After two major news items, the Cincinnati Bengals still have droves of free cap space to use this offseason.
The first was applying the franchise tag to star safety Jessie Bates, a predictable move that will chew up $12.9 million, currently the fourth-highest cap hit on the team.
The second was the NFL making the $208.2 million salary cap official, a $25.7 million per team increase. Most projections all year worked with similar numbers, but it’s still official now and on the books.
That leaves the Bengals, as of this writing, with roughly $35.9 million in free cap space going into free agency.
The team does project to be big spenders on certain offensive linemen with that cash. They’ll also likely look to get back some of their own free agents such as B.J. Hill, C.J. Uzomah and Eli Apple.
Cincinnati can also create more cap space with certain potential cuts like Trae Waynes ($10 million) and Trey Hopkins ($6 million). Reaching a long-term agreement with Jessie Bates instead of the tag could also free up more immediate cap space.
As a whole, the cap number is still very much in flux, but compared to the rest of the league, the Bengals are still in a better position than most.
