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The Cincinnati Bengals have been making moves this offseason to create cap space for free agency, and they recently released one of Joe Burrow's protectors. Guard Alex Cappa was released after spending three years with the team, and they cleared an extra $8 million in cap space with the move. In total, they now have $69 million in space to use, and it wouldn't be a surprise if they didn't use it on some of their own free agents.
Cappa signed with the Bengals in 2022 and was a solid option at guard, but after his ankle injury in 2024, he wasn't the same player.
About a week ago, the Bengals released defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, and they cleared almost $10 million in cap space with that move. Rankins finished his season with 18 tackles and one sack through seven games, as he missed most of the season due to an illness. He signed a two-year deal with the Bengals last year, and they hoped that he would be a big help to their pass rush, but it didn't work out that way.
It's obvious that the Bengals are trying to create enough cap space so they can extend JaMarr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Trey Hendrickson.
Hendrickson be important to bring back on a new deal as he was one of their better defenders on the line, but Chase and Higgins will be on the priority list for the Bengals as well. Chase had a big season for the Bengals, and there's no doubt that his price tag went up after they didn't want to extend him before last year
Higgins will most likely be franchise-tagged once again, but they will try to sign him to a long-term deal this time around. The Bengals are not done making moves, so it wouldn't be as surprise if they released more players to create more cap space.
