{"id":786579,"date":"2026-03-02T12:09:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T12:09:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/786579\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T12:09:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T12:09:12","slug":"bengals-could-target-surprise-vikings-cut-in-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/786579\/","title":{"rendered":"Bengals could target surprise Vikings cut in free agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

March 2, 2026, 5:30 a.m. ET<\/p>\n

The Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> will hunt for defensive line help in free agency and the draft this offseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Such a need has led to speculation about one major cut candidate<\/a>. In turn, that\u2019s led to questions about a possible reunion with DJ Reader<\/a> in free agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But the Minnesota Vikings might have just given the Bengals<\/a> another option.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Those Vikings will reportedly cut defensive lineman Javon Hargrave<\/a> for salary cap relief soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bengals\u2019 key deadline will signal cut candidate\u2019s fate<\/a> Bengals get an important free agent contract done early<\/a> Bengals players who regressed the most in 2025<\/a> Bengals contract extension candidates this offseason<\/a> Bengals draft outlook: The last 10 picks at No. 10 overall<\/a><\/p>\n

Hargrave, 33, signed a two-year deal worth $30 million<\/a> before last season but is on the outs due to younger breakouts on the roster.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!<\/a><\/p>\n

The Bengals would love to say the same thing about the younger players on their roster at the spot. But Kris Jenkins Jr. and McKinnley Jackson are recent draft picks who have yet to emerge, causing this issue in the first place.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Hargrave is probably older than the Bengals want right now. But he ranked 35th out of 134 players graded<\/a> at his position last year at PFF. Adding him to the rotation at what should be an affordable cap hit could give the depth chart a much-needed boost.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 2, 2026, 5:30 a.m. ET The Cincinnati Bengals will hunt for defensive line help in free agency…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":786580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2073],"tags":[95878,7,233,259,2529,6,13078,95905,95882,95913,97415,107907,100319,111114,95895,95899,95883,95881,234],"class_list":["post-786579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-minnesota-vikings","tag-accessfree","tag-football","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-vikings","tag-minnesotavikings","tag-nfl","tag-sstssportsnflbengals","tag-sstsnbengals","tag-tagamerican-football","tag-tagcincinnati-bengals","tag-tagd-j-reader","tag-tagjavon-hargrave","tag-tagkris-jenkins","tag-tagmckinnley-jackson","tag-tagnfl-hub","tag-tagoverall-neutral","tag-tagsports-news","tag-typestory","tag-vikings"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116159510474646515","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}