Have the Cincinnati Bengals offseason moves gone under the radar?
By Andy Davies
The image of a backup quarterback coming in to replace Joe Burrow for the Cincinnati Bengals has become a consistent one in recent years.
“I’ve been through a lot”, said Burrow during the 2025 season. This certainly indicative of the failings of the Bengals front office.
Burrow was drafted first overall in the COVID-19 hit NFL Draft of 2020. By the time his second season had ended, he had guided the Bengals to a Super Bowl LVI appearance, ultimately falling short against the Los Angeles Rams.
This was a season removed from a rookie campaign that was cut short in Week 11 due to injury, something that would foreshadow the fate of his NFL career.
The Bengals were able to draft wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase as a result of Burrow missing six weeks of his rookie year, but have failed to truly hit a home run in any first round of an NFL draft since.
Year after year, the Bengals have failed to improve on the two biggest areas of weakness in the roster, the defense and offensive line. The decision to pay Burrow, Chase and Tee Higgins was seen by many to be creating a top-heavy roster.
This offseason has seen a chance of approach from the Cincinnati front office, but have these moves gone under the radar this summer?
Bolstering the defense
During their 6-11 campaign in 2025, the Bengals struggled immensely, as they did in 2024.
The Bengals finished 30th in the league for total points allowed in 2025 (492), and only the Washington Commanders (6,528) allowed more total yards than Zac Taylor’s team (6,475). They also ranked 26th against the pass and dead last against the run.
Unlike previous offseasons, the Bengals have gone out and addressed this.
The biggest headline additions were that of defensive end Boye Mafe, safety Bryan Cook, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen and nose tackle Dexter Lawrence II.
Mafe arrives in Cincinnati as a Super Bowl champion, arriving from the Seattle Seahawks for a three-year $60 million deal. Allen joined from the Minnesota Vikings for a two-year $25 million deal.
Safety Bryan Cook, a two-time Super Bowl champion, although not a major contributor in either game, joined from the Kansas City Chiefs. He signed a three-year deal worth $40.25 million.
This shows the front office, previously criticised for a lack of spending in the offseason, have silenced these critics with over $125 million spent on Free Agency additions.
Their biggest sign of intent came later in the offseason, giving the New York Giants their 10th overall pick in exchange for three-time Pro Bowler Dexter Lawrence II. This was the first time in franchise history that they have traded a top 10 pick.
His pressure rate may have fallen from 9.6% to 5.9% in 2025 according to Next Gen Stats, but he brings a wealth of experience to a defense that has struggled to stop teams despite the offense scoring 30+ points.
The one criticism was allowing Trey Hendrickson to not only leave, but depart for a division rival in the Baltimore Ravens, but if a player is not happy, then there is no point keeping them in the building. Despite this, you cannot fault their intent to improve a problem area in the roster.
Offensive line still a concern?
The decision to draft Chase in the 2020 NFL Draft has often led to a question of What If?
Whilst the decision was quickly vindicated, with the fifth overall pick in 2021 helping the team get to that aforementioned Super Bowl LVI appearance. However, Burrow broke the record for the most sacked quarterback in any postseason run in NFL history.
He also tied a record set by Roger Staubach for the most sacked quarterback in any Super Bowl (7). When Penei Sewell was there on the board, eventually taken with the next selection by the Detroit Lions, could Burrow have had a clean look in the pocket? The Bengals still had Tee Higgins and could have easily picked up a cheap option in Free Agency.
Chase’s excellence is undeniable and it was hard to say no given his time with Burrow in college, but they may have won a ring had they taken Sewell over Chase.
The offensive line issues have continued to plague the Bengals offense but has this been an encouraging offseason for the offensive line unit.
One of they keys to maintaining a good and reliable offensive line is keeping the same five guys together. In an area of the field that is all about cohesion and timing, any small change to an offensive line can make such a big difference to the unit.
For the first time in Burrow’s time with the Bengals, the team are returning all five of their starting offensive line. Right guard Dalton Risner was resigned to a one-year £3.25 million deal and left tackle Orlando Brown Jr signed a two-year, $32 million extension. They will play in a five alongside left guard Dylan Fairchild, center Ted Karras and right tackle Aquarius Mims.
Whilst there was still issues for the Bengals offensive line, that contributed to Burrow’s injury problems, 18 teams managed to allow more sacks. Fairchild only allowed a pressure percentage of 4.93% and center Karras had the 12th lowest percentage for players in his position with 2.59%.
The Bengals also drafted offensive line talent for the future, selecting center Connor Lew (Auburn) and center Brian Parker II (Duke) 128th and 189th overall respectively.
There have been some positive steps taken by a unit that has been an issue for so long, but you have to worry for the organisation if Burrow has another long injury layoff given his comments towards the end of the 2025 season.
Can the Bengals challenge the AFC?
This is a team that has addressed many of their issues but may just be a couple pieces away from truly testing the playoff giants. Having said that, the Chiefs could struggle to return to their previous heights, with Patrick Mahomes recovering from a season ending injury.
The Ravens and Buffalo Bills have new head coaches, which is always a lottery as to whether they will work out. There are doubts over the playoff credentials of Justin Herbert and CJ Stroud, and Denver Broncos have a quarterback in Bo Nix coming off a devastating injury.
The AFC is there for the taking and the Bengals have certainly made an effort to return to the postseason and return to the Super Bowl, one that is in the same field this season as it was for their loss to the Rams five seasons ago.
ANDY DAVIES
NFL ANALYST
ANDY IS A SPORTS JOURNALISM GRADUATE WITH OVER SIX YEARS EXPERIENCE OF NFL WRITING AND PODCASTING. ANDY HAS BEEN TO EVERY NFL STADIUM AND IS THE HOST OF THE ACROSS THE POD PODCAST. HE HAS PRESS PASS EXPERIENCE AT THE LONDON GAMES AND MANY OTHER NFL BASED EVENTS SUCH AS SUPER BOWL LIX AND LX, HAVING INTERVIEWED THE LIKES OF AARON RODGERS, JUSTIN JEFFERSON, JASON BELL, OSI UMENYIORA, PATRICK MAHOMES, TRAVIS KELCE, DERRICK HENRY, SAQUON BARKLEY AND JALEN HURTS.