Tuesday Trenches: Will they stay or will they go now?

Nothing better than a little The Clash inspired Bengals free agency post on Tuesday morning!

The 2023 season is at an end, and the new league year looms.

With it will come free agency additions and then the draft, and after that, we’ll get minicamp and then preseason. Until it actually happens, though, we got about three weeks of nothing but making educated guesses, making wish lists, and reading mock drafts. And of course, there’s basketball.

The Cincinnati Bengals have 15 players who are due to become unrestricted free agents, three who will be restricted free agents, and two who are exclusive restricted free agents. For the purpose of this article, I’ll be focusing on the 15 who will be unrestricted and break them down into four groups, all named after fantastic songs. They are:

• “Already Gone” – Eagles
• “Mama, I’m coming home” – Ozzy Osbourne
• “Dazed and Confused” – Led Zeppelin
• “One” – Three Dog Night

We’ll start with the obvious:

“One”

The Bengals get one franchise tag, and it will go to Tee Higgins. Higgins is a top-10 wide receiver who just happens to be on the same team as one of the top three wide receivers in the league. Having him on the field instantly makes the team better and opens the field up for everyone else. I fully expect the Bengals to tag Higgins.

“Already Gone”

I think there are a few guys on this list:

• Chidobe Awuzie
• Tyler Boyd
• Irv Smith
• AJ McCarron (who is literally already gone)
• Jonah Williams
• Akeem Davis-Gaither

Those are the guys that I think are definitely going to be playing elsewhere in 2024. Chidobe Awuzie would be nice to keep for extra depth in the cornerback room, but the Bengals have DJ Turner on a rookie contract, and he’ll step into a starting role opposite Cam Taylor-Britt. Awuzie doesn’t want to be a backup corner or be paid like one either.

Smith had a very disappointing season and was supplanted by Tanner Hudson. He’s as good as gone. So much for the tight end money train coming out of Cincinnati.

Jonah Williams was bumped from left tackle to right after signing Orlando Brown Jr., and he wasn’t shy about showing his dissatisfaction with the decision. While he was serviceable at right tackle, he’s probably looking for greener pastures. On top of that, he’s only 26 and has multiple seasons starting experience at left tackle and a season at right. He’ll be in demand.

AGD is going to be in demand as well. The Bengals already have a good chunk of change tied up at linebacker thanks to extending both Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt. AGD is one of the more reliable backup defenders on the Bengals roster, but he’s likely looking to start somewhere.

Which brings us to Boyd, the best No. 3 receiver in the NFL. He’s been with the Bengals for eight years, and watching him over the better part of the last decade has been incredible. I’m very sorry to see him go, but there is not enough money for an aging third wide receiver on the roster. The business side of football sucks sometimes.

“Mama, I’m Coming Home”

There are a handful of players that I think will absolutely be coming back to the Bengals:

• Trayveon Williams
• Josh Tupou
• Cody Ford

I believe the Bengals will cut Joe Mixon as soon as they’re given the opportunity just to save some money. I think they could bring in a free agent like AJ Dillon, or they’ll draft someone to pair with Chase Brown, but re-signing Williams won’t cost much, and he’ll be there to help bring along the other running backs in the room as a veteran voice. It’s a move that makes sense to me.

Tupou makes sense as well. The Bengals losing DJ Reader to injury late in the year was devastating, and it’s also likely Reader won’t be ready at the beginning of the season, so re-signing him isn’t going to be enough. Tupou isn’t going to be a starter on the defensive line in 2024, but there’s no reason he can’t be a rotational piece.

Ford is similar to Tupou. He’s not going to start, but he does bring a couple of things to the table. One, he’ll be cheap, and two, he’s versatile. He can play guard or tackle, and while he’s not great at either, he’s good enough to be a backup.

“Dazed and Confused”

Here’s where everyone else falls.

• DJ Reader
• Max Scharping
• Drew Sample
• Markus Bailey
• Joe Bachie

Here’s the category for guys whose futures are very much up in the air. I would love to have Reader back in stripes. He is the best 4-3 nose tackle in the NFL and has been instrumental in Anarumo’s defense over the last few years. However, he’s not a young guy. He’s coming off a season-ending injury late in 2023, and he’s had a history with injury.

Reader also might not be super affordable, despite the injury. I could see him being re-signed by the Bengals in 2024 once he’s healthy, but I could also see him being signed elsewhere as well. It all depends on how much he draws in free agency.

Scharping, like Ford, has the ability to play multiple positions on the offensive line, but instead of being able to play tackle and guard, he has experience at guard and center. I could see the Bengals seeing some value in him, again if the price is right.

Bailey and Bachie are similar. Both are backup linebackers with special teams experience, and neither will necessarily sink the team if they have to be put in on defense. However, the Bengals extended both starting linebackers, and may not have the money to re-sign both Bailey and Bachie. Maybe they’ll just keep one. Which one? Beats me.

And then there’s Sample. Heading into the 2023 season, I would have said the Bengals had better dump Sample, and they would have been better off by not selecting him in the draft in the first place. However, the Bengals kinda got things figured out with Sample in 2023, and not only did he play well as an extra blocker or pass protector at times, but he did this too:

I’m not saying the Bengals should definitely re-sign him, and I’m also not saying they definitely shouldn’t. What I am saying is I wouldn’t mind seeing a few more plays like this in 2024.

Where do you see the 15 unrestricted free agents in 2024? Which do you think will be back, and which ones do you think are definitely gone?

Who Dey!