The Cincinnati Bengals are in a tight spot this offseason. With three major contract extensions pending, the franchise may have to take drastic measures to either make room for them or watch one of their star players — Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, or Trey Hendrickson — pack their bags for another team.
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Although a few roster cuts in Alex Cappa and Sheldon Rankins and Sam Hubbard’s retirement have freed some cap space ($27.1 million) for them, it is hardly enough to accommodate all three players in the fold.
To make room, the Bengals might have to make additional cuts while also restructuring Joe Burrow’s massive payout ($35.25 million in cash, with a cap hit of $46 million). And this is exactly why Andrew Whitworth says that complicated finances make the locker room “really uncomfortable.”
Pat McAfee, addressing this situation, asked the Bengals veteran on his show: “Whenever you have to pick and choose who you’re giving money to and how much money you’re giving to people, how uncomfortable does that actually get behind closed doors?”
And Whitworth didn’t hold back in his response.
“I think it’s really uncomfortable. I think it’s one of the things maybe the fanbases sometimes don’t understand. This week isn’t just about who’s getting acquired or who’s leaving and who we’re cutting. There’s a lot of emotions involved and a lot of nerves.”
Whitworth added that with so much pressure on the Cincinnati front office, they may have to make a tough call — one that could involve telling Burrow that keeping all his weapons might not be possible next season.
“The Bengals have always done things financially a certain way. And so it’s kind of one of those things like maybe, ‘Hey, listen Joe we’re going to try to do this but these are the people that are going to have to go and there’s going to be people that aren’t going to be a part of this team.'”
The star QB is coming off a season in which his Bengals were ousted from playoff contention despite being a Super Bowl-caliber squad in the AFC. Would Burrow want to hear the word, roster cuts, from the front office?
What makes the situation even more complicated is the Raiders making Maxx Crosby the highest-paid non-QB in NFL history with a $106.5 million contract, $91.5 million of which is guaranteed. This has raised the market for defensive ends, which could directly impact the negotiations between the Bengas and their DE, Trey Hendrickson.
“Look at Trey Hendrick’s situation,” Whitworth said. “I think it’s the Max Crosby deal that really probably sent this to this point because now they go, ‘Wow, if that’s the asking price you probably need to go out there and see if there’s another team that would offer you that and then give us some compensation to really make it worth our while to move on.'”
One can sense a storm brewing in Cincinnati this offseason, and it may not be easy for the fans. Even if the Bengals manage to keep all their superstars, will it be worth crippling the rest of the roster?
