Historically, the Cincinnati Bengals have been hesitant to pay their players. It took a long holdout for the team to finally pay Ja'Marr Chase what he deserves, and the team never agreed to a new long-term deal with Trey Hendrickson after he led the NFL in sacks. Now, the defensive end may leave in free agency as one of the best players on the open market this offseason. Even Shemar Stewart underwent a weird contract holdout after the Bengals made him their first-round pick last year.
Spending big would be a lot more feasible with a lot of cap space. This offseason, the Bengals are slated to have over $52 million to work with, which is the seventh most cap space in the league. There is room to create even more cap space, which could lead to a massive offseason spending spree, something that has to be intriguing for a team like the Bengals.
Despite having one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL and making a Super Bowl appearance not long ago, Cincinnati has now missed the playoffs three years in a row. They need to add pieces to get over the hump, and they just watched last offseason's biggest free agent spenders, the New England Patriots, be rewarded with a Super Bowl appearance after spending big. So, what moves can the Bengals make to create even more cap space?
Cincinnati doesn't need their backup running back anymore
Running backs have short career lifespans in the NFL. Samaje Perine has already been in the league longer than most ball carriers. The Oklahoma product, who was drafted in 2017, has had three separate stints with the Bengals. Clearly, they trust him. While he is still a solid pass blocker and someone who can be relied on to take a few carries per game as the backup, Perine is likely to see regression in the coming years.
After all, Perine is 30 years old, which is somewhat of a death sentence in the NFL. The Bengals would be smart to move on from Perine now and replace him with a younger running back in the draft. The cap savings by moving off his $2 million deal could be allocated to signing free agents.
The dead money on Perine's contract is only $200,000, so there isn't much of a financial disincentive from moving on from the running back. Perine has done a lot for the Bengals, and that is admirable, but NFL general managers need to know when to cut bait, and now may be the time to do so.
Bengals can move on from one of their interior defensive lineman
The Bengals could free up cap space by moving on from one of their defensive tackles. B.J. Hill is set to make $12.1 million this upcoming season, and Tedarrell Slaton is on a deal that will pay him $9.1 million. The dead money is significantly cheaper than their cap hits for both of them.
Hill's dead hit is $7.3 million, and Slaton's dead money would be at $2.5 million. The Bengals' defense is a nightmare, so while getting rid of contributors on that end is risky, the team really just needs to hit the reset button with their defense. While they shouldn't release both of these defensive tackles, one of them is expendable.
Of course, the Bengals can't make cap-saving moves just to save money. They need to translate their spending power into actually making big and aggressive moves in free agency. If they do so, then they could certainly pull a move from the Patriots' book and leapfrog into contention.
