The Cincinnati Bengals have historically been one of the most conservative organizations in the NFL. What I mean by that is that the team has a tendency to let expensive free agents walk and typically remain fairly low key in the off season. Last season, the club officially eschewed that mold and went big on free agents like Orlando Brown Jr. and Irv Smith Jr. Unfortunately for the Queen City team, an expensive offseason comes with a cost.
Compensatory Pick Selections Announced for Cincinnati Bengals
On Friday morning, the NFL released the list of compensatory picks provided based on the losses of both coaches and players to the free agent market. While expertly manipulative teams like the San Francisco 49ers and the Los Angeles Rams each tallied five picks a piece, Cincinnati managed to pull in two additional sixth round picks to work with in the 2024 NFL Draft.
Cincinnati officially has been gifted the 208th and 214th picks in the 2024 NFL Draft (sixth round) after the team suffered a tough offseason that included the departures of the following talented players:
- Jessie Bates III, Free Safety – departed for the Atlanta Falcons and was named first team All-Pro last season.
- Vonn Bell, Strong Safety – departed for the Carolina Panthers
- Hayden Hurst, Tight End – departed for the Carolina Panthers
Even after the addition of Brown and Smith this offseason, the league determined that the loss was more than the gain in Cincinnati and the team was awarded the extra draft capital. While two sixth rounders may not seem like a ton, every little bit of draft capital is enormous as the team will have extra dice to roll on late round flyers and additional collateral to maneuver trades in the earlier rounds.
With the draft coming up in just under a month, Cincinnati will have to be strategic with how they manage their generous $41 million in available cap when free agency begins next week. In my experience, sixth and seventh round picks are best utilized on wide receivers and lower priority positions as a large number of quality receivers in the NFL entered the league from the later rounds.
With that being said, Cincinnati should do everything in their power to lock down a suitable right tackle in either free agency or the draft. Statistically, the odds of finding a starting quality offensive tackle dramatically declines after the first two rounds.
With the additional draft picks, Cincinnati has the opportunity to make some creative trades for players no longer in demand on their rosters. Every single year, there are some players that fall out of favor that end up getting traded for sixth round picks just for another team to take over the financial burden. It would be wise of Cincinnati to make some wise trades to improve what has already become an elite roster.
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