Cincinnati Bengals Cost Themselves Valuable Cap Space With Latest Contract

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Bengals have added three key veterans in free agency that should give their defense a major boost.

They signed Bryan Cook, Boye Mafe and Jonathan Allen to multi-year deals this week. All three players make the Bengals better.

They are hoping Cook can bring stability on the back end of their defense. They've had issues at safety in each of the past three seasons. While Cook should be a major upgrade, Cincinnati structured his contract in a way that could impact their ability to add more talent in free agency.

Bigger Year One Cap Hit Than We Thought

Bengals safety Bryan Cook speaks to the media during a press conference at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati on Thursday, March 12, 2026. | Albert Cesare/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Cook's year one cap hit was reportedly just over $8 million. That isn't the case.

The Bengals didn't prorate Cook's full signing bonus, which means his cap hit is $2.6 million more than initially projected: $10.66 million instead of $8.066 million.

This is another example of the Bengals structuring a contract in a way that directly impacts their ability to improve the roster for the 2026 season. The move lowered Cook's cap hit from $15.3 million to $14.3 million in 2027 and from $16.2 million to $15.2 million in 2028.

Rather than prorating his full signing bonus to maximize cap space this season, they broke it up for future years. That may make sense to some, but here's why it doesn't make sense. They could've given themselves more room and flexibility this year. If they didn't use that cap space this year, it would've rolled over to next year.

What we thought Bryan Cook's deal looked like on the left, updated structure on the right

For both Cook and Mafe the Bengals didn't prorate the full signing bonus ($3M RB for Cook) and you can see the cap impact

I don't know why. Look how small the upside is in 27-28 pic.twitter.com/qQPGQJ13XE
— Jake Liscow (@JakeLiscow) March 15, 2026

Remaining Cap Space

Feb 24, 2026; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Cincinnati Bengals general manager Duke Tobin speaks at the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Bengals still have some room to operate, but we won't know exactly how much until we get Allen's contract details.

Currently, the Bengals have around $32 million in space. Once you account for their upcoming 2026 NFL Draft class and other cap costs that happen during the season, Cincinnati has an estimated $18 million in space.

Allen's contract will eat into that number. It's worth noting the Bengals could free up more than $30 million in cap space if they restructured Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase's contracts. It's a mechanism that most teams use—especially the ones that are spending big money on their quarterback.

Bengals Director of Player Personnel Duke Tobin left the door open when asked about a possible Burrow restructure last month.

"We look at all areas to increase our competitiveness if we have to. 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," Tobin said. "If we need that, we'll consider that as well. Like I said, we're open to doing anything we need to do to improve our team where we're satisfied we're gonna win a championship. That's our mindset, and that's the way we're going into the offseason."

The Bengals still have multiple needs that they need to address in free agency. They need another proven edge rusher and a veteran linebacker that can raise the floor in a room that was arguably the worst in the NFL last season.

For more on what the Bengals should do in free agency, watch the video below. Make sure that you subscribe to our YouTube Channel and check us out on your favorite audio platforms, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio and Amazon.