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The Bengals did a good thing before the draft

Cincinnati Bengals fans may have spent time making up their minds about which player they wanted the team to draft with the No.10 selection. Instead, a week before the draft, the Bengals had different plans. The team made a blockbuster trade, acquiring three-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Dexter Lawrence from the New York Giants.

The team entered this offseason with urgency to improve their defense. After making deep playoff runs in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, the team took a step back as during those two runs, they had paired an explosive offense with a strong defense. However, that changed as the team’s defense has worsened each season since, resulting in the team allowing the third-most points last season. Despite having a top-10 offense, the Bengals missed the postseason for a third consecutive year.

This offseason, Cincinnati had their highest draft selection since the 2021 NFL Draft, and were among the top-10 teams in available cap space. Even though they lost All-Pro pass rusher Trey Hendrickson to the division rival Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati put their assets to good use. 

Cincinnati Bengals Cap Space

As a result, the Bengals now have the fifth-least cap space in the NFL, according to OverTheCap.

However, USA Today Bengals Wire writer Chris Roling described this as good news as he wrote:
“And that’s a good thing. They just went to get a defense-changing player. They’re actually using the space, rather than keeping flexibility for future years and even doing rollover cap space to the next year.

There’s a fun little hidden element here, too: A giant contract restructure for someone like Joe Burrow could be on the way in order to free up space.  A Joe Burrow contract restructure would free up roughly $19 million. Doing the same for Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins would free up roughly $13 million each.

Every team in a championship window with an elite quarterback does contract restructures while being aggressive. The Bengals sitting near the very bottom in free cap space might mean they finally join those modern contenders in this sense, too.”

2026 NFL Draft

Of course, the fact that the Bengals acquired players during free agency and via the Dexter Lawrence trade does not mean the team isn’t focused on the upcoming NFL Draft. The Bengals still possess the No. 41 overall selection in the second round. In Fox Sports writer Rob Rang’s latest mock draft, he predicted the Bengals would select Clemson cornerback Avieon Terrell.

Rang wrote:

“With their first-round pick spent on Dexter Lawrence, the Bengals can turn their attention toward a secondary that allowed the third-most passing touchdowns in the NFL last year. Terrell didn’t run like a first-round pick at his Pro Day, but his tape and bloodlines suggest he’ll be a longtime starter.”

Terrell is currently the 38th-best ranked prospect by NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah. Regarding Terrell, Jeremiah wrote:

“Terrell is an undersized cornerback with tremendous quickness and instincts. He projects best as a nickel at the next level. I love his feisty, competitive play style. He utilizes his quick feet and smooth change of direction to match up in the slot. He stays in position with great movement skills and body control. He has excellent eyes and closing speed in underneath zone coverage. He isn’t as effective on the outside, where his lack of size shows up on go balls, and he’ll get walled off on slants by bigger-bodied receivers. He is very aggressive to fill vs. the run game. He is also a stellar blitzer (SEE: the Georgia Tech game, where he runs over a tight end to make a TFL/forced fumble). He’s always talking and provides energy on the field. Overall, this is an ideal nickel starter on Day 1.”