Bengals Salary Cap Space Update: Cincinnati has just enough room to make the expensive splash we're all expecting

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By John Sheeran | Last updated Mar 27, 2025 11:29 AM ET

It's been nearly a week since the Cincinnati Bengals have added to its roster as guard Lucas Patrick may be the last external addition the club makes until the 2025 NFL Draft.

If that is indeed the case, then we'll have a very clear picture of what the Bengals' salary cap space will be like for the remainder of the offseason.

The Bengals are very particular when it comes to the cap and will never spend all the way up to the ceiling. Whenever the team gets below $20 million in offseason space, you can safely assume the big moves have already been made.

As it stands right now, Cincinnati is very close to that threshold but not quite there yet.

Bengals updated salary cap space after free agency

The Bengals have $23,269,850 in offseason cap space according to OverTheCap.com. This is calculated by subtracting the top-51 cap hits on the Bengals' roster ($256,566,759) and the total amount of dead money they're responsible for ($6,607,962) from the club's adjusted cap ceiling ($286,444,571).

$286,444,571 - $256,566,759 - $6,607,962 = $23,269,850

When the regular season begins in September, the Bengals will have to account for all 53 rostered players' cap hits and the total cost of the practice squad. There's also the incoming NFL Draft class that needs to be paid with cap dollars as well. That all adds up and is why the Bengals don't spend to the cap, ever.

But as previously mentioned, they're not quite at their final resting spot yet. Expecting another $5-6 million in cap space to be used is entirely reasonable, and that could come in one or two ways.

The most likely is a Trey Hendrickson contract extension . Hendrickson's current cap hit is $18,666,668 and an extension would almost surely raise it as the Bengals will be adding on new money to get his 2025 cash payment over $30 million to get in the range of Danielle Hunter and Maxx Crosby. The deal could eat up that $5-6 million all by itself.

Any other moves the Bengals could make would likely be offset by further roster cuts. A new guard like Brandon Scherff could be afforded by releasing or trading away Cordell Volson. The same goes for linebacker and Germaine Pratt . Running back Zack Moss is still likely to be released once he's medically cleared from his neck injury.

The Bengals are very easy to predict this time of year when you know their financial tendencies. They aren't completely done, but they are pretty close.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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