The Bengals defense may have struggled in 2014, but their secondary was still among the NFL's best.
Led by a host of veteran defensive backs, Cincinnati finished 2014 ranked third in opposing QB rating while also intercepting the third-most passes (20) and allowing the third-fewest touchdowns (18). As good as the entire secondary was, it's not being paid that much as a whole in 2015.
Here's a salary breakdown in 2015 for the Bengals' secondary:
POS. |
BASE SALARY |
SIGNING BONUS |
ROSTER BONUS |
WORKOUT BONUS |
DEAD CAP |
CAP HIT |
|
Leon Hall |
CB |
$7,700,000 |
$1,800,000 |
- |
$100,000 |
($1,800,000) |
$9,600,000 |
Dre Kirkpatrick |
CB |
$782,931 |
$1,177,818 |
$782,931 |
- |
($1,960,749) |
$2,743,680 |
Adam-Pacman Jones |
CB |
$1,550,000 |
$250,000 |
$250,000 |
$100,000 |
($250,000) |
$2,550,000 |
Darqueze Dennard |
CB |
$782,678 |
$1,030,708 |
- |
- |
($5,020,157) |
$1,813,386 |
Brandon Ghee |
CB |
$745,000 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
$585,000 |
Chris Lewis-Harris |
CB |
$585,000 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
$585,000 |
Josh Shaw |
CB |
$435,000 |
$123,431 |
- |
- |
($493,724) |
$558,431 |
Troy Hill |
CB |
$435,000 |
$1,833 |
- |
- |
($5,500) |
$436,833 |
Reggie Nelson |
S |
$4,100,000 |
$625,000 |
- |
$50,000 |
($625,000) |
$4,775,000 |
George Iloka |
S |
$1,542,000 |
$40,075 |
- |
- |
($40,075) |
$1,582,075 |
Shawn Williams |
S |
$600,000 |
$138,986 |
- |
- |
($277,972) |
$738,986 |
Shiloh Keo |
S |
$745,000 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
$585,000 |
Derron Smith |
S |
$435,000 |
$29,658 |
- |
- |
($118,632) |
$464,658 |
Floyd Raven |
S |
$435,000 |
$1,833 |
- |
- |
($5,500) |
$436,833 |
Erick Dargan |
S |
$435,000 |
$166 |
- |
- |
($500) |
$435,166 |
In all, the Bengals secondary will be just the 14th highest-paid unit among the NFL in 2015. A big reason why the cost among the secondary is so low is the loss of Terence Newman, who made more than $2 million last year and will make $2.5 million this year in Minnesota. Had the Bengals paid him that, it would have been enough for their 2015 cap dollars to jump to the 7th most of any team.
As it stands, cornerback Leon Hall is the highest-paid DB on the roster with a $9.6 million cap hit in 2015. That's more than double what the next highest-paid DB makes, which is safety Reggie Nelson. He'll make $4.78 million in 2015 in the final year of his current deal. 2015 is also the final year on Hall's deal so the Bengals will likely have some changes at defensive back in 2016.