One Potential Cap Casualty the Cincinnati Bengals Could Target in Free Agency

There are plenty of positions that the Bengals must address on defense this offseason, the one that looks the murkiest though could be defensive end.

Following Myles Murphy’s breakout during the 2025 season, he is currently their only somewhat proven starter at the position under contract going into 2026 with both Joseph Ossai, and star pass rusher Trey Hendrickson set to hit free agency.

While the Bengals could re-sign Ossai who enjoyed his own type of breakout season alongside Murphy, he is expected to have a substantial market, not only will this make it difficult for the Bengals to extend Ossai, but his agent is David Mulugheta of Athletes First. Bengals fans know him all too well. Mulugheta represents former star safety Jessie Bates. He also represented Tee Higgins before he switched agents.

Trey Hendrickson meanwhile faces an uncertain offseason ahead, as he ended the season on injured reserve after opting for core muscle surgery after enduring a drama filled offseason with the team last season over a contract dispute.

So what could the answer at defensive end be? Well, it could be a familiar face for Bengals defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery, Rashan Gary from the Green Bay Packers who could be released when the teams season ends.

The Packers would save $19.5 million in cap space by releasing Gary with a post June 1 designation.

From 2018 to 2023, Montgomery spent time on the Green Bay Packers coaching staff in largely the same role he is in with the Bengals, and during that time he played a critical role in developing Gary into an above average presence along the Packers defensive line.

Gary experienced his best seasons statistically when Montgomery was in Green Bay in both 2021 and 2023 when he hit 9 sacks in both respective seasons, even coming off a torn ACL from 2022 saw him take limited snaps to start the next season, and despite the limited snap count, Gary recorded three sacks in a game against the New Orleans Saints.

That game alone played a vital role in Gary signing a four-year extension worth $107 million with the Packers, and he would even record a 49 pressure, 7.5 sack season in 2024, something that earned him a pro bowl nod.

This season though, while Gary accounted for 7.5 sacks through the first eight weeks, he has since recorded no sacks and only 21 tackles. This has led to many within the Packers fan base clamoring for Gary to be cut as doing so would save $10.9 million against the cap in 2026.

When you dive into the latter half of 2025 for Gary, the drop in numbers is disturbing for sure as his pressures per game dipped from 3.7 the first eight weeks to 3.1 the rest of the year. On the flip side of this though, Gary while finishing with fewer sacks, still finished the season with 54 total pressures, more than other star edge rushers such as Brian Burns and Maxx Crosby, and did so 200+ with fewer snaps.

Despite not recording a sack since Week 8 and finishing with 7.5 total, Rashan Gary ranked 18th among edge rushers with 54 pressures, more than Brian Burns & Maxx Crosby, despite 200+ fewer snaps. (@PFF). However, Burns finished with 16.5 sacks while Crosby had 10.0.
— Brandon Carwile (@BCarwile_NFL) January 5, 2026

As the these numbers suggest, Gary is more of an edge rusher that creates pressure rather than gathers sacks. The context to the falloff this season is that teams possibly adjusted to his ability to generate quick-pressures as that number dipped to a stunning 1.6 which is well below the 5.5 average for edge rushers in the NFL.

There are reasons to be weary of Gary should he become available absolutely, but it would be worth it for the Bengals to bring him in if they get the chance and reunite him with the coach that helped him turn in some of his best seasons.

Gary may be in line for a Joey Bosa like “prove it” deal should the Packers part ways with him, and just like Bosa he could easily bounce back and have a positive impact for wherever he signs as he is also still just 28 years old and just need a fresh start elsewhere. That “somewhere” could be in Cincinnati.