The Cincinnati Bengals dominate offseason lists right now.
Those Bengals have the league’s most interesting contract standoff with Trey Hendrickson. They might have the league’s most interesting rookie holdout with Shemar Stewart. And they’re right up there in big splash moves this offseason, provided we’re counting the big cash paid to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.
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Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport is after being asked to rank the top 25 best moves of the offseason, as he slots the decision ninth overall:
“When a team has an elite quarterback and said elite quarterback makes it clear he wants to keep his band together, you do your level best to accommodate him. It wasn’t cheap—Chase is now the NFL’s highest-paid non-quarterback. But bringing back Chase and Higgins gives Joe Burrow one of the league’s most dangerous one-two punches at WR in the league—again. Now if they can just figure out a way to re-up edge-rusher Trey Hendrickson.”
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The Bengals paying up for both star receivers came at the behest and public pressure of one Joe Burrow. Chase was an inevitable thing, whereas Higgins was certainly not a guarantee.
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In the end, those Bengals got both key pieces long-term deals and also brought back other core players like tight end Mike Gesicki and defensive lineman BJ Hill. Somewhat understandably, there weren’t a lot of outside splashes on free agents.
Even with this charting as one of the best offseason moves, the Bengals still need a lot to go right to contend. Namely, good health and key coaching changes on the offensive line and entirety of the defense to get more out of the returning roster.
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This article originally appeared on Bengals Wire: Bengals’ offseason splashes earn Top 10 ranking