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Contracts. Contracts. Sadly with the Cincinnati Bengals concluding an exciting ten-win season with a depressing effort on Saturday during Houston's 19-13 win, things shift from grandiose premonitions of success into free agency and the NFL draft. We've been scratching the surface lately and we'll continue to offer perspectives and raw numbers to really gauge this team's financial situation.
As was reported earlier this week the Bengals will enter 2013 with at least $55.1 million under the cap. Some didn't like that. It would probably be the same people complaining about the Bengals not having money to re-sign their top talent. Here's Cincinnati's top ten players, ranked by base salary with a projected cap hit based on known information (bonuses, etc).
| PLAYER | 2013 Salary | Cap Hit* |
| Leon Hall | $6.5 Million | $8.4 Million |
| Andrew Whitworth | $4.5 Million | $6.75 Million |
| Domata Peko | $3.7 Million | $4.7 Million |
| Jason Allen | $3.0 Million | $4.1 Million |
| Travelle Wharton | $2.675 Million | $3.375 Million ** |
| Kyle Cook | $2.5 Million | $3.34 Million |
| Jamaal Anderson | $2.5 Million | $3.575 Million |
| Reggie Nelson | $2.45 Million | $4.075 Million |
| BenJarvus Green-Ellis | $2.3 Million | $3 Million |
| A.J. Green | $2.165 Million | $5.369 Million |
* Projected at Spotrac.com.
** Per Joe Reedy