The Cincinnati Bengals’ 2023 season lasted longer than expected, after multiple Joe Burrow injuries, but it finally ended with a Week 17 defeat to the Kansas City Chiefs, their great rival for AFC supremacy in recent years.
Both teams have not enjoyed the same dominance of previous years, but while the Chiefs still have the chance to put that right, the Bengals are already turning their attention to an offseason that will be spent focusing on how to avoid letting 2024 become another disappointment.
The biggest variable in the Bengals' success this year was Burrow being hurt, and with the elite quarterback now on an elite salary, the team faces an annual juggling act to build the most optimal roster around him.
Several critical members of the team are scheduled to hit free agency, off the back of a 2023 season in which the same thing was true. And the losses they suffered from that experience were certainly felt this year.
Key Free Agents
| Player | 2023 PFF Grade (Rank) | 2022 PFF Grade (Rank) |
| DI D.J. Reader | 82.2 (13th/137) | 85.2 (6th/142) |
| WR Tee Higgins | 72.1 (43rd/99) | 78.4 (20th/122) |
| WR Tyler Boyd | 60.8 (79th/99) | 70.2 (42nd/122) |
| CB Chidobe Awuzie | 62.6 (81st/134) | 69.9 (T-37th/131) |
| OT Jonah Williams | 59.1 (59th/81) | 61.0 (T-65th/89) |
| QB Jake Browning | 75.2 (20th/44) | N/A |
| TE Irv Smith Jr. | 44.2 (49th/49) | 56.4 (38th/42, with Vikings) |
Read more about Cincinnati's top free agents in PFF's top 100 free agent rankings!
The good news for the Bengals is they have a lot of cap space to play with. Despite his new contract, Burrow accounts for a very reasonable $29.7 million cap hit, according to OverTheCap, and so the Bengals have the sixth-most cap space in the league — the kind of spending power usually associated with much worse teams.
The bad news is that they are likely going to need to allocate a lot of that money just to keep key parts of the team in place.
Among their free agents are two of their top three receivers, their best cornerback, a starting right tackle, an elite defensive tackle and a backup quarterback who just showed he is well deserving of a raise.
There is also the small matter of Ja’Marr Chase’s future blockbuster contract affecting all of that cap space. Burrow is now paid, the assumption has always been that Chase will get his, too, but where does that leave Tee Higgins and Tyler Boyd?
It seems likely that the Bengals will treat Higgins as they did Jessie Bates III — use the franchise tag on him to keep him around for another year, and then let him walk in free agency rather than try and retain two receivers on huge deals.
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