Feb. 14, 2026, 3:12 p.m. ET
The Cincinnati Bengals are something of a question mark this offseason.
Duke Tobin and pretty much anyone from the organization who has been in front of a camera this offseason has made it clear that they weren’t happy with the roster last year. That’s led to theories about big spending in free agency on outside players.
But the how of the spending is up for debate.
While some Bengals fans might daydream about doing something wild like using cap space to trade for a Maxx Crosby or pay a free agent like Devin Lloyd, the reality is probably going to be a little more grounded.
Case in point, while talking about the offseason for Cincinnati recently, NFL Network’s Cameron Wolfe recently said the Bengals are “going to look for a lot more volume pickups on defense to get better with the group that just wasn’t good enough to compete in 2025.”
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Translation: Expect a scattershot of signings that equals big total dollar amounts, but not one big signing or massive name.
This would certainly align with how the Berngals have done things in the past. The last major Super Bowl window opened, in part, because they rolled the dice on names like Trey Hendrickson and DJ Reader. They also found smaller names like Mike Hilton, Vonn Bell and others.
The problem areas are obvious. The Bengals need help in the middle of the defense on the line, starting safeties and a third corner who can play inside, to name a few.
Like those past successes with this strategy, though, the Bengals will need to carefully mine the free-agent class for guys who fit the system.
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