Bengals salary cap space update following NFL trade deadline, Khalil Herbert trade, and other roster moves

The NFL trade deadline has come and gone, which means the second half of the regular season is officially underway. 

While the Cincinnati Bengals didn't address any big needs on the defensive side of the ball, running back Khalil Herbert was acquired for the price of a seventh-round pick. Herbert will replace the injured Zack Moss on the active roster, and will barely cost the Bengals to roster. The Bengals will take on $527,500 of Herbert's salary for the remainder of the season while Moss' salary cap hit of $2,972,058 is now on the Reserve/Injured list.  

Bengals' available salary cap space after the NFL trade deadline

The Herbert trade puts the Bengals at $8,560,160 in salary cap space, which ranks 19th in the NFL and third in the AFC North (the Baltimore Ravens have just $2,253,876 in space, ranking 30th in the league).

Cincinnati has $16,080,900 in cap dollars on I.R. including Moss' cap hit of nearly $3 million. Clubs still have to count that money when abiding by the salary cap during the season. Right tackle Trent Brown has the highest cap hit on I.R. at $4,397,058 with cornerback Dax Hill behind him at $3,181,913.

Trading for Herbert gave the Bengals a Moss replacement, but tight end Erick All Jr. was also placed on I.R. this week which brought the roster down to 52 players. If the Bengals were to sign a free agent to fill the 53rd roster spot, they have plenty of room to do so. The cheaper option would be to sign a player off their own practice squad or another team's practice squad, and sign a subsequent practice squad replacement. 

The Bengals' cap space won't be impacted very much for the remainder of the season, so the club has a good idea of how much cap space it can rollover into the 2025 season. This is an annual practice every team conducts, and the Bengals' average rollover amount is typically in the $8-10 million range.