The Bengals have restructured the contract of QB Joe Burrow.
This is a move that would have been anticipated for any other team. But given that the Bengals never restructure deals, this wasn’t a guarantee.
It is actually a big departure from old ways. Now, in fairness, since drafting him 1st overall, dealings with Burrow have more so been the exception to the rule, rather than the rewriting of them. Still, the fact that the Bengals took this step for the first time does carry some significance.
The restructure is relatively small, compared to what it could have been. It frees up $10M in cap space. Part of that will go towards paying for Dexter Lawrence. But the team has also been looking at extending CB’s DJ Turner and Daxton Hill, and possibly DE Myles Murphy. The extra money will help with that, and could also allow them to make a late addition to the LB unit, which is probably the weakest position group on the roster.
In other news, the Bengals have gotten 2nd round pick Cashius Howell under contract.
Things were a bit simpler this offseason, as the Bengals did not have a first round pick to worry about. It didn’t take very long for them to get their picks from rounds 3-7 under contract.
With Howell’s deal done, they now have their entire rookie class under contract. There was a lot of drama in the Shemar Stwart negotiations, which played out late into last offseason. Things were much calmer this year. While Howell’s deal did take a bit longer than the rest of the class, he has still been showing up to OTA’s without any fuss. And with this now fully behind him, it should be full steam ahead with no distractions.
The rookies will enter camp competing for roles. The earlier picks, like Howell and Tacario Davis could see rotational time as rookies, depending on how fast they can progress.
