Cincinnati Bengals: 5 offseason needs

In order to make the playoffs next season, the Cincinnati Bengals must fill these five offseason needs.

The Cincinnati Bengals are coming off an embarrassing season. They finished with a 6-9-1 record, good for third place in the AFC North. Despite their record, they should be back in contention next season. However, the Bengals have some offseason needs they need to fill.

This could be the last chance for somebody, whether it’s head coach Marvin Lewis or general manager/team president Mike Brown. So don’t expect the Bengals to be quiet in the offseason. They have needs they need to address and they know it. The Bengals also have So here are the five offseason needs the Bengals have.

5. Offensive Line

The Bengals might need to replace their left tackle after this offseason. That depends on if they re-sign Andrew Whitworth. But even if Cincinnati does re-sign him, they need to bring in someone to at least challenge incumbent Jake Fisher. The Bengals have over $40 million of cap space, so expect them to re-sign Whitworth. He’s over 35 years old, but they don’t have any internal options to replace.

But let’s suppose the Bengals don’t. Who could they target? There are a number of intriguing left tackles out there. Russell Okung could be a solid one-year stop gap while the Bengals figure out what they’re going to do long-term. And he’d likely come at a fairly reasonable price.

The Bengals also have to re-sign Kevin Zeitler. He’s probably a bigger priority than Whitworth, as he’s younger. The Cincinnati Bengals need to improve their offensive line depth as well. What’s telling is they need to re-sign both Whitworth and Zeitler to have a chance of contending next season. This shows their lack of overall depth on the offensive line. And it needs to be fixed.