Bengals have nothing holding them back from investing at tight end
Rarely does an NFL team enter the offseason with nothing to offer at a position for the future. There's almost always players on rookie contracts or at least one mainstay veteran. Seeing a goose egg for an entire position is simply uncommon. The Bengals are facing this exact situation at tight end.Not only do the Bengals […]
Rarely does an NFL team enter the offseason with nothing to offer at a position for the future. There's almost always players on rookie contracts or at least one mainstay veteran. Seeing a goose egg for an entire position is simply uncommon.
The Bengals are facing this exact situation at tight end.
Not only do the Bengals have no tight ends currently under contract for 2024, they're the only team to have $0 committed to an entire position group entering this offseason.
That have to change, and there's nothing stopping the Bengals from making the position group exactly what they'd like it to be.
Bengals will have to spend at tight end
Cincinnati rostered four tight ends last year: Tanner Hudson, Drew Sample, Irv Smith Jr., and Mitchell Wilcox. All four have expiring contracts and are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents when the new league year begins in March, hence the club has no cap commitments to the position right now.
For the sake of filling out their roster, Cincinnati will be forced to take action at the tight end position. It won't take much cap space or cash to retain any of the four above, but are any of the four are worthy of retention? Hudson and Sample are the obvious choices based on how 2023 played out.
Hudson emerged as the Bengals' best receiving tight end halfway into the season. He finished the year with 352 yards and a touchdown on 39 receptions with an average of 1.56 yards per route run. That was the ninth-highest average for all tight ends with at least 30 targets.
While he impressed as a natural receiver, Hudson is rather limited as a blocker and isn't athletically special. He's also entering his age 30 season. He's an ideal No. 2 option and won't cost very much to retain since this was his first season with consistent production.
Receiving ability is not one of Sample's strengths, and that's precisely why he won't cost very much to bring back. The Bengals discovered the perfect role for the former second-round pick this year by turning him into a pass protector/check down option in the backfield.
That's right—they essentially made him a running back that doesn't run the ball. And it worked!
Sample's role became so niche he might only have a market back in Cincinnati. Even if he was other suitors, he should feel comfortable enough to stay in this offense now that he found a way to contribute.
That's the starting point. Anything else the Bengals may do is up to their imagination.
Neither Hudson nor Sample are ideal depth players to round out the position room. They are not the kind you'd feel comfortable starting and labeling as a true No. 1 on the depth chart. You save that spot for an all-around archetype that can catch, block, and make plays down the field.
That player was not on the Bengals' roster last year. There's no reason why that has to continue two years in a row.
How the Bengals have addressed, or lack thereof, the tight end spot over the past two seasons is why they've got a clean slate to now address. Hayden Hurst and Smith were signed to one-year rental deals, and a draft pick hasn't been spent on the position since Sample was taken in the second round all the way back in 2019.
At least with Hurst they bought low and reaped the benefits. Smith gave them exactly what they paid for, perhaps even less than that to be honest.
The Bengals don't have to find the next Rob Gronkowski or Tony Gonzalez this offseason to get the position right. It's simply the perfect time to find a true starter they can build the position around for years to come.
Will it be an early draft pick like Brock Bowers? A high-upside free agent like Noah Fant? The Bengals have all the options and flexibility to make what they want at tight end a reality.
Every Bengals free agent entering 2024 offseason
A complete list of Bengals players with expiring contracts.
