The Cincinnati Bengals entered free agency this year as something of a wild card.
After several years of big spending to fuel a rebuild, the expectation was the organization would switch to focusing on retaining its own. Big names like Jessie Bates, Hayden Hurst and Germaine Pratt were headed to the open market and long-term items like Joe Burrow’s extension took priority.
Still, the unknown nature of how the Bengals would attack the market didn’t mean outright inactivity by any means.
Legal tampering started Monday before the market actually opening Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET, so now was a good time to step back and round up all of the moves.
Starting with the moves the team made before legal tampering began, here’s a live-updating tracker that will continue to chronicle Bengals moves as they happen.
Moves before legal tampering started
- Re-signed LB Joe Bachie to a one-year deal
- Re-signed CB Jalen Davis to a two-year deal
- Re-signed LS Cal Adomitis
- Re-signed Michael Thomas
Re-signed LB Germaine Pratt
In a bit of a shocker, the Bengals re-upped with Germaine Pratt on a three-year deal.
Vonn Bell agrees to deal with Panthers
The Bengals suffered a big setback to the secondary as Vonn Bell chose to join the Panthers.
Jessie Bates agrees to deal with Falcons
In an anticipated move, Bates goes to the Falcons for a stunning $16 million per year.
