Cincinnati Bengals Earn Brutal Grade for Disappointing 2025 Season

CINCINNATI — Sports Illustrated's Matt Verderame dropped letter grades for every NFL team's 2025 season, and he didn't pull punches on the Bengals. They earned a D+ for their efforts over the past four months.

Cincinnati finished 6-11 for its worst record since Joe Burrow's rookie season. They've missed the playoffs in three straight campaigns and eight of the past 10 overall.

Verderame assessed what the offseason could look like.

"Despite having a combined cap hit of $100.8 million for Burrow, Chase, and fellow wideout Tee Higgins, the Bengals have an estimated this offseason," Verderame wrote. "Owner Mike Brown has been notoriously cheap for decades, rarely spending on outside talent. In the history of the Bengals, the biggest contract Brown has ever signed a player to is $60 million for Hendrickson.

"If the Bengals are going to get back to the playoffs, they need to find talent at all three levels of the defense. Cincinnati should also be looking to upgrade the offensive line with Lucas Patrick, Dalton Risner, and Cordell Volson all hitting unrestricted free agency. If Cincinnati doesn’t utilize its cap space, there’s no reason to believe the Bengals will be a contender in 2026."

Risner may be an easy extension decision for Cincinnati to hopefully set Joe Burrow with a full-returning offensive line.

They signed Risner way too late in the process last year, just days before the season started, and it indirectly led to Joe Burrow getting major turf toe surgery. Risner was still getting used to the Bengals' offense when he blew the block on that infamous play.

"The Bengals have historically started very slowly under coach Zac Taylor. In fact, going into 2025, Taylor was 1–11 throughout his career in the first two weeks of the regular season," Verderame wrote about losing Burrow early. "This year, Cincinnati opened with a win over the Browns in Cleveland before coming home and taking down the Jaguars in a 31–27 thriller. The problem was Burrow injuring his toe, an ailment that would cost him the next nine games. In those contests, Cincinnati won just once.

"Although the offense managed to average 22.2 points in Burrow’s absence, the campaign was undone by a defense allowing 35.2 points per game during that span. For Burrow, it’s the third major injury of his career. As a rookie in 2020, Burrow shredded his ACL and MCL in Week 11. In ’23, Burrow hurt his wrist in Baltimore and was limited to 10 games before hurting his toe in September, costing him another year of title contention."

The Bengals juggled player extensions and finding a new defensive coordinator very poorly in 2025.

This year brings much more continuity and less to keep track of in another prime window to set up a 29-year-old Burrow for the highest level of success this fall.

Check out Verderame's full AFC grades here.

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