Bengals sitting comfortably with salary cap space, but not for long
As expected, the Cincinnati Bengals exit the free agency portion of the offseason with a decent chunk of salary cap space to spare, and just in time for the NFL Draft to make a dent. With seven picks in the draft, all towards the end of each round, the Bengals' projected rookie pool won't take […]
As expected, the Cincinnati Bengals exit the free agency portion of the offseason with a decent chunk of salary cap space to spare, and just in time for the NFL Draft to make a dent.
With seven picks in the draft, all towards the end of each round, the Bengals' projected rookie pool won't take up a lot of room in terms of cap accounting. But rookie wages are an inevitability. Increased salaries due to contract extensions are the key variable when projecting how much space will remain when the season begins.
This of course refers to Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins, both of whom are in the Bengals' long-term plans.
As it stands now, the Bengals have just under $17 million in offseason top-51 cap space. The team has 67 players under contract, but only the 51-most expensive 2023 cap hits are counted up until the regular season begins.
The official amount of offseason cap space Cincinnati has is $16,678,885, per OverTheCap.com, which is the ninth-most in the NFL. From re-signing Cal Adomitis in February, to re-signing of Drew Sample just last week, they've committed committed $31,563,656 in 2023 cap space for all of their free agent retentions and new acquisitions.
In terms of cash spent, they're committed to spending almost exactly double that amount, $62,766,500, for the 2023 league year. Orlando Brown Jr. is taking home $33.723 million himself alone.
When offseason accounting ends in four months, the Bengals will have roughly $12-13 million in space to work with after adding in $2,624,671 from the rookie pool, along with counting the entire 53-player roster instead of the top 51 contracts.
This amount may not be enough to comfortably fit increased 2023 salaries for Burrow and Higgins should they receive extensions this offseason. They way the front office constructs their major contracts, both players will likely receive slight raises along with major signing bonuses. Both will increase their current cap hits
To properly prepare, the Bengals may need to trim some money somewhere. Joe Mixon has been heavily speculated to be offered a pay cut after the draft concludes, and Jonah Williams and his guaranteed cap number could be traded as well during the draft.
Cincinnati doesn't normally go right up to the cap, but this year may be an exception.
