Football Outsiders has been analyzing each team's salary in a brief division-by-division look. On Wednesday, they released the AFC North report (through ESPN's Insider service). According to their report, the Bengals 2010 team salary is $101,210,864 -- about $20 million less than any team in the division.
| Team | 2010 Team Salary | Highest Paid Player | |
| Baltimore | $128,133,666 | Ed Reed | $8.8 Million |
| Pittsburgh | $123,263,015 | Ben Roethlisberger | $12.25 Million |
| Cleveland | $122,372,232 | Shaun Rogers | $9.2 Million |
| Cincinnati | $101,210,864 | Carson Palmer | $12.3 Million |
Surprised? This is what we get for signing several players who want to recover their NFL careers to low-end deals. It also goes to show how much of a chunk Palmer's contract is against the overall team salary.
The report writes that Robert Geathers is not living up to his contract and with Carlos Dunlap being drafted this year, "Geathers will have to prove this season that he is worth the $3.95 million the Bengals will owe him in 2011." Though the report also went on to say that if Antwan Odom returns, that Geathers will be challenged from Dunlap and Michael Johnson, who very likely could move to outside linebacker. Personally, I'm confident Geathers spot on the roster is secure. While well-paid defensive ends tend to get paid for pressuring the quarterback, Geathers is still considered one of the better run-stopping defensive ends in the league. So he has use and quite frankly, compared to the other teams in the division, money isn't so much a problem.