National media outlet names the free agent the Bengals can't afford to lose
Pro Football Focus recently named one free agent that each NFL team can't afford to lose this offseason and their choice for the Cincinnati Bengals is a player who just joined the team ahead of the 2022 offseason. PFF thinks the Bengals need to make sure tight end Hayden Hurst doesn't sign with another team […]
Pro Football Focus recently named one free agent that each NFL team can't afford to lose this offseason and their choice for the Cincinnati Bengals is a player who just joined the team ahead of the 2022 offseason.
PFF thinks the Bengals need to make sure tight end Hayden Hurst doesn't sign with another team this spring.
Hurst was a home-run acquisition by the Bengals this offseason as a player looking to get his career back on track with a one-year, prove-it deal for $3.5 million. Look no further than the divisional-round matchup with the Buffalo Bills, who extended tight end Dawson Knox on a four-year, $52 million deal before the season. While Knox is a good bit younger and a better athlete, the two had the same amount of targets in 2022, and Knox had as many drops on the year as Hurst has in his five-year career.
With other priorities across the roster, Cincinnati may lose several key contributors, including safeties Jessie Bates III and Vonn Bell plus linebacker Germaine Pratt, but Hurst could potentially not price himself out of town, adding a physical dynamic to this Bengals offense.
It was probably tempting to list safety Jessie Bates, but I think most Bengals fans and analysts have accepted that the former Wake Forest standout almost certainly won't be back in Cincy next season. After failing to work out an extension last offseason, it seems incredibly unlikely that a deal will be worked out this spring — especially with a Joe Burrow extension on the way (and a possible extension for wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase after the 2023 season).
As for Hurst, I would agree that he's a player the Bengals need to bring back. Finding quality tight ends isn't easy. And Hurst has proven to be a perfect fit in Cincinnati this season.
Continuity is important. Hurst is clearly a guy that Burrow trusts, so why let him walk? It just makes sense to run it back with Hurst.
The Bengals should probably work out a multi-year deal with the 29-year-old tight end. That would allow the cap hit to be a bit friendlier, plus the team would lock up a player at a key position.
We'll see what happens in the offseason, but I'd bet on Hurst returning to Cincy in 2023.
Featured image via Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK
