One by one, the dominoes are beginning to fall for the Cincinnati Bengals. We knew that this would be a pivotal offseason in Cincy, with Tee Higgins hitting free agency and receiver Ja'Marr Chase and edge rusher Trey Hendrickson both in need of new contracts. It would be hard to pay everyone, especially given this franchise's history of, uh, let's just call it "extreme frugality," and that meant that tough choices would need to be made.
Arguably the toughest of those choices came on Thursday afternoon, when the team granted Hendrickson permission to seek a trade. It came just hours after fellow defensive stalwart Sam Hubbard announced his retirement from the NFL, a decision that surely had at least something to do with the fact that the Bengals were set on diminishing his role and restructuring his contract.
Hendrickson has been one of the very best pass rushers in the sport over his time in Cincinnati, and just about the only thing that went right for this defense in 2024. But he's 30 now, and handing out a record-breaking contract based on past production undoubtedly carries some risk — there's simply not much precedent for an edge rusher performing in the way Hendrickson has of late as he pushes into his 30s. The Bengals clearly want to keep the band together on offense and get younger on defense, and a Hendrickson trade would check both of those boxes, freeing up the space to sign Higgins to a new deal while signaling the end of several veterans' time with the team.
4. RB Zack Moss
Moss slowly but surely lost the featured back job to Chase Brown in 2024, averaging just 3.3 yards per carry on 74 attempts, before suffering a season-ending neck injury in November. He's a fine-enough role player when healthy, but why would Cincy want to hang on to a nearly $5 million cap hit? This is Brown's backfield now, and the Bengals can restock the running back rotation with younger, cheaper players this offseason.
3. DT Sheldon Rankins
The Bengals signed Rankins to a two-year deal last offseason, hoping that he would be a stabilizing force on the interior. That didn't work out, to put it kindly: Cincy's run defense was a disaster all season long, while Rankins appeared in just seven games amid multiple injuries.
And even when the 30-year-old was on the field, he wasn't particularly productive, with just 10 total tackles for the year. Cutting him would free up some $9.5 million in cap space while leaving just $2 million in dead money, which feels like a no-brainer for a team that needs all the money it can get in order to restock this defense.
2. LB Germaine Pratt
The writing has been on the wall here for a while, as evidenced by the fact that Pratt requested a trade out of Cincinnati last month. But even if he hadn't, he was a likely cap casualty, as the Bengals could save $5.85 million by releasing him this spring. Pratt is still only 28 years old, and the tackle totals are impressive, but he's a limited player who can be a liability in coverage — not the kind of player teams are keen to invest in, especially as they near 30.
The Bengals haven't always been the best at honoring trade requests, but one way or another he'll certainly be playing for a new team next season as Cincinnati looks to replace his production for cheap in free agency.
1. S Geno Stone
This one might be controversial, considering Stone's resurgence amid the team's winning streak to end the 2024 season. But he was dreadful prior to that, and even late in the year his struggles tackling in space reared their head far too often. The decision to trade Hendrickson suggests that this is more or less a total overhaul, and Cincinnati can free up some $6.5 million in cap space by moving on.
That might seem harsh for a player who's still only 26 years old and recorded seven interceptions for the Ravens in 2023, but it's clear that the Bengals need to start from square one on the defensive side of the ball, and continuing to invest not-insignificant resources in a flawed player at a non-premium position just isn't good business.