For the first time in five years, the Cincinnati Bengals lost more value in free agency than they gained. At least from a technical perspective.
By watching Jessie Bates III, Vonn Bell, and others move on to other clubs, the Bengals set themselves up to receive multiple compensatory picks in the 2024 NFL Draft. They haven’t had any comp picks since the 2019 draft.
But wait, didn’t the Bengals also sign Orlando Brown Jr. and many more players this offseason? Yes. But the majority of contracts they agreed to are smaller in value than the contracts their former players signed with other teams.
Here are the players Cincinnati lost who add compensatory picks
S Jessie Bates III, $16.01 million AAV (third round)
S Vonn Bell, $7.5 million AAV (fifth round)
TE Hayden Hurst $7.25 million AAV (sixth round)
RB Samaje Perine $3.75 million AAV (seventh round)
Bates, Bell, and Hurst all signed elsewhere on the first day of legal tampering. The earlier a deal is agreed to, the larger the deal usually is. Bates became one of the highest-paid safeties in the NFL immediately, and Bell and Hurst each signed starter-level contracts.
Here are the players Cincinnati gained who negate compensatory picks
T Orlando Brown Jr., $16 million AAV (third round)
S Nick Scott, $4 million AAV (seventh round)
Cincinnati obviously signed more free agents than just Brown and Scott, but every contract below Scott’s in terms of yearly value doesn’t qualify as a free agent gained in the cancellation process, as they fall below the top-32 contracts handed out this offseason.
So, by cancelling out the third-round pick signings (Bates and Brown) and seventh-round pick signings (Perine and Scott), we get two projected compensatory picks, in the fifth and sixth round, gained from losing Bell and Hurst, respectively.
Should the Bengals hold onto all their picks leading up to next April, they’ll have nine draft picks in total, with their extra two coming at the end of the fifth and then sixth rounds. They’ll be one of 10 teams to receive multiple comp picks.
With the Bengals transitioning to extending their continuity instead of constantly adding and replacing players, this will be more of the norm going forward.
The front office will surely target value signings that don’t get in the way of negating comp picks, while re-signing their own core players.
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