Supply and demand is a bedrock concept of economics for good reason. When supply is low and demand is high, prices go up.

This appears to be what may happen in NFL free agency next month.

ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter is hearing from league personnel members this year’s free agent class will not be full of great options.

“I’ve had GMs from office executives, scouts who have been looking at this free agent class and saying, ‘not a great class,’” Schefter said on his latest podcast. “These teams have done a great job at tying up their own players long term and making sure that they don’t get to free agency. When we talk about the draft and we’ll see how it shakes out over time, people aren’t all that excited about the draft either. So we got a free agent class that’s not real deep. We’ve got a draft that is not considered real deep.”

A thin market of quality of free agents puts the onus on interested teams to attract a relatively sparse market, which is where higher prices may come into play. You need a starter at position X and there are only a couple options of interest? Make sure you come with a good offer to beat out more teams than their are players.

This is where the Cincinnati Bengals come into the picture, and the need to take action regardless of how the rest of the market acts for the sake of the elite talent already inside the locker room.

Tough free agent market can’t prevent Bengals from getting what they need

Cincinnati is one of the clubs that needs to be active in free agency; not because salary cap space allows it, but rather the roster cannot wait until the 2026 NFL Draft to try and get better.

Leaving the heart of free agency without signing multiple starting-level players for the defense would be a failure for the Bengals. It is the firm expectation that should be set upon them.

But just like the franchise has historically been against pushing large cap figures into the future, Cincinnati getting into bidding wars over free agents is a discouraging thought. The front office religiously abides by not budging in negotiations, oftentimes to the detriment of their own team, and will not pay more than they feel like they should based on their own evaluations.

That principle is a good one to live by in most circumstances. It’s preventative action from falling into deals that may become regrettable. Wiggle room, however, is a quality that should be exercised in desperate times, and there is no unit that desperately needs as much help as the Bengals’ defense.

If markets become more lucrative than expected, say at defensive end, defensive tackle, linebacker, or safety, Cincinnati needs to be active participants in them regardless. That is the bottom line. Leaving the open market without solid answers at most of those spots leaves unnecessary holes entering the draft, which leads to forced picks and a continuation of subpar process. We all saw it unfold last year.

Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase will be watching

Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase are the two biggest reasons why a Super Bowl is even remotely attainable for the organization. The Bengals’ two best players have high standards, as they should. They each recently expressed them in their own way.

“We want to be competing for championships every year,” Burrow said on Jan. 2. “We don’t want to be in the spot that we’re in now, so something’s got to change. Whether it’s players that we have continuing to improve and get better and playing championship caliber football, or bringing guys in that will, or whatever it may be. Obviously something has to [change].”

Sticking with the same major players in the personnel department and the entire coaching staff puts pressure on change happening to the roster. Translation: The defense needs to have difference-makers it doesn’t currently have.

“Hopefully the organization’s going to it right now, hopefully,” Chase said on Feb. 4. “I’m pretty sure everyone knows what we need. I’m not going to say what we need, but I talked to Zac [Taylor] about that. I’m definitely pushing, you know what I’m saying, to get something good for the defensive side. We just need something, of course, you know, somebody.”

Excuses won’t be valid if Cincinnati can’t put together a quality defense entering the season, no matter how much concern there is about the upcoming free agency class.

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