Cincinnati

Bengals

It frees up $10 million in cap space for the coming season, which NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport made sure to note was in part to pay for the Dexter Lawrence trade. It could have been a much deeper restructure had the Bengals wished, with Burrow on a $48 million cap number with $25.25 million in base salary due. Still, it’s something. More than we’ve seen from the Bengals in a while.

All missed the end of the 2024 and the entire 2025 season with a pair of knee surgeries, one to clear out damage done from a surgery at Iowa, and another to repair a torn ACL. He enters the third year of his rookie contract as a deep, deep sleeper in fantasy leagues behind Mike Gesicki, but All did look pretty good in 2024 while healthy. He should at least give the Bengals some usable multi-TE set snaps if necessary.

Best ball bros are officially frothing at the mouth to stack this contest, not that they needed another reason to draft players from two of the best offenses in the NFL. As Jordan Schultz notes, the Bengals have traveled to Baltimore for a primetime game in each of the past four seasons. Now they get to host a matchup that could determine the fate of the AFC North.

The NFL announced that the Bengals and Falcons will play in Madrid for Week 9 of the 2026 season. It is the NFL’s second time having a game in Madrid, reaching a deal earlier this year to play more games at Bernabeu Stadium, home of the Real Madrid soccer club. Burrow will play his first career international game, the Bengals’ first in seven years. Meanwhile, Bijan Robinson and the Falcons will return overseas after playing in Berlin last year. Both teams will hope to be contending in their division at this halfway-point in the season after both missed the playoffs last season.

Bozeman, 27, spent last season with the Giants. He signed with the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2024. Bozeman has just three career tackles to his name as a defender, plus four more via special teams. Contributing on special teams is likely his ticket to the Bengals’ active roster.

Burrow has been present for the Bengals’ recent voluntary workouts. Readers might remember that Burrow told reporters back in December 2025 that although he “can’t see” a scenario in which he leaves the Bengals in 2026, he has thought about playing elsewhere. Those thoughts are evidently a thing of the past. Burrow is now quoted as having said that he is “excited” to see the front office’s initiative this offseason, which led to an overhauled defensive line, featuring four new players. The offense looks largely the same, aside from a couple of Day 3 rookies. Burrow, 29, remains a locked-in QB1.

Hopkins, 33, spent last season playing for Burrow’s AFC North rival Ravens. He posted a 22/330/2 receiving line. Hopkins is no longer an elite wide receiver, but he could be helpful for Burrow in fantasy, potentially operating as the team’s WR4. Unfortunately, Over The Cap lists the Bengals with the fourth-lowest salary cap space. Perhaps Hopkins will be willing to take a low-cost deal to play with Burrow.

Free agent EDGE Isaiah Thomas is trying out for the Eagles as well. No, these are not the basketball players. Jordan, 28, played for the Buccaneers last year, earning a career-best 71.0 PFF pass-blocking grade via 464 qualifying snaps. It was his first time posting a 61.0 or better. Thomas played in two games for the Lions in 2024 via practice squad elevations and notched one quarterback pressure. The Bengals signed him after that, but he never took the field for them.

Conway added that the team hopes to get a long-term deal done with Murphy even after declining his option. The Bengals would have guaranteed Murphy $14.5 million in 2027 had they exercised the option. Murphy’s role has grown in each of the past two years. He also hit a career-high 5.5 sacks in 2025 while starting 17 games. He won’t garner a massive extension if a deal is worked out, but the Bengals are at least interested in keeping him around.

The Bengals have until May 1st to decide if they want to exercise Murphy’s fifth-year option or let his current contract expire at the end of next season. Murphy, who has totaled 8.5 sacks in 47 career games with the Bengals, had the best season of his career in 2025 and is “just starting to scratch the surface,” per Tobin, but whether or not they want to commit $14.475 million to him to retain him in 2027 is something the team isn’t sure of. We’ll know by the end of this week if Murphy’s option is exercised, but if not, he’ll likely need a breakout season in 2026 if he hopes to sign a long-term deal with the Bengals in the offseason.