CINCINNATI — ESPN's Ben Solak is a fan of Cincinnati's offseason process so far. He ranked the Bengals sixth among NFL teams for their offseason moves.
Retaining Tee Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase on long-term deals played a big factor in the high ranking.
"Signing Chase and Higgins," Solak wrote about what he loved. "One year ago, I would have told you it was fiscally impossible for the Bengals to get it done -- and if not fiscally impossible, then still extremely unlikely, given how evidently frustrated both Chase and Higgins were with the franchise. Over the past couple of years, the Bengals have built up the cash to pay their star receivers, and quarterback Joe Burrow helped with some strong internal recruiting. An offensive trio of Burrow, Higgins, and Chase cements auto-contender status in Cincinnati."
Solak is not a huge fan of Joseph Ossai's one-year deal and would like to see a better blocking option at the tight end position.
"The Bengals did well to pepper a thin defensive depth chart with good dice rolls -- Oren Burks, T.J. Slaton, the return of Hill -- but I was surprised they wanted Joseph Ossai back that badly," Solak wrote. "He had a 7.6% pressure rate last season -- 72nd in the league among all defensive linemen -- despite rushing opposite Trey Hendrickson, who was drawing disproportionate attention. It's a cheap one-year deal, so I can't get too upset about it. The same is true with the Mike Gesicki extension. The Bengals would be better with a tight end who can block, but I'm not too upset about his new deal given how he produced. This is a good class overall."
Cincinnati has locked in its offensive core and is now trying to secure a defensive pillar in Trey Hendrickson.
Any new major impact players may have to arrive via the NFL Draft next month as Cincinnati tries to win on the roster margins with a highly-paid trio of stars.
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