We're going on three days without the Cincinnati Bengals adding a new player in free agency. Monday of legal negotiating brought in running back Samaje Perine for a reunion along with true newcomers in nose tackle TJ Slaton and linebacker Oren Burks.
As Kendrick Lamar exclaimed 12 times in his 2024 song "tv off," it's not enough.
And the only move that seems to be in the works is not going to do much to change that.
Bengals' interest in a new guard doesn't feel like enough right now
The Bengals have been looking at the guard market over the past two days. Former Chicago Bears guard Teven Jenkins, whom the Bengals could've drafted in the 2021 NFL Draft had they not traded back in the second round to select Jackson Carman, is the one they're eyeing. That interest was first reported on Tuesday. Radio silence since.
Intent may be there, but action has yet to been seen. Is action even enough to salvage what this week has become?
The aforementioned signings of Perine, Slaton, and Burks can all be individually viewed as positive moves. That they're the current highlights of what the club has done in free agency lies the reason why many are slamming the panic button into the desk.
Since Burks agreed to terms Monday evening, Cincinnati has brought back defensive end Joseph Ossai, cornerback Marco Wilson, and defensive end Cam Sample in that order. Again, all being acceptable moves, but they don't solve the biggest problems the team faces.
A guard not being signed by now is concerning to say the least. Slaton being the only external addition to the defensive line brings a comparable level of concern. Pile all of this on top of the massive problem the team has with its best players not named Joe Burrow, and you have outside voices like A to Z Sports' Sam Phalen ripping the team to shreds at the moment.
At this point, the Bengals need to be a case study on how not to operate an NFL franchise. They undervalue their guys in-house, but then overvalue them in public. Case in point: Asking for a "large trade package" after denying [Trey] Hendrickson his desired payday. By delaying these deals, they're only increasing the price tags they already don't want to pay. Make it make sense. Please. - A to Z Sports' Sam Phalen
Valid points from an objective point of view, and a valid concern is growing outside of those problems.
What do the Bengals have to hang their hats on right now?
Seriously, is it really just finding an upgrade at nose tackle? Slaton, who reunites with his former position coach Jerry Montgomery, gives them a player they didn't have last year. The d-line sorely missed a nose tackle who could keep linebackers clean and eat ace blocks up the middle. Insert Slaton for the solution. Job well done there.
Perine taking on a role that fits somewhere between Zack Moss and Khalil Herbert were last year is a rather marginal improvement. Burks may have a higher ceiling than Akeem Davis-Gaither, but is more likely to be a one-to-one replacement.
Everything else is the same, or worse! Does an upgrade at guard make things that much better? The guard play was embarrassingly bad last year and the offense still put up points for the entire second half of the season.
The time to address this is now. The rest of the league is out of a collective holding pattern that took place most of Tuesday and Wednesday before the new league year arrived at 4:00 p.m. ET. Options to make notable improvements before banking on the NFL Draft in an extremely risky manner are dwindling.
Do the Bengals even want to find proven upgrades aside from guard and nose tackle, or are they betting on the pieces they have in house to be those upgrades?
If the former is true, they're almost out of time to fulfill that intent. If the latter is true, then the amount of pressure on new defensive coordinator Al Golden is even larger than previously imagined.
Golden knew he was walking into a defense that struggled mightily last year. He knew the vast majority of the secondary was going to be the same and that Logan Wilson wasn't going anywhere. Did he also know the group up front would feature no new pass-rushing answers until the draft? Whatever impact he can create as a first-year DC is sorely needed on all three levels, a task that will be as tall as it sounds.
The other aspect here is the current roster size. Once all the agreed upon deals that haven't been signed yet obtain signatures, the roster will be up to 69 contracted players. In normal years, around 20 rookies join the fray in April and May through the draft and undrafted free agency. That's 89 players on a 90-man offseason roster right there.
Are the Bengals expecting to have just their six designated picks and sign a smaller UDFA class, or are they really very much close to being done adding veterans beforehand? It could really go either way here.
The margins for the Bengals to become a better team than they were last year are looking incredibly thin right now. Even if the one signing they appear to be working on happens, the first week of free agency will not be considered a notable success. Not unless more comes down the pipe.
Failing to extend their stars in a timely manner, and an underwhelming first wave of free agency. We'll look back on these past three days as either the start of another wasted season, or the self-imposed hurdle they managed to overcome.
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