Cincinnati Bengals
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The Cincinnati Bengals lost pass rusher Joseph Ossai
The Cincinnati Bengals defense struggled mightily during the 2025 season, as they allowed the third-most points in the NFL. While you could make the excuse that missing their All-Pro pass rusher and highest-paid defender Trey Hendrickson for a majority of the season was the biggest factor, the fact remains that the Bengals defense struggled even when Hendrickson was on the field.
Now, the team has also lost one of their defenders in free agency, and it happens to be a defensive end who was second on the team in sacks.ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that former Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai agreed to a three-year, $36 million contract with the New York Jets.
Spotrac calculated his market value at $9.2 million per year, which means the Jets paid a little bit over what was expected. OverTheCap shared a similar contract value for Joseph Ossai as they placed a $9.3 million market value on the former Bengals defender.
Former Cincinnati Bengals Defender Lands in New York
The Jets likely paid a premium price for Ossai as he will be entering the prime of his career in his next contract. Ossai, 25, is fresh off back-to-back five-sack seasons and has established himself as a solid edge defender.
Prior to free agency beginning,The Athletic ranked him as the 74th-best free agent available. The Athletic’s Daniel Popper wrote, “Ossai is an undersized edge rusher with some length. He has elite pursuit speed, especially from the backside of runs. Ossai utilizes an effective inside long arm to get into a tackle’s chest. He has the ankle flexion to dip and bend around the corner, and he shows timing and instinct on stunts. His lack of size shows up in the run game at times, and he can get stuck when his initial rush move is shut down. He needs to develop counters and secondary moves within rushes to become a more consistent player.”
Following his agreement with the Jets, Popper gave the move a ‘B-’ grade.He wrote,“The Jets needed edge help after trading Jermaine Johnson II away to the Titans earlier this offseason. Ossai is an undersized speed rusher with some length who uses an effective inside long-arm to get into tackles’ chests. He has the ankle flexion to bend and dip around the corner, and he has instincts and timing when twisting inside on stunts. Ossai’s size shows up sometimes as a run defender, and his best fit is as a rotational known-passing-down rusher. That’s a big price for a player who won’t be highly effective on early downs. But Ossai will give the Jets some rush juice.”
Bengals Additions
Despite losing Ossai, one could make the argument that the Bengals defensive line has improved during free agency. Theteam signed pass rusher Boye Mafe to a four-year, $60 million contract.
In The Athletic’s ranking, Mafe was listed as the No. 28 free agent. The Athletic’s Mike Jones gave the signing a ‘B-’ grade as he wrote, “This is partially a potential-based signing as Cincinnati awards Mafe a deal that will pay him $20 million per season on average, although he has served as a rotational player and is coming off a two-sack, 31-tackle season. Mafe has shown he’s capable of more, recording nine sacks and 52 tackles and 16 quarterback hits as a full-time starter in 2023. The Bengals are counting on similar production as they try to replace Trey Hendrickson.”