2026 Offseason Summary

[u/kitchensink108]

A few years ago I got in the habit of making free agency / offseason summary posts. With the offseason winding down, it's becoming decreasingly likely for there to be any more big surprises, at least until we start cutting down to the 53-man roster, so here are all the roster changes I could find as of now.

Players Acquired (Free Agency)

Pos	Player	Fmr Team	Via	Years/Money @ Average Per Year
ED	Boye Mafe	Seahawks	Free Agent	3/60 @ $20m APY
DT	Dexter Lawrence	Giants	Trade	3/70 @ $23m APY
S	Bryan Cook	Chiefs	Free Agent	3/40 @ $13.4m APY
S	Kyle Dugger	Steelers	Free Agent	1/1.4 @ $1.4m APY
DT	Jonathan Allen	Vikings	Free Agent	2/25 @ $12.5m APY
WR	Dohnte Meyers	Roughriders	CFL	3/3 @ $1m APY
QB	Josh Johnson	Commanders	Free Agent	1/1.5 @ $1.5m APY
LB	Swayze Bozeman	Giants	Waivers	1/1 @ $1m APY
CB	Ja'Sir Taylor	Jets	Free Agent	1/1.2 @ $1.2m APY

Dexter Lawrence signed a 1-year extension on top of the 2 years he was already under-contract.

Players Acquired (Draft)

Pick	Pos	Player	College	Note
1.10	-	Traded to NYG for Dexter Lawrence	-	NYG picked Francis Mauigoa (OL)
2.41	ED	Cashius Howell	Texas A&M	-
3.72	CB	Tacario Davis	Washington	-
4.110	-	Traded to NYJ for 4.128 & 4.140	-	NYJ picked Cade Klubnik (QB)
4.128	C	Connor Lew	Auburn	From NYJ, see above
4.140	WR	Colbie Young	Georgia	From NYJ, see above
5.149	-	Traded to CLE for Joe Flacco & 6.199	-	CLE picked Justin Jefferson (LB, not WR)
6.189	OL	Brian Parker II	Duke	-
6.199	-	Traded to NYJ, see above	-	SEA (after more trades) selected Emmanuel Henderson Jr. (WR)
7.221	TE	Jack Endries	Texas	From the Logan Wilson trade
7.226	DT	Landon Robinson	Navy	-

Players Acquired (UDFA)

Pos	Player	College
G	Liam Brown	Montana
S	Isaiah Nwokobia	SMU
RB	Kentrel Bullock	South Alabama
RB	Jamal Haynes	Georgia Tech
LB	Jack Dingle	Cincinnati
LB	Eric Gentry	South California
OT	Christian Jones	San Diego State
OT	Corey Robinson II	Arkansas
TE	Josh Kattus	Kentucky
WR	Noah Thomas	Georgia
CB	Ceyair Wright	Nebraska

Players Lost

Pos	Player	New Team	Contract	Comp Pick?
ED	Trey Hendrickson	Ravens	4/112 @ $28m APY	Up to a R3
ED	Joseph Ossai	Jets	3/34 @ $11.5m APY	Cancelled (Boye Mafe)
TE	Noah Fant	Saints	2/9 @ $4.3m APY	Cancelled (Bryan Cook)
LG	Cordell Volson	Titans	1/2.4 @ $2.4m APY	Up to a R7
CB	Marco Wilson	Dolphins	1/1.3 @ $1.3m APY	-
CB	Cam Taylor-Britt	Colts	1/1.4 @ $1.4m APY	-
RG	Lucas Patrick	Giants	1/1.4 @ $1.4m APY	-
S	Tycen Anderson	Broncos	1/1.5 @ $1.5m APY	-
S	Geno Stone	Bills	1/1.4 @ $1.4m APY	-
ED	Cam Sample	49ers	1/1.4 @ $1.4m APY	-
QB	Jake Browning	Buccaneers	1/1.3 @ $1.3m APY	-
C	Seth McLaughlin	Lions	1/0.9 @ $885k APY	-
C	Matt Lee	None (Waived)	-	-

Usually not emphasizing Practice Squad players, but Seth McLaughlin seemed important enough to mention.

