Bengals Value Key Draft Factor Over More Salary Cap Space In 2026 Offseason

The Bengals once again chose to value compensatory picks and higher salary cap hits over lower cap hits and higher cash spending that would give them more active cap space than they are operating with.

This is a franchise employing arguably the best passer on the planet in Joe Burrow, and they currently rank 13th in Over The Cap's total cash spending tracking. Burrow's peers in Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson all have teams spending more cash than Cincinnati this offseason.

The lone time Cincinnati spent among the top 10 teams in total cash during the Burrow era was in his 2020 rookie season (ninth-highest cash spend) and the 2021 season (eighth-highest cash spend), when they went to the only Super Bowl the franchise has played in this century.

"For all the talk of the tag-and-trade approach with Trey Hendrickson, the Bengals ensured they would end up with a third-round pick upon his departure," Dehner wrote this week. "By signing Allen, released last week by Minnesota, as their last big addition, they end up in the positive of the projected comp-pick formula, according to comp pick wizard Nick Korte at Over The Cap. Korte has the Bengals slotted to receive a third and seventh next year.

"If Cincinnati had, say, signed John Franklin-Myers, whose contract expired with Denver, instead of the released Allen, it would have nullified the Hendrickson pick. Those decisions don’t necessarily drive major decisions, but they do factor in. Fair to surmise they did here."

The key caveat for the Allen signing not affecting the compensatory pick formula is that he was released and not an expired contract free agent. Anything the Bengals can do to be cap compliant and avoid any possible major dead money down the line will be done. They refuse to maximize the prime years of Burrow, Ja'Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins.

Operating as a higher cap spend over cash team means Cincinnati really views its cap space close to $20 million, rather than the raw $31.3 million Over The Cap shows they have as of this writing.

X user Codiki broke down the operation below:

Check out the full piece from Dehner Jr. here.

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