Cincinnati Bengals
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Ja'Marr Chase gave his thoughts on the Bengals in a new interview
The NFL is less than a month away from its free agency period. Reports seem to indicate that the Cincinnati Bengals will be heavily involved during the period. The Bengals are currently projected by OverTheCap to have the seventh-most cap space in the NFL in 2026, and with superstar talent already on the team, free agents might take them over the top.
During the season, Joe Burrowmade headlines with comments about not having fun while the team was not in the playoff race.A report by NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport revealed that the Bengals will take action following Burrow’s comments and plan to be aggressive this offseason, retooling the roster and giving their franchise quarterback the tools necessary After two deep playoff runs in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, the team has missed the postseason in three consecutive seasons.
Burrow is not the only member of the team to make his feelings clear, as Ja’Marr Chase has now spoken up after the season ended.
Ja’Marr Chase Shares True Feelings on Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals’ All-Pro wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase has been making the media rounds since the season ended. He did so with teammate and fellow wide receiver Tee Higgins, as theyrecently announced they were launching a podcasttogether.
Now,during an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Russell Heltman, Chase was asked about his expectations that Cincinnati’s front office will add free agent talent, especially to the defense. He said, “Yeah. I mean, everybody pretty much knows what we need. I’ve said it out in the media. All I gotta do is sit back and watch. I can’t control that, so all I gotta do is control my production. I mean, at the end of the day, I’m just stating my opinion on what I think we need. So, you know, I sit back, let the organization do what they do, and I just gotta let my play do the rest.”
Despite missing the postseason in three consecutive seasons, Chase’s production has not gone down. He totaled 100 or more receptions in each of those three seasons, and was selected as a first-team All-Pro in the last two seasons.
Bengals Possible Additions
When Chase referenced what the team needed, he was likely referring to the team’s defense. They allowed the third-most points in the NFL and have finished as a bottom-10 defense the past two seasons. The Bengals’ offense has been one of the top units in each of the past two seasons; they have been unable to make the postseason largely due to their defensive struggles.
One possible addition the Bengals might make on defense is defensive lineman D.J. Reader, who spent four seasons with Cincinnati prior to joining the Lions in 2024.Fox Sports listed them as the top landing spot for Reader in free agency. They wrote, “Reader, 31, just finished a two-year, $22 million contract with Detroit, starting every game as a nose tackle. There’s talk he could return to Cincinnati, where he played from 2020-23, and the Bengals could use his presence up front after finishing dead last against the run and bottom three in points and yards allowed in 2025. In his prime with the Bengals, he was graded as a top-10 defensive lineman, and he’s not that anymore, but could still be a match in the $6 million range.”