Bengals spent least amount of guaranteed money for undrafted free agents
Out of all the ways to acquire players, undrafted free agency is by far the least talked about, and most cost efficient avenue. Players with very little leverage who get paid the league-minimum salaries, and fill out the bottom portion of a 90-man roster. Very little leverage, however, is still greater than zero leverage. Undrafted […]
Out of all the ways to acquire players, undrafted free agency is by far the least talked about, and most cost efficient avenue. Players with very little leverage who get paid the league-minimum salaries, and fill out the bottom portion of a 90-man roster.
Very little leverage, however, is still greater than zero leverage. Undrafted players can negotiate for signing bonuses, which make up the vast majority of guaranteed money in their deals. These players are usually in high demand as they had decent chances of being drafted.
For the most part, very little guaranteed money is distributed to this group of players. The Cincinnati Bengals are a great example of that.
When looking at this year's class of UDFAs, the Bengals signed 13 of them, and gave a total of just $35,000 in guaranteed money. That ranks dead last amongst all 32 NFL teams this year.
Only two teams, the Kansas City Chiefs and New York Jets, eclipsed the $1 million mark for their classes, but the vast majority of clubs ended up in the hundreds of thousands of guaranteed dollars. Cincinnati was right behind the Pittsburgh Steelers and two other franchises in the sub-$100k range.
The $35k in guaranteed dollars went to four of the 13 UDFA signings, with former Chattanooga defensive tackle Devonnsha Maxwell taking the bulk of it with a $25k signing bonus.
| Player | Guaranteed Money |
|---|---|
DT Devonnsha Maxwell | $25,000 |
WR Shedrick Jackson | $7,500 |
TE Christian Trahan | $1,500 |
LB Jaylen Moody | $1,000 |
OverTheCap
The positions of these players may have significance as well. Maxwell was the only defensive tackle the Bengals added at all this offseason. He enters a position group that is completely unchanged from last year, which could give him a decent shot at making the Week 1 roster.
A similar situation could transpire at tight end. Christian Trahan was signed as the team's lone rookie tight end added from this draft class, and his competition will involve Devin Asiasi, Nick Bowers, and Tanner Hudson. He's practically in an even race with those players.
Outside of Jaxson Kirkland, whom many believed had a good chance of being drafted, the Bengals came away with a pretty underwhelming UDFA class on the surface. The lack of guaranteed money may have something to do with that. If the Bengals don't present competing offers for the top undrafted players, they'll continue to watch them opt for other teams.
Potential opportunity also has an impact as well. The Bengals don't have a ton of roster openings at the moment, which isn't an incentivizing landing spot for players looking to seize regular season jobs. That may ultimately be why the Bengals didn't go out of their way to throw extra money at UDFAs.
