The Super Bowl in New Orleans was supposed to be the perfect story for Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase to pen their first title. Instead, the Eagles dismantled Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs and partied into the French Quarter night.
Cincinnati is left waking up the day after the season ended needing to recalibrate the dream scenario.
The good news is the Bengals’ desire to be the team playing on this weekend next year is accessible. With Burrow, all things are possible, immediately. Boosting Burrow and Chase into a position to return to this grand stage doesn’t require a multi-year, deep experiment in roster construction. All this team needs is one strong offseason.
Cincinnati’s defense was awful. The team started slowly. They didn’t close out games. Fix those three things and they could chase down the first title in franchise history.
If you run through the Mock Offseason sheet, you understand how the table is set and the levers available to pull.
Here’s my 10-part plan to reach the Super Bowl in San Francisco that could never go wrong, fail spectacularly or be used to embarrass me at a future juncture.
1. Lock up the Big 3 … now
I saw a recent interview with Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta talking about the difficulty of making unpopular decisions that aren’t necessarily the best move philosophically, but are what the team needs. It struck me through the lens of the long-running debate about Tee Higgins. There’s an obvious argument — and one that I’ve made and believed — that, in a vacuum, moving on from Higgins is the correct football move. Rely on the star quarterback to lift the supporting cast while paying Chase the big money to be an unstoppable force as the No. 1 receiver. Take that extra savings and invest in the trenches. Look no further than the Bills and Chiefs, who notably relied on young receivers and star quarterbacks on their roads to the AFC Championship Game.
The franchise doesn’t exist in a vacuum. The dynamics around Higgins have changed dramatically since this time last year when his situation appeared destined to end in a walk to free agency in 2025. The club failed to find a suitable replacement, he handled a challenging situation off the field admirably and with his teammates in mind, he took his game to the next level and solidified himself to be about everything this organization claims to be about. He also dropped his old agent in a move designed to keep him in Cincinnati.
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Can Bengals keep Tee Higgins? Resetting chances of the WR staying in Cincinnati
That’s before getting into Burrow’s obvious feelings and lobbying.
Even if the Bengals agree letting Higgins walk is the most efficient path to a complete team on paper, now is the time to value everything else. The people you pay are the ones the rest of your locker room will strive to emulate. That’s why your best players MUST be your hardest workers and team-focused ball-lovers. That’s constantly a differentiator in a league where the talent gap is so small from 1 to 32.
Let’s be clear, the Bengals do not have enough of those types of guys on the current roster. There were too many of the opposite in 2024. They need to lift up the stars who do things the right way and pay them.
And it would undeniably behoove the organization to give Burrow what he wants, if possible.
Tee Higgins had a career-high 10 touchdown receptions in 2024. (Ken Blaze / Imagn Images)
That specifically means putting big smiles on the faces of Higgins and Chase this offseason. Don’t let it linger. Don’t let the negotiations become a distraction. Don’t go through another offseason of haggling for every last decimal point, trade requests and trying to win the negotiation at the expense of locker room culture health.
Arrive at OTAs without a contract fight hanging over the team. At the very least, arrive at training camp without people wondering if Chase will get his deal done or will still be wearing a hat on the sidelines leading up to the opener.
Trey Hendrickson was correct: Now is the time to do this — don’t drag it out through camp like they so often have done in recent history.
2. Trade Trey Hendrickson
Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin doesn’t like trading good players. Few do. He’d certainly love to gain all the value of the contract and extension they were able to lock Hendrickson into over the last four years. Much like the above conversation, Hendrickson is about the right stuff. He practices as hard as anyone, winning matters to him and he’s the type of menace you want leading your defense when it’s closing time.
That said, he’s not a perfect player and has crossed 30. If this is about extending or trading Hendrickson — and it is, forcing him to play out the last year would be a violation of the discussion in No.1 — using his value with 35 sacks the last two years and coming off the second-place DPOY finish to collect premium picks for reloading a broke roster is the correct move.
Paying Hendrickson for the production he offered the last three years would be a no-brainer. That’s not what the Bengals would be paying for and there is very little precedent in this league to suggest an edge rusher will keep up that level of production beyond his incoming age 31 season.
This is an opportunity to turbo-boost the desire to go young defensively and add more answers across the board.
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Bengals’ Trey Hendrickson quandary: Will NFL’s sack champ be traded, extended?
Nobody would have a problem with keeping Hendrickson. What he did last year with zero help was legendary. If he would accept adding just one more year onto his deal, keeping him through 2026, that would be a different case but I doubt he’d do that. If it comes down to paying Higgins or Hendrickson, the priority should go to the receiver strictly for age and likely return on the current market.
3. Cut roster dead weight … harshly
This will be fuel for the long drive back to the Super Bowl. I thought it was interesting when Tobin talked about the fault of keeping the Super Bowl defense together too long. He counted on that mesh to recreate the magic of former defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo’s group and it didn’t happen.
Well, now the Bengals have structured salaries to save enough money on the cap to reload in a major way in free agency and/or have money to pay the stars they choose to retain.
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Bengals cap cuts: How many veterans will Cincinnati cut loose?
That means cutting Sheldon Rankins, Geno Stone, Alex Cappa, Germaine Pratt, Cordell Volson and Zack Moss. Offer Sam Hubbard a restructure closer to the $3 million range, down from his current $11.5 million cap hit and put him into a rotational/leadership role. When you throw in the trade of Hendrickson clearing $16.2 million, the Bengals would have nearly $100 million in cap space.
4. Open free agency prioritizing guard, 3-technique, edge
The Bengals don’t have to make big splashes in free agency. They can, if the right price and player intersect, but the splashes will likely be reserved for the aforementioned stars on their own team.
