Bengals once again retain one of their own players, but it comes at a tense point in time of free agency

The last three transactions for the Cincinnati Bengals have involved bring back a member of the 2024 squad. The latest of the bunch comes with layers attached to it, including the fact that he didn't even play a snap last year. As first reported by NFL Media's Tom Pelissero, the Bengals are signing Cam Sample, […]

John Sheeran — Cincinnati Bengals News Writer
Add as preferred source on Google
Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Cam Sample (96) walks to the practice field at the Bengals NFL practice in Cincinnati on Tuesday, June 4, 2024.
© Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

The last three transactions for the Cincinnati Bengals have involved bring back a member of the 2024 squad. The latest of the bunch comes with layers attached to it, including the fact that he didn't even play a snap last year.

As first reported by NFL Media's Tom Pelissero, the Bengals are signing Cam Sample, who missed all of last season with a torn Achilles, to a one-year deal. 

Sample's injury occurred before the season even began. The Bengals had to move on without him after just one week of training camp. It wasn't the first or the last injury they had to overcome at the defensive end position. Sam Hubbard's hamstring and Myles Murphy's knee sandwiched Sample's Achilles tendon and  were each amplified due to the fact that Sample wasn't able to pick up the slack.

It was Sample's first contract year, and it ended far too abruptly. 

For that reason alone, you have to feel good for him.

The Bengals definitely could use the depth along the edge right now. Trey Hendrickson is seeking a trade if he can't find the new contract he's looking for from Cincinnati's front office.

It also comes at a desperate time as all the enticing options from the rest of the league are pretty much gone. There's absolutely going to be incoming help from the NFL Draft, but that in and of itself is a big gamble for a team that has trouble developing the position to make.

For the positives Sample brings as a base end who can set the edge, he's only registered five total sacks in three years and hasn't played a down since the 2023 season. He still needs to be medically cleared to play later this offseason, and he may not even make the team when it's all said and done.

Brining Sample back is perfectly fine, but like most of the Bengals' moves this week, it doesn't move the needle the way other needed moves can do.

Positional markets awoke and the Bengals hardly responded 

The start of the new league year brought teams in need of pass rushes and guards out of temporary holding patterns. That should've included the Bengals, but it really didn't.

Kevin Zeitler and Dre'Mont Jones both joined former Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan and the Tennessee Titans Wednesday after the 4:00 p.m. ET threshold indicating a new NFL year. Levi Onwuzurike went back to the Detroit Lions on an inexpensive one-year deal worth just $5.5 million. Maliek Collins is now set to face the Bengals twice a year for the next two seasons with the Cleveland Browns.

The defensive tackle market is pretty much dried up if the Bengals were interested in adding any interior pass rush before the draft. Teven Jenkins, whom the Bengals have interest in, is still out there mulling his options. He's by far the best of the remaining guards, and you have to wonder how much the likelihood of the Bengals signing him is at the moment when each minute eventually turns into another hour.

All of this is creating tension for the Cincinnati faithful, and as much of a feel-good story Sample's return is, it is not easing any of that tension. 

The timing and order of operations matter. Retaining players like Sample are moves that look perfectly fine in a vacuum, but higher priorities not being settled first raises discomfort and doubt about the state of the bigger picture. Not when the importance of getting this offseason right is as high as it is.

If the second half of free agency is comprised of just bringing back the same Bengals, then the rest of the offseason is going to be dreary. External moves need to pick back up for the internal moves to be appreciated. 

There's still time, but it's expiring quickly. 

Related Articles