A new regime in place led by Zac Taylor could mean a few surprising moves from the Cincinnati Bengals this offseason – not that the Bengals didn’t surprise last year.
Even under Marvin Lewis, the Bengals made a shocking trade for Cordy Glenn. It was uncharacteristic of the franchise at the time and things could get more unpredictable soon given all the change.
Here are a few moves the Bengals could make that would shock fans.
Fail to re-sign Darqueze Dennard
Bringing back Dennard is as obvious as it gets, right? He’s one of better slot guys in the league and that position is catching up to boundary corners in terms of both importance and money.
The Bengals have plenty of money to use, too, so getting a 27-year-old corner in the middle of his prime locked up makes sense.
But then again, maybe the Bengals will be content to let a rookie or someone like Darius Phillips take a starting role and use the money in a different manner.
Cut Clint Boling
This one is out of left field, right?
Maybe not.
Boling is going on 30 years old and has a cap hit of $5.75 million next year. If the new coaching staff likes Christian Westerman on the left side, the front office might think it wise to save some cash and make a move here.
Granted, this one doesn’t seem too likely, hence it making the list in the first place.
Draft a 1st-round QB
Taylor has said and done all the right things so far when it comes to having Andy Dalton’s back in interviews.
But what coaches say compared to what they end up doing doesn’t always align.
The fact of the matter is Taylor didn’t draft Dalton, the 31-year-old starter who hasn’t completed better than 61.9 percent of his passes since 2016 and could be looking for a big-money extension soon.
For the Bengals, taking a first-round quarterback would make sense. Even if Dalton excels in Taylor’s system and they don’t want to let him go, they suddenly have a quarterback behind him other teams will enter a bidding war to possibly obtain.
Switch to a 3-4
The Bengals seemingly not having the personnel to run a 3-4 defense is reportedly one of the reasons Florida’s Todd Grantham decided to say no thanks to joining the team.
But that doesn’t mean another 3-4 coach will shy away.
While it might be asking a lot of the veterans on the roster to suddenly make a massive schematic change, the reality is base defenses aren’t too important anymore, anyway.
That wouldn’t stop a switch after so long in the 4-3 from surprising some.
Cut Vontaze Burfict
Even with Lewis gone, it doesn’t necessarily feel like Burfict is in danger of losing a job.
Yet Burfict was a liability on the field last year, again missed a bunch of games and suffering further concussions, which is a red flag in and of itself.
Taylor isn’t tied to Burfict in any way and he needs to rebuild the linebacker core as it is, so showing Burfict the door isn’t out of the question.
Trade Dre Kirkpatrick
Looking at the list of 2019 salary cap hits, Kirkpatrick is fourth behind only Andy Dalton, A.J. Green and Geno Atkins.
Odd.
Kirkpatrick isn’t as bad for a boundary corner as some fans might make it seem, but the third corner also shouldn’t be making as much as he is. If the Bengals could find a way to flip Kirkpatrick for some salary cap relief, it opens up bringing back Dennard and other possibilities.
Of course, the Bengals trading away a player in his prime on a biggish contract doesn’t happen often.
