by retaining Germaine Pratt but losing Vonn Bell sort of offset that, as he was someone the fans were expecting to stick around.

While the panic-mode attitude is understandable, free agency is only just beginning. It officially kicks off at 4:00 EST on Wednesday, March 15th and that's when the deals that have been agreed upon will become official. The top-tier names, for the most part, have signed somewhere but the Bengals haven't ever really been a team to sign those big top-tier guys.

In other words, this next part of free agency is where they should be able to thrive.

Calm down, Bengals fans. The team will make moves.

Losing both Jessie Bates and Vonn Bell was not ideal in the least bit but the team was prepared to lose Bates and that was evidenced by the drafting of Dax Hill in the first round last year. It'd make sense for them to target a vet in free agency and if they do, go for some of the not-as-big targets, like Adrian Amos.

Losing Samaje Perine was another blow but he was a backup running back who is now going to make $7.5 million in Denver. The Bengals were never going to pay him that and they can find a running back in free agency or turn to the draft to keep that position afloat.

Hayden Hurst leaving sucks for sure but he was pushing 30 and the team was not going to give him a three-year deal. They'll likely draft a tight end early on and maybe bring back Drew Sample or Mitchell Wilcox.

I get the sense of panic from the fans and that the team "isn't doing anything" but we're only a few days into free agency and there are still plenty of talented options left out there. There's no need to rush into signing players, especially if they aren't good fits.

Be patient. Things will happen.