It\u2019s getting to be that time of year. The Cincinnati Bengals\u2019 2026 roster is just beginning to take shape. The first wave of free agency is pretty much over. There will be more signings, but most of the big names are off the board.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re still a little over a month away from the NFL Draft, where the Bengals will have the No. 10 overall selection. For this first 53-man roster prediction, we can only work with what we have on the roster.<\/p>\n
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Which isn\u2019t much.<\/p>\n
Quarterback (2)<\/p>\n
Notes: The Bengals didn\u2019t tender Jake Browning; they\u2019re preparing for Joe Flacco signing elsewhere for his chance to start. They did sign journeyman Josh Johnson to hold the clipboard for Joe.<\/p>\n
For now.<\/p>\n
Running Back (3)<\/p>\n
Notes: No change here from last season. Brown is still going to be the top back in the room, and, for now, Perine will be the third-down back with Brooks peppered in here or there. This room could look different once the draft is over, but Brown will be the top dog this season.<\/p>\n
Wide Receiver (6)<\/p>\n
Notes: This is the most stacked wide receiver room in the league, but that\u2019s mostly because of the top two names on the list. Chase is the best wide receiver in the NFL, and that\u2019s the only reason Higgins is WR2. If he were on any other team (with the exception of a couple), he\u2019d instantly be WR1. There\u2019s room for improvement, though, and I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see the Bengals add a wide receiver in the draft or free agency.<\/p>\n
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Tight End (4)<\/p>\n
Notes: There\u2019s a lot going on here. First, Gesicki is more of a slot receiver than a tight end. He\u2019s TE1 because he\u2019s listed as a TE on the roster. He\u2019s not blocking anybody, though. Sample and Hudson are more traditional tight ends; the gulf between TE1 and TE2 is pretty large. The Bengals could definitely upgrade this position in the draft.<\/p>\n
As far as All goes, there\u2019s a ton of potential there, but who knows with his injury history. He could land on the roster. He could start the season on PUP. He could get released. Who knows?<\/p>\n
Offensive Line (10)<\/p>\n
Notes: This list will change, but the top five are the starters now, and unless there are injuries, they\u2019ll be the starters in Week 1. The starting five\u2014if they build off of 2025\u2014could potentially be the best line Burrow has had in his career. The backups need to be upgraded, but this is a good start.<\/p>\n
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Defensive Line (10)<\/p>\n
Notes: This list will most definitely change. The Bengals will more than likely use their first-round pick\u2014and possibly their second and third rounders too\u2014on the defensive side of the ball. There are several defensive tackles and defensive ends that have first-round grades. If one of them falls to the Bengals, it shouldn\u2019t be a surprise if they pounce.<\/p>\n
This offseason, the Bengals lost Trey Hendrickson, and while they did add Mafe and Allen, they\u2019re not as good up front now as they were last year, and last year, they weren\u2019t great. Work needs to be done.<\/p>\n
Linebackers (5)<\/p>\n
Notes: The Bengals really needed to address this position in free agency and chose not to. Now there\u2019s slim pickins\u2019 in free agency, and if they draft a guy, even at No. 10, they\u2019re going to be relying on a rookie. The Bengals seem to believe they can land Superman in the first round, or Knight and Carter take big steps in Year 2<\/p>\n
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Cornerback (6)<\/p>\n
Notes: Here\u2019s another position the Bengals ignored in free agency so far. This group needs help, and it needs help badly. The Bengals love themselves a first-round cornerback, and that\u2019s certainly on the table this year. If not, I expect a corner to be selected on Day 2 at the latest.<\/p>\n
Safety (4)<\/p>\n
Notes: The Bengals signed Cook, who was this year\u2019s top free agent safety, to take over for Geno Stone. The position has been a mess since Jessie Bates left in free agency, but hopefully Cook, who is a former Bearcat, can right the ship. They could upgrade Battle, though. They need to upgrade the depth behind Cook and Battle as well. This is another position in the mix at No. 10.<\/p>\n
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Special Teams (3)<\/p>\n
Notes: No changes here from last year, and I doubt changes will be made.<\/p>\n
What are your thoughts? Who did I leave out? Who\u2019s on the above list that won\u2019t make the cut?<\/p>\n
Sound off.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s getting to be that time of year. The Cincinnati Bengals\u2019 2026 roster is just beginning to take…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":822956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[2979,14707,37939,2778,228,14163,35570,32770,12164,4132,227,256,2296,54,10143,9629,758,9316,15009,35130,1165,12167,9026,7,4609,6486,1421,19907,27975,2773,5933,1516,1577,562,4780,9085,6485,18855,24572,2306,18721,37938,4672,6,10682,4447,53916,37945,7535,31631,1496,2297,29993,11014,2978,1503,15388],"class_list":["post-822955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cincinnati-bengals","tag-amarius-mims","tag-andrei-iosivas","tag-andrew-coker","tag-barrett-carter","tag-bengals","tag-boye-mafe","tag-bryan-cook","tag-cedric-johnson","tag-charlie-jones","tag-chase-brown","tag-cincinnati","tag-cincinnati-bengals","tag-cincinnatibengals","tag-cleveland-browns","tag-cody-ford","tag-daijahn-anthony","tag-dalton-risner","tag-demetrius-knight","tag-dj-turner","tag-drew-sample","tag-dylan-fairchild","tag-erick-all","tag-evan-mcpherson","tag-football","tag-free-agency","tag-geno-stone","tag-howard-cross-iii","tag-jake-browning","tag-jalen-davis","tag-jalen-rivers","tag-javon-foster","tag-jessie-bates","tag-joe-burrow","tag-joe-flacco","tag-joe-giles-harris","tag-jonathan-allen","tag-jordan-battle","tag-josh-johnson","tag-matt-lee","tag-mckinnley-jackson","tag-mike-gesicki","tag-mitchell-tinsley","tag-myles-murphy","tag-nfl","tag-notes","tag-oren-burks","tag-pj-jules","tag-ryan-rehkow","tag-samaje-perine","tag-shaka-heyward","tag-shemar-stewart","tag-tahj-brooks","tag-tanner-hudson","tag-ted-karras","tag-tee-higgins","tag-trey-hendrickson","tag-william-wagner"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822955","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=822955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/822956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}