Feb 24, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cincinnati Bengals general manager Duke Tobin speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Cincinnati Bengals' Top 2026 Free Agency Needs Identified

Originally posted on Cincinnati Bengals on SI
By Russell Heltman | Last updated Mar 8, 2026 10:18 AM ET

NFL.com's Jeremy Bergman ran down the top positions of need for all 32 teams in free agency next week, and the trenches stood out for Cincinnati.

He had the defensive line and interior offensive line as Cincinnati's top needs.

"The Bengals need to toughen up in the trenches," Bergman wrote . "While the Cincinnati defense improved slightly down the stretch, the weak link of the operation was certainly the front seven, where Trey Hendrickson was out for half the season -- and sorely missed. After the Bengals inked a band-aid deal last summer with the disgruntled edge, Cincinnati may be more inclined to ship out Hendrickson and recreate him in the aggregate. Fellow pass rushers and free agents Joseph Ossai (team-high 12 QB hits, five sacks in '25) and Cameron Sample (six, two) could follow the veteran out of town. On the opposite line, the Bengals retained starting right guard Dalton Risner but risk losing depth pieces Lucas Patrick and Cordell Volson to free agency."

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Losing those last two players wouldn't do much to hurt Cincinnati. Patrick played just 23 snaps for the Bengals last year, and Volson never saw the field. Those spots can be filled anytime later in free agency or in later draft rounds.

The defensive front is the big issue to tackle, especially with Hendrickson exiting and no one popping in the middle last season. Kris Jenkins is the best candidate to leap from that group, but Cincinnati can't rely on that hope.

Cincinnati has top 10 cap space, a locked-in franchise quarterback, and full offensive continuity, setting the defense up for major change like it went through in the 2021 offseason.

"I think that they all happened (the signings) at different times," Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said last week about that cycle. "They weren't all Day One of free agency. Some of those guys, I remember getting Vonn Bell several days into free agency. Others helped us who came later on. Dalton (Risner), we got Dalton in August this (past) year, and he helped. We'll be prepared for the moment and see where it ends up for us."

Check out the full league-wide breakdown here.