Just under a month ago, we reported that the Cincinnati Bengals' available salary cap space was at $16.3 million or so, making them one of the teams that had the most space. On Monday, NFL reporter, Adam Caplan, noted a slight change in that number, as well as the team's ranking in most space available in the NFL.
As it stands today, the Bengals are now at $16.18 million under the salary cap, which gives them the third-most cap space in the NFL. The Jacksonville Jaguars top the list at a whopping $30.5 million of available space, followed by the Tennessee Titans at $19. 02 million.
The slight changes in the Bengals' figures can likely be attributed to third round pick Brandon Thompson finally signing a contract, and/or Derrick Harvey being released this weekend. Even though the team has a big financial padding, we don't expect them to go out and spend quite a bit of money, unless it's to re-up the contracts of their current players. Some targets for contract extensions could include: Rey Maualuga, Andre Smith, Michael Johnson, Geno Atkins, and Jermaine Gresham.
Andy Dalton and A.J. Green would be targets for extensions as well, though teams aren't allowed to re-negotiate contracts until a player has accrued at least two NFL seasons. Given that the team quietly extended the contracts of three major coaches this offseason (Marvin Lewis, Mike Zimmer, and Jay Gruden), it wouldn't be a surprise if we find out that they are working behind the scenes on some of these players' extensions as well.