They need to hit free agency with pinpointed, calculated aggression, though. Find the ideal mid-tier guard to fit their style and new offensive line coach Scott Peters. Target him and recreate what happened with Ted Karras and Alex Cappa minutes into free agency in 2022, agreeing to terms before anybody else gets involved.
Next, target two starters or top rotational backups for the defensive line. This would be where I’d be willing to make a splash. Think about when they paid DJ Reader, the top of the defensive tackle market at the time because of everything you saw on tape and heard about him as a leader with the Houston Texans. Or think about paying Hendrickson $16 million per year betting on his ascension after leaving New Orleans. They need to consider replicating those types of moves that rebuilt the defense in the first place.
Maybe it’s an ascending edge like Malcolm Koonce, coming off an injury, but looking primed to take off before that. Maybe it’s pass rushers like the Giants’ Azeez Ojulari or Chiefs’ Charles Omenihu, who battled for more playing time on talented rosters in previous spots. On the inside, Detroit’s Levi Onwuzurike could be a valuable mid-tier pass-rushing 3-technique to bring more juice. Or look to Poona Ford, coming off a great season with the Chargers playing nose tackle for Jim Harbaugh. If Tobin felt like the team had the money and wanted to get crazy, the Eagles’ Milton Williams would be the exact type of player they need, but it’s a risk at the number he’ll command when the bidding wars begin.
Throw in a mid-tier deal for a linebacker and safety of choice (there are many) who can start or compete with a draft pick and that’s all the attention necessary for the core of free agency.
Inevitably, this falls on Tobin and his staff to find their gems. But they need to come away with a (preferably young) starting-level answer at all three aforementioned trench spots.
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Bengals free agent rankings: Tee Higgins headlines list of intriguing pieces
5. Bring back Mike Gesicki
Burrow notably including “Mike G” in his comments on media row this past weekend stood out. The Bengals found creative ways to utilize Gesicki and his skill set was an ideal complement and insurance policy for Higgins’ injury history. It’s hard to say how high his number will go considering he barely qualifies as a tight end and many teams cross him off for that reason alone, but the Bengals should be willing to pay a reasonable amount considering the 665 yards he managed as the third receiving option in 2024.
A few minutes with Mike Gesicki.
Now a free agent, he broke out this year and is definitely looking to make up for lost money but no shortage of understanding the value of playing with Joe Burrow. pic.twitter.com/5bptiKH0lw
— Paul Dehner Jr. (@pauldehnerjr) January 6, 2025
6. Supplement depth in 2nd wave
One area where the personnel staff failed last year was finding reasonable roster supplements beyond the first few waves of free agency. Whether a veteran like Calais Campbell, who was available in the summer when they knew the defensive line was a question, a veteran corner like Xavien Howard to help a suspect cornerback group or paying more for Samaje Perine to ensure he ends up in Cincinnati instead of Kansas City as a reserve running back. Those are a few examples of low-cost free agents hanging around to fill gaps in any of the original plans. There must be more willingness to utilize those areas and maybe find a ring-chaser or two who wants to ride with Burrow.
7. Draft DL with at least two Day 2 picks
The draft sets up nicely for the Bengals’ youth movement. It is rich with defensive linemen, both on the edge and interior. If Cincinnati adds a second-round pick for Hendrickson, that’s another swing at fixing the trenches with a premium selection. The Bengals must come away with two defensive linemen on the draft’s first two days. The amount of quality at the position suggests the cupboard won’t go bare no matter which round they opt to pull those levers.
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Bengals positional priority draft big board: Pinpointing needs and targets
Cincinnati must spend the draft continuing to fire at the trenches, specifically, and this defense generally. The takeaway for every team from the Eagles’ title run will be a defensive line with young pass rushers coming from everywhere. It’s easy to note the failed picks in the past but at some point, the only way to win is to hit on picks with cost-controlled quality to that side of the ball. That’s why Al Golden made sense as a new coordinator with a reputation built on development. It’s time to lean into that bet, as the Eagles did with premium draft capital year after year.
8. Use late rounds to replicate past success
The Bengals have found success drafting skill players in the late rounds in recent years. This year, they must use those rounds to find the next Chase Brown, Andrei Iosivas and Erick All. This is a rich draft for running backs, so they should be a Day 3 target position to refill the lacking depth. The same goes for the receiver room that could use another developmental prospect to put in line, then inevitably push third-round bust Jermaine Burton out the door. A strong tight end draft could push another All-type target in the fourth round again, but they will need to take another swing there.
9. Reconstruct the offseason program
When Zac Taylor looks at solving the problem of slow starts, he needs to start with the offseason program. He’s used the spring program to install off the field, establish chemistry and engender goodwill among his players with light work and minimum practice time. The players appreciate it, but with so many young players needing to improve and a new coordinator entering the fray on defense, they must start being more serious with the OTAs. That doesn’t mean working these guys like it’s training camp, but the lack of any truly competitive structure that amps up the intensity has been notable. Find spaces for more good-on-good opportunities that can serve as teaching lessons about the players and not just try to set the table for camp.
10. Play starters in the preseason for two quarters
Burrow has spoken about being in favor of playing in the preseason. I truly believe he would have played more in recent years if he had been fully healthy. Burrow and the offense clearly need it to improve the 1-11 record the first two weeks of the season over the last six years. Much of those failures are due to Burrow’s health. That includes past year when he was limited by his wrist injury, especially in the opener against New England. Give Burrow and the offense a quarter-plus in two of the three preseason games to work out the rough patches and perhaps the Bengals won’t be digging out of a hole come October. Then they can actually make the playoffs with that dangerous team nobody wanted to face.
(Top photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