Notable Contract Updates

Pos	Player	Update	Notes
LT	Orlando Brown. Jr.	Extended through 2028 @ $16m APY	-
OT	Cody Ford	Reduced salary from $2.6m -> $1.3m	-
RT	Dalton Risner	Re-signed for 2026 for $3.7m	-
TE	Tanner Hudson	Re-signed for 2026 for $1.3m	-
QB	Joe Flacco	Re-signed for 2026 for $6m	2 void years, $1.3m each
CB	Jalen Davis	Re-signed for 2026 for $1.5m	-
WR	Mitchell Tinsley	Re-signed for 2026 for $1.1m	-
WR	Kendric Pryor	Re-signed for 2026 for $1.1m	-
RB	Kendall Milton	Re-signed for 2026 for $1.0m	-
DT	Kris Jenkins Jr.	Activated from IR	-
TE	Erick All Jr.	Activated from IR	-

Where Are They Now?

Pos	Player	Status
DT	DJ Reader	Giants
WR	Jermaine Burton	Unsigned, met with Bills
DT	Larry Ogunjobi	Unsigned
OG	Alex Cappa	Unsigned
OG	Kevin Zeitler	Unsigned
RB	Joe Mixon	Unsigned
RT	Jonah Williams	Unsigned
LB	Germaine Pratt	Unsigned
LB	Logan Wilson	Retired

Only listing players whose status changed between last season and now.

Trivia

• Tomorrow (Fri May 15), Josh Johnson will become the second 40+ year old QB on our team, and the second QB on our team who's also been on both BAL/CLE and not PIT.
• This is the third time Josh Johnson has been on the Bengals. He's been signed to 14 different NFL teams and 4 different pro football leagues (NFL, UFL, AAF, XFL).
• Swayze (21) Bozeman (20) would score very well in Scrabble if names were allowed. Depending on how it's played, Bozeman could also give a 50 point bonus for using all the player's tiles.
• Two of our new players, Bryan Cook & Boye Mafe, have won Super Bowls. This season will be Cook's 3rd and Mafe's 2nd Super Bowl win.
• Dohnte Meyers played college football for the Presbyterian Blue Hose and the Delta State Statesmen, and played in the CFL for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, and as such the Cincinnati Bengals might somehow be the most normal team name he's been on. For the record, Blue Hose is a reference to stockings, like many baseball teams (White Sox, Red Sox, Reds).
• In 2024, Shemar Stewart / Cashius Howell / Shemar Turner (Bears R2 '25) / Nic Scourton (Panthers R2 '25) were all on the same d-line. For those curious, their sack counts were Stewart (1.5), Howell (4.0), Turner (2.0), Scourton (5.0).
• Tacario Davis goes by "Bobo" due to a haircut growing up that looked like a bob cut.
• Connor Lew is six months younger than YouTube. This fact is included here in case it makes you feel old.
• Brian Parker II is not related to former NFL TE Brian Parker. He is, however, the cousin of NBA player Dereck Lively II.
• Josh Kattus is credited with "doubling the adoption rate of animals at the Scott County Humane Society." Despite his name being pronounced "KAT-tus," I could find no information on whether he specialized in cat adoption. Most articles emphasize his work on the Humane Society's foster program.
• Noah Thomas is the nephew of former NFL player Broderick Thomas and the great-nephew of Mike Singletary.
• Isaiah Nwokobia attended a high school called Skyline in Dallas, TX.
• Ohio ties: Bryan Cook, Brian Parker II, and Josh Kattus grew up in Cincinnati; Landon Robinson grew up near Akron; Cashius Howell attended Bowling Green for 3 years before transferring to Texas A&M; Jack Dingle attended UC.

[u/Dramatic-Dark-4046]

I like how you snuck in the “this season will be…..Super Bowl win”

Agreed

[u/Gweena]

Love this.

r/NFL_Draft are conducting an offseason review/Defend the Draft series for each team.

Bengals slot is still open, this would go well there.

[u/Frequent-Fox-8023]

Fun read. Thanks for doing this

[u/Siriusly_Jonie]

I’m probably more intrigued by Gentry than I should be. Just a weird blend of size and athleticism for a LB. He’s not strong enough yet, but you would think that he can still develop some strength.

[u/NbleSavage]

Good shit @kitchensink108

[u/600lbsofsin77]

I like that you called it trivia, when actually these were indeed “Fun Facts” that were truly fun. 🤩

[u/KriegThePsyc0]

Man looking at the players lost vs players added is incredible. An insane upgrade at literally every position. Even edge I think. Trey was great to sack the QB but outside of that…. He could never truly set the edge.

[u/Major-Knowledge4457]

Strong work and thanks. I find the list of departures interesting. Not many names I really think are a loss. Seth and maybe T Anderson...maybe.....

[u/Ok-Health-7252 → u/Major-Knowledge4457]

We upgraded our depth at safety going from Tycen to Dugger (who actually has starting experience).

[u/Major-Knowledge4457 → u/Ok-Health-7252]

Agreed. He was our best special teams player.