A lot of talk of Bengals afraid to be aggressive adding free agents for various reasons. It is no secret Bengals hate dead cap money. Other teams like Ravens in our division are very aggressive.

In 2024, Ravens have designated Odell Beckam a post June 1st cap casualty. He was cut, he was not a free agent. They also have a free agent Kevin Zeitler who if not resigned has a lot of dead money.


Beckham originally signed a one-year deal with the Ravens worth up to $18 million during the 2023 NFL offseason.


That said, the team attached four void years to his original contract. That allowed the Ravens to prorate Beckham's $13.835 million signing bonus over five years rather than one year and lowered his cap hit to $4.932 million in 2023.

That said, the Ravens were set to have a dead-cap hit of $11.068 million in 2024 as Beckham became a free agent. Baltimore preferred not to absorb that all at once and negotiated with Beckham to defray that salary cap charge.

$11 million in dead money, they can use 5.5 million in 2024 and then 7.5 million in 2025.

FYI, this 5.5 million is not listed yet in their dead cap space for 2024.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/baltimore-ravens/cap/

Zeitler has a cap hit of 4,3 million in dead money in 2024 and is listed.

As of now, Ravens do not have a lot of cap space and they have 3 holes on their OL. They lost both starting guards in Simpson and Zeitler and traded their RT to create 2024 cap space. Look at Henry's contract and a lot of dead cap space so they leveraged the future banking on Henry being a Raven in 2025.

Will they be the same team or better in 2024? On paper, I would say they have a ton of holes to fill without a lot of cap space to do it.

2 Teams with 2 different methods. I would argue the Bengals have a better plan for not only 2024, but 2025 and beyond.

Those who are panicking in mid-March our roster is in trouble, look around the league and most teams have at least 2 major holes to fill, if not more.

How do you guys like your Free Agency so far? What big additions have you had and what are your big losses? I hope Burrow stays healthy next year. Do you guys hate us as much as your AFC Rivals? On Reddit I see lots of fanbases hoping we crap the bed for a long time. Anyway I hope you guys win a SB. You were the better team than the Rams a couple years ago.

1 year 2 million


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Over the past two off seasons we have lost 2 out of our 3 best defensive players in Bates and Reader. With Hendrickson being the only one of the big three left. Still he will be 30 years old in December and his contract will be up in 2026!

So I ask you members of the board who do you think is the guy that Duke, Lou, and Zac are building the defense around for the next 5 seasons.

The guy I think they are building around is being considered a bust by some posters. I think it's Dax Hill!

Source: TE Tanner Hudson back to the #Bengals on a one-year deal.

Hudson coming off a 39-catch season in Cincinnati. pic.twitter.com/8c64iasDUd

— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) March 15, 2024

thanks for the memories

https://x.com/rapsheet/status/1768364647969661408?s=46&t=pkni6GRbeTj3sw_si0D37w

Teair Tart is visiting the bengals.

ESPN says the acquisition of Geno Stone is the steal so far, taking him from a Division rival to fill a need when the draft class is weak and there might not be a safety taken until round 3. 

Mekhi Becton is visiting.

https://twitter.com/BengalsTalk/status/1768102125706334247