Bengals Can Create Close to $100 Million in Addition Salary Cap Space With Contract Restructures

The Bengals can create one of the NFL's largest salary cap space boosts with contract restructures as the offseason rolls on. X user SFData9ers broke down all of the space teams can still create with restructures this offseason, and Cincinnati is second at $93.8 million in possible space to create.

Reworking Joe Burrow's contract alone would notch out a big chunk of that, and it's seemingly something director of player personnel Duke Tobin and the front office are "working through."

Restructure Pending

Injured Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) heads to the locker room after the fourth quarter of the NFL 16 game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Cincinnati Bengals at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. The Steelers won 34-11. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

“Those are things that we're working through after the draft,” Tobin said last week. “We've layered in challenges, but we're up to them. Cap dollars have to be counted, so if we can accomplish what we want to accomplish without pushing things into future problems, we'll do that,” he said. “If we need that, we'll consider that as well. We're open to doing anything we need to do to improve our team to where we're satisfied we're gonna win a championship. But we have resources right now, and we'll see what we can get done."

Cincinnati has pushed in plenty of financial chips to the middle of the table this year, and has years left on Burrow's contract to deal with a financial punt into future seasons. Add in the fact that it would be hard to see him leaving if Cincinnati wins a Super Bowl or keeps making consistent efforts to do so, and it makes even more sense.

The biggest reason to do it would be to add a talent like Bobby Wagner to the middle of the linebacker corps. His mix of elite play and veteran savvy would be the cherry on top of the most aggressive Bengals offseason this decade.

He's still playing at an extremely high level and would help the development of Barret Carter and Demetrius Knight Jr. as they enter Year 2.

"I don't think we went into it saying we're not going to add at any position," Tobin said about the linebacker plan this offseason. "Again, it's opportunities that come up. And probably the best thing we did for our linebacker room is what we did for the D-line room, and that's going to elevate those guys. And I have real belief in the guys that we have. They have full seasons under their belt, they have really good production for rookies, and they're going to grow in our scheme, and they're going to be really good players, and I think we have depth behind them.

"Doesn't mean we won't look. We're always looking. This is a 12-month thing. This isn't just a two-month thing, but in these two months, the opportunity wasn't there to add to that group, and we accept that because we have guys that we believe in there."

Over The Cap only expects Wagner to get a one-year, $8.5 million deal, a number that could dip further as the offseason wears on.

Check out the full restructure numbers below:

Estimated cap space each team can free up through simple restructures

Data: OTC (05/02/2026), payments converted into prorated bonuses. https://t.co/gfNzjFDnoh pic.twitter.com/EfysBo5h1w
— SFdata9ers🏈📊 (@sfdata9ers) May 3, 2026

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