![\"Cincinnati](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/GettyImages-2241517552-1-e1775082893200.jpg\")
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The Bengals were pushed to sign a pass rusher to improve their defense<\/p>\n
The Cincinnati Bengals<\/a> identified which players they wanted early in free agency, as they made three key additions during the first week. Since then, the team has added only two quarterbacks who will be behind Pro Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow on the depth chart.<\/p>\n The largest contract the Bengals handed this offseason was a three-year, $60 million contract<\/a> to edge defender Boye Mafe. However, the player he is set to replace, Trey Hendrickson, landed a larger contract with the division rival Baltimore Ravens<\/a>. Hendrickson, who spent five seasons with the Bengals, signed a four-year, $112 million contract this offseason after leaving Cincinnati.<\/p>\n Despite Hendrickson\u2019s previous wishes, Cincinnati and Hendrickson never saw eye to eye on a potential extension. Now, the Bengals will hope Mafe can provide some of Hendrickson\u2019s production at a lower cost. Additionally, the team could look into adding another player off the edge to help complement Mafe.\u00a0<\/p>\n Potential Cincinnati Bengals Free Agent Target<\/p>\n Sports Illustrated\u2019s Zach Pressnell made the argument<\/a> that the Bengals have not done nearly enough to improve their defense, which allowed the third-most points in the NFL<\/a> last season. Pressnell said, \u201cThey haven\u2019t done enough. They need to keep utilizing free agency, though it\u2019s picked through, to bolster their roster.\u201d<\/p>\n Pressnell listed former third overall pick Dante Fowler as a player that could help the Bengals. Fowler has totaled 58.5 sacks in his career and earned $110 million, according to Spotrac.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n Regarding Fowler, Pressnell wrote:<\/p>\n \u201cThey need to add an edge rusher after losing a few talented players in free agency. Fowler is two years removed from recording 10 1\/2 sacks in a season \u2026 Fowler was the No. 21-ranked edge rusher by PFF out of the 115 qualified edge rushers. He\u2019d be affordable and would certainly provide a boost to the defense.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite his high grade from Pro Football Focus, Fowler totaled only three sacks last season, and he believed he could have done things differently. After the season ended, Fowler told reporters about how his weight affected his performance. Fowler said, <\/a>\u201cI did come in a little too heavy. I thought 260 would be a good weight, but [after] talking to the coaches, we thought me coming in at 255 and under would be a better weight for me to play at, and I did see better production. It was just a long season man, but me and [coach Brian Schottenheimer] talked. I\u2019ll be all right next year.\u201d<\/p>\n Cincinnati\u2019s Defense<\/p>\n Adding a talented veteran like Fowler would allow Cincinnati to improve their defense and explore different options in the upcoming NFL Draft. The team has been getting linked to talented pass rushers like Miami\u2019s Rueben Bain, but signing Fowler would likely make the team draft the best player available, instead of drafting for need.<\/p>\n A recent mock draft by John Sheeran of A to Z Sports has Cincinnati addressing the linebacker position by taking Ohio State\u2019s Sonny Styles. Sheeran wrote:<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cSonny Styles is the best overall linebacker in this class, and part of that is because of how insane of an athlete he is. Styles blazed a 4.46 40-yard dash and amazingly elevated 43.5\u2033 and 134\u2033 in the vertical and broad jumps, respectively, at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine. He\u2019s a 93rd percentile athlete at his size of 6-5, 244 pounds, and he\u2019d be a freak of nature the Bengals would welcome with open arms.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJose Esquer<\/a> Jose Esquer is a Mexican-American sportswriter and communications student based in San Diego, CA. His work spans football, basketball, baseball, and soccer. He has written for platforms like RotoWire and DolphinsTalk. You can find him on Twitter\/X @JEsquer8, usually talking Dolphins, world football, or both. More about Jose Esquer<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Bengals\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The Bengals were pushed to sign a pass rusher to improve their defense The Cincinnati Bengals identified…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2053],"tags":[228,227,256,2296,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-848108","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-bengals","8":"tag-bengals","9":"tag-cincinnati","10":"tag-cincinnati-bengals","11":"tag-cincinnatibengals","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116331936875782411","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848108","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=848108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}