Bengals set cap rollover amount for 2023

The Cincinnati Bengals have some big contracts coming up. As the team has moved to modernize how they do business, it appears they’re gearing up to adapt to the shift in how contracts are written.

Players due for new contracts this offseason include Jessie Bates III, Vonn Bell and Germaine Pratt, plus newly extension-eligible stars Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins.

One thing the Bengals can work with is unused salary cap rollover from this season that they can use in the 2023 season. The team announced they will roll over $2.5 million in unused salary cap space. That number is lower than what we’ve seen in the past, and that is a product of the team spending more in free agency in recent off-seasons.

According to Spotrac, this number included will have the Bengals at $48.4 million in free cap space when the new league year begins in March. We have seen the team spend a premium on talent from outside of the building, but you should expect most of that money to be used to keep players on the current roster.

The team is adapting. They have signed naming rights deals for the stadium and entry gates, so it appears they’ll do whatever it takes to keep the core players of the past two successful seasons in stripes for the foreseeable future.

“Cash over cap” is a big discussion in the NFL world now, and we’re only a couple of months away from seeing if the Bengals find a way to utilize that the way the rest of the league has.