Cincinnati

Bengals

Covington, who turns 36 in March, was one of the league’s youngest defensive coordinators last year for the Patriots. He has permission to interview for the job despite still being under contract in New England. The unit struggled, but dealt with major multiple injuries and Covington oversaw Christian Gonzalez’s development into one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL. It is possible that he has more upside to offer when separated from Jerod Mayo, and the Bengals seem interested in exploring the idea of making him their main defensive mind after firing Lou Anarumo.

Graham is also interviewing for the Bengals defensive coordinator role that was left vacant by firing Lou Anarumo. The fact that Graham is getting interviews and even considering a horizontal move says a lot about the current job status situation in Las Vegas. Graham interviewed with the Chargers and Seahawks for their head coaching vacancies last year and has been a fixture on the coaching carousel in the 2020s.

It hasn’t even been 24 hours since the Jets’ season officially came to an end, but they’re already casting one of the widest head coach/general manager searches in recent memory. Brown becomes the latest name to be added to the GM list and has spent the last four seasons with the Bengals after joining them as a scout in 2021. He also worked in a variety of scouting jobs with the Patriots and Eagles from 2010-2018. This isn’t the first time Brown has been interview for general managers roles, as he also met with the Bills, in 2017 and on two separate occasions with the Raiders in 2018 and 2022. Brown has multiple names to compete with early on, and will likely see more competition added to the mix before the process is finished.

Life comes at you fast in the NFL. Two years ago, Anarumo was viewed as one of the top head coaching candidates on the market for his work in Cincinnati. Now, after an abysmal season where Anarumo’s defense ranked 25th in points and yards allowed per game, and ranked outside the top 20 in pass defense, the 58-year-old coach is now on the open market. Anarumo’s defense allowed 34 or more points in five games this season, and looked like the obvious problem for the 9-8 Bengals while Joe Burrow and the offense put up MVP caliber numbers. The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports “there are several” head coaching candidates who would like to add Anarumo as their defensive coordinator, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he landed elsewhere before the start of the season. In addition to Anarumo, the Bengals also fired offensive line coach Frank Pollack, linebackers coach James Bettcher, and defensive line coach Marion Hobby.

Sample completed his sixth season with the Bengals in 2024, and despite being a second-round pick back in 2019, it was more of the same for the former University of Washington tight end. He hasn’t picked up more than 25 receptions since the 2020 season, and while he could be back with the Bengals again in 2025, there are way too many better options to believe Sample will ever be worth rostering.

Hudson ends his second season with the Bengals with 19 receptions for 154 yards and one touchdown. The 30-year-old will be a free agent at the end of the season, and likely is looking at playing a similar role with a new team or potentially a return to the Bengals. Even at the tight end position there’s no reason to think he’ll ever see the amount of targets necessary to consider him as a fantasy player, but he does provide real-life value as a blocker.

Iosivas was certainly efficient in 2024, as he was able to turn just 36 catches into six touchdowns as the fourth — at best — option in the passing attack. A 1/6 TD/catch ratio is obviously unsustainable, but Iosivas could be looking at a bigger role in 2025 with Tee Higgins possibly on the way out. If Iosivas is the second option with Joe Burrow under center, it’s possible for the product of Princeton breaks out in 2025. There’s a wide variety of possible outcomes here, however.

Higgins has a disappointing end to his regular season, but still finishes his fifth season with 73 catches along with 911 yards with 10 touchdowns despite being out for five games in 2024. The 25-year-old will be a free agent if the Bengals aren’t able to work out an extension with Higgins, and he’d be one of the most coveted playmakers on the market if the deal is unable to get done. While having someone like Ja’Marr Chase lining up with you can certainly help, it’s possible Higgins takes a bigger step as the top option for whatever team he plays for in 2025.

Gesicki’s first — and possibly only — year with the Bengals was a relatively successful one. His 65 catches were his most since 2021, and his 665 yards receiving were more than his previous two seasons combined. He finished with just the two receiving scores, however, which shows he’s much more slot- receiver than true tight end. Gesicki will hit the open market, and his fantasy value will be largely determined by the landing spot. If he’s back with the Bengals, a TE2 ranking is in the cards.

With that touchdown, Chase finishes with 17 receiving scores on the year, and that will assuredly end up leading the league. The 24-year-old superstar did have a few disappointing efforts in 2024, but his production competes or bests any wideout in the sport as seen in 127 catches, 1708 yards and the aforementioned touchdown total. There’s a chance Chase will not have Tee Higgins to take some of the pressure off of him in 2025, but that could just mean even more targets for the LSU product next year. Regardless of the personnel, Chase has to be one of the first players — not just wide receivers — off the board next year.