Cincinnati

Bengals

The Bengals and Hendrickson have been in contentious contract talks for a while with all options still on the table, according to director of player personnel and de facto general manager Duke Tobin. The franchise tag is still a possibility and the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Kelsey Conway reported last week the Bengals will get a feel for the 31-year-old’s market at this week’s NFL Combine. The tag would guarantee $30.2 million to Hendrickson in 2026, making it difficult to afford for the Bengals. However, the team still won’t publicly deny the franchise tag as an option, likely in an effort to generate value in possible trade scenarios.

Davis broke up one pass and notched one interception last season. The Bengals also signed HB Kendall Milton to a one-year contract for the 2026 season. He has rushed twice in his career, totaling two yards.

The Bengals have left open the option to trade Hendrickson through the franchise tag, but that seems like a really unrealistic scenario on paper. Hendrickson would, after being tagged back-to-back years, be guaranteed a $30.2 million salary in 2026. He could simply sign the tag and likely do better for himself than he would on the free market. This feels a lot like the Vikings trying to drum up a market for Sam Darnold in a tag-and-trade last year — if a team can’t afford to tag the player and simply keep him, it’s hard to believe that a trade will come to fruition.

Bengals DC Lou Anarumo and DL coach Marion Hobby both coached Hendrickson, in the exact same roles, when all three were employed by the Bengals for four-plus seasons. Hendrickson’s relationship with the Bengals has soured, though the front office has thus far been unwilling to let the talented pass rusher leave town. This will be worth watching. Stay tuned.

Does this mean that Hendrickson will be on the Bengals’ roster in 2026? Garafolo answered that question by saying, “maybe, maybe not,” noting that a tag-and-trade scenario may be the goal. The two sides slapped a band-aid on Hendrickson’s offseason trade request last year by agreeing to a one-year deal that gave Hendrickson a $14 million raise for the 2025 season. Unfortunately, a core muscle injury, apparently suffered in Week 6, limited him to just seven games played. Hopefully, things will be resolved quickly.

“I do expect teams to call the Cincinnati Bengals,” Rapoport said. There was a brief groundswell of the idea of a Burrow trade towards the end of the season when he let loose on how bad he was feeling at a press conference, but even if he had wanted out, the Bengals have always played hardball with their players that they want to keep. The Bengals, per Rapoport, will instead channel Burrow’s belief that things need to change into spending and getting better on defense. We’ll believe that when we see it.

Dehner bats around the idea of a franchise tag-and-trade scenario for Hendrickson, who he projects will get something close to the $29 million per season he made in 2025 despite missing most of the year with a core muscle injury that eventually required surgery. Ultimately, both sides are probably just tired of dealing with each other after back-to-back offseasons of contentious negotiations. We’d expect the Bengals to let Hendrickson — who should be considered one of the premiere free agents this offseason — walk.

Walters has received several OC interviews over the years. He would not call the plays in Chicago and currently works with the best wide receiver duo in the NFL, so he is understandably staying in Cincinnati for the time being. Walters has been with the Bengals since 2020.

Brown had an uneven fantasy season as he was disastrous pre-Joe Flacco and the Bengals simply couldn’t get the ground game going, but came on strong in the second half of the season and wound up with a 69/437/5 receiving line. Entering his age-26 season and the final year of his rookie contract, an extension would seem to make sense given the Bengals don’t exactly have anyone waiting in the wings. 2025 sixth-rounder Tahj Brooks is the closest thing Cincinnati has to a prospect at the position, and he only managed 47 offensive snaps in his rookie season.

Pitcher had an interview for the Browns head-coaching position and was also allowed to interview for a lateral move with the Buccaneers, a place where he’d actually get to call plays. To say the Bengals winding back up with Callahan after his stint as Titans head coach would be predictable is an insult to the word predictable. It would practically be written in the stars. Well, assuming Pitcher gets a new gig, anyway. Callahan has also interviewed for the Chargers and Buccaneers offensive coordinator jobs this cycle.